Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psycho-social characteristics of the members of nine different groups in Korea. The nine groups were sampled by the criteria of voluntariness, non-politics, non-profit, future-orientation, and universality. Included among the groups sampled for this study are an alumni association of a high school, a hometown association, a rural coop, a neighborhood women's association, a voluntary group of a church which were more typical types of groups in Korea. The rest includes more atypical and novel types: a child-care coop, religion-based commune, an environment protection group, and a computer-mediated society. The interview was conducted with the key informant of each group with a semi-structured questionnaire. The results showed that a social-value orientation was the major issue for the members of the more atypical groups like the child-care coop, the environment protection group, and the religion- based commune. But they had some conflicts between their own purpose of their groups and the barriers in their daily life as well as the reality of the Korean society. The groups interested in voluntary service, the voluntary group of a church and the neighborhood women's association, showed some difficulties in disseminating their activities. The computer-mediated society suggested a new possibility to build an interpersonal relationship in the cyberspace. The results demonstrated that the members of the more typical groups such as the alumni association, the hometown association, the rural coop, were more interested in sharing their friendship and the spirit of mutual help.