Abstract

The present study examined how undergraduates (n=142) and their parents (n=142) perceive the youth and the adult generation, and the Korean society. Results indicated that there were clear-cut differences between the two generations on the 6 value and 10 personality trait dimensions, in the negative attitudes toward and frequencies of the 3 sexual misbehaviors, and in the subjective well-being. Two subgroups of judges were not consensual for all of those variables, which implies that generation gaps also exist in the perceptions of the two generations in some respects. However, there was large agreement in evaluating the Korean society as overall negative for the 6 evaluation variables, normlessness, political controllability and the sense of alienation. Regression analyses revealed that the 6 value and the 10 personality trait dimensions and the sense of alienation explained a large portion of variance in the subjective well-being of the both generations. Also, the 6 evaluation variables, normlessness and political controllability explained largely the subjective well-being of the Korean society. Those findings were discussed in relation to socio-cultural characteristics of the Korean society.