Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology
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- P-ISSN1229-0653
- KCI
Latest Articles
Vol.38 No.1
4papers in this issue.
Abstract
Moving, a universal life experience, often induces psychological distress during the adjustment to unfamiliar environments. The disconnection from established close relationships is particularly recognized as a significant risk factor for loneliness. However, moving also provides an opportunity to enrich one’s life. It seems thus plausible that the adverse influence of moving may differ depending on individuals’ readiness to embrace change. Drawing from contemporary research on ‘psychological richness,’ which involves novel, complex, and perspective-changing life events, even if not inherently positive, we hypothesized that frequent moves may exert a less adverse influence on individuals living a psychologically rich life. Across two studies, we examined whether psychological richness mitigates the link between residential mobility and loneliness. As expected, frequent moves (during childhood in Study 1; during adulthood in Study 2) were associated with increased loneliness among individuals with relatively lower psychological richness. However, this association disappeared among those with higher levels of psychological richness. Moreover, the moderating effect of psychological richness remained significant even after controlling for relevant variables, including gender, age, and the Big 5 personality traits. Our study offers a valuable contribution by unveiling a novel protective factor that alleviates the loneliness tied to personal moving experiences.
Abstract
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, hope is widely recognized as a significant psychological factor that may play an important role in one’s well-being and adaptability. Despite the fact that hope is receiving increasing attention, there is no conceptual consensus on hope in the relevant literature. Moreover, psychological meaning and implications of hope has not been actively studied in Korea. To address this, the present review attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the concept of hope from a psychological perspective by integrating the major theories of hope and relevant empirical studies. Synthesizing the previous literature on the cognitive and emotional approaches of hope, hope can be defined as a positive expectation for a brighter future than the past, along with the belief in one's ability to make the future better. In addition, we also introduced various measures of hope, its impact on both subjective and psychological well-being, and factors that may influence hope. Finally, we pose potential directions for future research and also, discuss reexamining issues in the field of hope research.
Abstract
The present research offers a critical analysis of the ‘bias perspective’ on modesty in cross-cultural psychology. The authors argue that the notion of ‘modesty bias’ does not adequately capture the psychological core of the everyday experiences of modesty in the Korean cultural context. Along the lines, we surveyed the lay theory of modesty among Korean adults (N = 167) and content analyzed the responses. From this, we found two higher-order conceptual categories (other/relation focus, self-focus) that include a total of seven major components pertaining to the definition of modesty (Study 1). The other/relation-focused lay theories reflect the understanding of modesty in terms of inhibiting self-expression, respecting others, lowering oneself, and acting with propriety. The self-focused lay theories included objective self-awareness, self-cultivation, and self-certainty. In an independent sample of Korean adults (N = 500), we obtained evidence that the seven components driven from the lay theories reflect the Koreans’ understanding of modesty (Study 2). Based on our finding in Study 2 that self-deprecation, commonly featured in the previous work on East Asian modesty, does not correspond to the lay theory of modesty among Koreans, we experimentally tested the effects of a modesty behavior congruent with the lay theories (vs. a self-deprecating behavior) on social connectedness and state self-esteem. We found that, as compared to the self-deprecating behavior, the modesty behavior promoted perceptions of social connectedness and state self-esteem. We also found that the modesty behavior led to perceptions of social connectedness, which in turn led to higher levels of sate self-esteem. We discuss implications of these findings for research on modesty in social and cultural psychology.
Abstract
The Korean law describes that the legal judgment of self-defence should accord with the victim’s intent to harm the offender, which could be a major cause of distrust toward the legal system. This may due to how lay people rely on the information regarding offenders’ intent to harm victims for self-defence judgements. The current study investigated the psychological mechanisms underlying perceived justifiability of a victim’s self-defence acts, specifically focusing on the role of victim’s intent to harm the offender in regards to offender’s intent to harm the victim. Eighty-six participants read a scenario varying with offender’s intent to harm (i.e., intent to harm included or no intent to harm) and made judgments of justifiability and perceived self-defence on the victim’s act. The results showed that the inclusion of offender’s intent to harm influenced perceived victim’s intent to harm as well as justifiability of victim’s action. When the offender had the intent to harm the victim, the victim was perceived to have lower intent to harm the offender and victim’s actions were seemed more justifiable and more self-defending. Furthermore, the perceived victim’s intent to harm played a (partial) mediating role on the justifiability of the victim’s act depending on the inclusion of offender’s intent to harm. The findings suggested the implications for understanding the potential cause of the conflict between the legal system and lay people’s judgements regarding self-defence cases.