Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the sense of community of the Koreans and the United States from individulist-collectivist perspectives, 198 Korean and 184 American subjects were used for this study. All subjects were volunteer, married, male adults who have an occupation, at least some college education, and live in urban areas. Total sense of community was similar between the Korean and U.S. subjects. The sense of community toward alumni associations and distant relatives of Koreans were stronger than that of Americans. American subjects showed stronger sense of community toward religious groups, immediate family, and friends than did the Korean subjects. Korean subjects had more involuntary ingroups than Americans and the latter had more voluntary ingroups than the former. Several implications were discussed regarding application of American community psychology in Korea consonant with the culture of the Korean society.