Korean Psychological Journal of Culture and Social Issues
- P-ISSN1229-0661
- E-ISSN1229-0661
- KCI
Vol.31 No.3
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of upward social comparison experienced during the use of social networking services (SNS) on emotional eating behaviors. It further examined the mediating role of relative deprivation and the moderating effect of alexithymia in this relationship. Focusing particularly on women in their 20s and 30s—a demographic that has shown a sharp increase in eating disorders—the study explored how upward comparison on SNS may evoke feelings of relative deprivation, which in turn may lead to emotional eating as a coping mechanism. It was also hypothesized that individuals with high levels of alexithymia, who struggle to identify and express their emotions, may be more susceptible to this process. Data were collected from 250 women aged 20 to 39 residing in South Korea. Analyses were conducted using SPSS 21 and the SPSS PROCESS Macro version 2.13. The key findings are as follows. First, upward comparison on SNS had a direct and significantly positive effect on emotional eating behaviors. Second, relative deprivation partially mediated this relationship. Third, alexithymia moderated only the direct path, amplifying the effect of upward comparison on emotional eating, while no significant moderating effect was found on the indirect path via relative deprivation. Based on these findings, this study discusses the negative psychological effects of SNS use and suggests preventive and therapeutic strategies for addressing emotional eating behaviors influenced by these experiences.
Abstract
This study conceptualizes fake news as a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that intersects individual psychological processes and broader social structures. Departing from existing research that focuses primarily on internal factors such as confirmation bias and emotional responses, it adopts an integrative approach that examines the psychological mechanisms behind the reception and spread of fake news across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, group, and structural dimensions. Grounded in critical psychology and community psychology, the study analyzes how power relations and social contexts shape misinformation and explores psychology’s role in addressing it. These two perspectives-critical psychology’s focus on macro-level power and community psychology’s emphasis on local interaction-are viewed as complementary, offering a framework for expanding psychology’s public engagement. Based on this integration, the study outlines practical directions for intervention and argues that psychology must evolve beyond individual healing to contribute to collective recovery and structural change, with attention to diverse socio-cultural contexts.
Abstract
This study examined the effect of individualistic orientation on fertility intention among 237 unmarried members of the MZ generation in South Korea, using a self-administered survey, and assessed the mediating roles of attitudes toward household labor and gender role attitudes. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships among individualistic orientation, household labor attitudes, gender role attitudes, and fertility intention. The results revealed that individualistic orientation did not have a direct effect on fertility intention but exerted an indirect effect through household labor attitudes. This suggests that perceiving household labor as a meaningful and valuable activity can positively contribute to the formation of fertility intentions. The findings further indicate that fertility intentions are influenced less by surface-level value changes, such as individualism, and more by fundamental sociocultural perceptions, particularly those related to household labor. Therefore, policies aimed at increasing fertility rates should focus not on surface-level values but on the psychosocial factors mediating their influence, thereby requiring both structural interventions and institutional support.
Abstract
This qualitative study explored how contemporary Korean adult children perceive, practice, and psychologically experience filial piety. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten adults aged from their 20s to 60s, yielding 370 raw meaning units. After excluding overlapping or structurally irrelevant items, 87 concepts were identified and categorized into 23 sub-themes and six overarching themes: “Affection Grown in Inter-generational Love,” “Filial Duty as a Moral Obligation,” “Filial Practices Supporting Well-being and Stability,” “Ambivalence Toward Filial Piety,” “Regret for Unfulfilled Filial Acts,” and “New Filial Piety Coexisting with Tradition and Modernity.” Findings reveal that while traditional filial values remain cognitively salient, their practical application has shifted toward more flexible and emotionally attuned forms. Participants reported complex emotional responses-such as guilt, ambivalence, and pride-shaped by generational transitions and social realities. This study provides a foundational psychological framework of filial piety in modern Korea and serves as a basis for developing quantitative instruments to measure contemporary filial attitudes and behaviors.
Abstract
While employee accountability is increasingly emphasized as a core organizational value, empirical investigation into this construct remains limited. Addressing this gap, the present study aimed to examine the effect of felt accountability on unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and to integratively explore the mediating role of work-related rumination and the moderating effect of power distance orientation in this relationship. To this end, survey data were collected from 300 Korean employees. Results from the PROCESS macro analysis showed that the relationship between felt accountability and UPB was partially mediated by work-related rumination. Furthermore, power distance orientation moderated the relationship between work-related rumination and UPB, and the conditional indirect effect was statistically significant at medium and high levels of power distance orientation. This study empirically demonstrates that a seemingly positive factor?accountability?can be transferred into dysfunctional behavior under certain conditions. These findings raise awareness of possible unethical side effects when fostering accountability and imply that, especially in high power distance cultures, managing work-related rumination and improving organizational culture may help prevent unethical behavior. Finally, the study’s limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Abstract
This study aimed to comparatively analyze the drug access and abuse processes of emerging adult drug users by categorizing them into two types based on their access pathways: relationally initiated users and independently initiated users. Participants were selected through reputational case selection to ensure alignment with the research objective. In-depth interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed using the constant comparison method, involving open coding, categorization, and category verification. The derived categories were named based on the context and meaning of the participant’s experience in a phenomenological perspective. The analysis yielded a total of five major categories: “Ties entangled within the heart,” “The subtle grip of addiction drawing near,” “The bond linking my heart to drugs,” “Bound together with drugs,” and “Life shackled by drugs.” Among these, “Ties entangled within the heart” and “The subtle grip of addiction drawing near” commonly appeared in both types, while the other three major categories showed structurally significant differences that were repeatedly observed between relationally initiated users and independently initiated users. These findings provide a structured understanding of emerging adults’ drug use experiences and suggest the need for tailored prevention and intervention strategies based on access pathways.
Abstract
Climate change is a pressing social issue in contemporary society, and diverse stakeholders are actively seeking strategies to address it. This study examined the influence of demographic, lifestyle and life experiences, and psychological factors on pro-environmental engagement. It further explored the effect of climate anxiety as an underlying psychological mechanism explaining pro-environmental behavior. An online survey was conducted with 546 Korean adults. The results showed that the explanatory power for pro-environmental engagement was significantly greater (40.2%) when psychological factors were considered in addition to demographic and lifestyle/life experience factors. Higher levels of pro-environmental engagement were associated with female, older age, greater environmental media consumption and communication, higher intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and greater consideration of future consequences (CFC). Furthermore, climate anxiety mediated the relationship between psychological factors and pro-environmental engagement. Individuals with higher IU and CFC reported higher levels of climate anxiety, which in turn predicted stronger engagement in pro-environmental behavior. An exploratory path analysis revealed a significant sequential indirect pathway in which climate anxiety, triggered by psychological factors, enhanced pro-environmental engagement through environmental media consumption and communication. These findings are discussed in terms of the psychological antecedents and mechanisms that promote pro-environmental engagement of Koreans.
Abstract
Eyewitness identification is a critical stage in the criminal justice process for suspect determination; however, errors in this process can infringe upon individual rights and undermine the realization of justice. Social and institutional contexts are increasingly recognized as key factors shaping eyewitness judgment. Understanding whether individuals in different countries are more inclined to tolerate or avoid certain types of errors provides important insights for institutional design. This study examines behavioral tendencies in eyewitness identification among Korean and British participants, focusing on preferences between Type I errors-higher likelihood of identifying the perpetrator but also higher risk of misidentifying innocent citizens-and Type II errors-lower likelihood of identifying the perpetrator but reduced risk of misidentification. A total of 600 participants (300 Koreans, 300 Britons) were recruited through a professional survey company. Participants were asked to choose between the simultaneous lineup method (higher accuracy but greater error potential) and the sequential lineup method (lower accuracy but reduced error potential) under conditions of uncertainty regarding the perpetrator’s presence. Regulatory focus was also measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Results revealed significant main effects of nationality and moderation effects of prevention focus. Koreans tended to prefer Type II errors, whereas Britons favored Type I errors, and these tendencies were strengthened among participants with higher prevention focus. These findings suggest that social and institutional contexts play a decisive role in shaping risk perceptions in eyewitness identification. Koreans viewed the wrongful accusation of innocent citizens as a greater risk, favoring cautious judgments consistent with Type II errors. In contrast, Britons regarded failing to identify the perpetrator as a failure of justice, favoring more proactive identification aligned with Type I errors. Such differences underscore the importance of incorporating social and institutional contexts into the design of criminal justice procedures and policy-making across nations.
Abstract
Despite the necessity of multi-level efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, detailed discussions on how micro-level research approaches can contribute to carbon neutrality remain insufficient. This study presents an integrated perspective to overcome the fragmentation of existing research and establish the connection between carbon neutrality policy goals and micro-level research. The research methodology involved conducting a narrative literature review of domestic literature across adjacent fields including psychological science, communication studies, environmental policy, and environmental sociology. The analysis revealed unique features of each academic field. Psychological science focused on individual internal factors, perceptions, and behavioral intentions. Communication research addressed practical topics combined with media effects. Micro-level approaches in environmental policy showed major trends in environmental education, policy acceptance, large-scale perception surveys, and group-specific perception studies. As a result, the study defined the characteristics of micro-level research that can contribute to carbon neutrality by categorizing them into cognitive, behavioral, and political dimensions, and proposed future research directions. Additionally, in the sense of complementing the methodological individualism of psychological science research, we introduced social practice theory, which understands routine human behaviors as social practices. At a time when interdisciplinary cooperation is crucial for responding to climate crisis, the practical and theoretical expansion efforts of micro-level research are expected to play a role in explaining and narrowing the gap between carbon neutrality norms and behaviors.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the trends of psychological research on the climate crisis and human damage that are becoming more and more realistic and to draw future tasks. For this purpose, Google Scholar was utilized to explore research papers and books and those were categorized by research topics and research methods. The main keywords were ‘climate crisis’, ‘climate change’, ‘climate disaster’, ‘climate emergency’ and ‘psychology’. Searches using these keywords were conducted in both Korean and English. These papers and books were divided into international and domestic research trends.As a result, it was confirmed that there were many studies on climate crisis in foreign countries compared to domestic ones. Of course, even though these studies included psychological topics, the scholars who conducted these studies were not necessarily psychologists, but experts in various disciplines such as climatologists, environmentalists, educators, and journalists. Domestic research trends showed a similar pattern. However, the number of domestic research topics and papers was significantly smaller than the number of international research topics and papers. Moreover, in Korea, there were very few cases where psychologists participated in the research, and they rarely collaborated with experts in other disciplines. Based on these points, future domestic research tasks and research directions were presented.