College students with more nunchi (눈치, reading the room) had less social anxiety — partly because they had a clearer sense of who they are (self-concept clarity).
The relation between nunchi and social anxiety in college students - in the mediation of self-concept clarity -
대학생 집단에서 눈치와 사회불안의 관계 - 자기개념명확성의 매개효과 -
QUESTION
Can nunchi, known as a feature of Korean culture, reduce social anxiety through self-concept clarity?
FINDINGS
The higher the “perception” side of nunchi — sensing others' minds and the mood — the lower people's anxiety when interacting with others (r = -.312).
눈치의 하위요인인 파악 요인은 상호작용 사회불안과도 부적인 상관이 있었고(r=-.312, p<.001)The perception factor, a subfactor of nunchi, was also negatively correlated with social interaction anxiety (r=-.312, p<.001).p6이 척도는 상대방 혹은 상황을 파악하는 ‘파악’ 요인The scale consists of a “perception” factor, grasping the other person or the situation…p5수행 상황에서만 나타나는 사회불안과 사회적 상호작용 전반에 나타나는 사회불안으로 나누고 있다…divides social anxiety into anxiety appearing only in performance situations and anxiety appearing across social interactions in general.p3The “action” side — behaving to fit the situation — was unrelated to performance anxiety (anxiety when doing something in front of others).
수행불안과는 상관이 없었다(r=-.080, p>.05)…it was not correlated with performance anxiety (r=-.080, p>.05).p6상대방 혹은 상황에 맞는 행동을 하는 ‘행동’ 요인…and an “action” factor, behaving appropriately to the other person or the situation…p5또 다른 하위요인인 행동요인을 보면 행동요인은 상호작용 사회불안과 부적인 상관이 있었고Looking at the other subfactor, the action factor was negatively correlated with social interaction anxiety…p6타인의 시선이 의식되는 상황에서 무엇을 수행하는 과정에서 파생되는 수행불안…performance anxiety arising in the process of doing something in situations where one is conscious of others' gaze…p5The perception factor lowered social anxiety both directly and indirectly, by raising self-concept clarity.
파악요인은 자기개념명확성을 매개로 상호작용 사회불안에 영향을 미치기도 하고 직접 영향을 미치기도 하였다The perception factor affected social interaction anxiety both through self-concept clarity and directly.p7자기개념명확성→사회불안: t=-13.0, p<.001; 파악→상호작용사회불안: t=-4.5self-concept clarity→social anxiety: t=-13.0, p<.001; perception→social interaction anxiety: t=-4.5p8눈치의 하위요인은 모두 자기개념명확성에 정적인 영향을 미쳤고 이는 다시 사회불안을 감소시키는 것으로 나타났다…both subfactors of nunchi had a positive effect on self-concept clarity, which in turn reduced social anxiety.p9The authors read this as nunchi reducing social anxiety by keeping distorted thoughts and a negative self-image from being switched on.
눈치가 사회불안을 감소시키는 기제가 왜곡된 인지와 부정적이 자기상이 활성화되지 않도록 하는 것임을 시사하였다…suggested that the mechanism by which nunchi reduces social anxiety is preventing distorted cognition and a negative self-image from being activated.p1IN DAILY LIFE
A “perception” item on the nunchi scale: “When something is needed, I notice it first.”
무언가 필요한 상황이면 먼저 알아차린다When something is needed, I notice it first.p5An “action” item on the nunchi scale: “When I speak, I consider the surrounding situation and the other person's position.”
말할 때 주위의 상황과 상대방의 임장을 고려해서 말한다When I speak, I consider the surrounding situation and the other person's position.p5In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
An earlier “nunchi sensitivity scale” measured the reasons people watch others' cues or feel watched — not how much nunchi they have — so the link with social anxiety needed a fresh look.
눈치 수준을 측정하는 것이 아니라 ‘눈치 보는 이유’와 ‘눈치 보이는 이유’를 측정하였고…it measured not the level of nunchi but “reasons for reading others' cues” and “reasons for feeling self-conscious.”p2최연희와 최상진(1990)이 제작한 눈치 민감성 척도는The nunchi sensitivity scale developed by Choi Yeon-hee and Choi Sang-jin (1990)…p2눈치와 사회불안의 관계를 다시 검토할 필요가 있어 보인다…the relationship between nunchi and social anxiety seems to need re-examination.p3One explanation: in collectivist societies where people rarely show themselves openly, nunchi is needed to read people and situations and get along well.
결국 자기를 잘 드러내지 않는 집단주의 사회 특성 때문에 다른 사람이나 상황을 파악하여 대인관계를 잘하기 위해 눈치가 필요하다는 것이다In short, because of the collectivist social trait of not revealing oneself much, nunchi is needed to read other people and situations and to manage relationships well.p2Method
A survey study testing, with bootstrapping (repeated resampling) and structural equation modeling, whether nunchi affects social anxiety through self-concept clarity.
2015학년도 1학기에 지방 소재 대학에 재학 중인 대학생 590명을 대상으로 설문을 실시하였다. 설문 소요시간은 15분 내외였다. 이 가운데 불성실하게 응답한 7부를 제외하고 583명의 자료가 분석대상이 되었다In the first semester of 2015, a survey was administered to 590 students at a regional university. It took about 15 minutes. Excluding 7 careless responses, data from 583 students were analyzed.p5부트스트래핑을 이용하여 검증하였고 이를 모형으로 검증하였다…tested using bootstrapping, and this was tested as a model.p6구조방정식 모형은 AMOS 15.0을 사용하였다AMOS 15.0 was used for the structural equation model.p6이 설문지를 심리학 교양과목 시간에 실시하였으며 그 과목의 담당교수의 허가를 얻어 수업 전에 실시하고 수거하였다The questionnaire was administered in a psychology elective class, before class and with the instructor's permission, and collected.p6자기개념명확성을 측정하기 위하여 Campbell 등(1996)이 개발한To measure self-concept clarity, (the scale) developed by Campbell et al. (1996)…p5상호작용 상황에서 나타나는 사회불안, 수행 상황에서 나타나는 사회불안, 그리고 가해염려 사회불안을 모두 사회불안에 포함시켜 검증하고자…sought to include social anxiety in interaction situations, social anxiety in performance situations, and fear-of-offending social anxiety all within social anxiety and test them.p4남에게 해를 끼치지 않을까 하는 두려움도 포함되게 되었다…came to include the fear of causing harm to others as well.p3Detailed findings
The perception factor correlated negatively with social interaction anxiety (r = -.312) — better perceivers were less anxious.
눈치의 하위요인인 파악 요인은 상호작용 사회불안과도 부적인 상관이 있었고(r=-.312, p<.001)The perception factor, a subfactor of nunchi, was also negatively correlated with social interaction anxiety (r=-.312, p<.001).p6이러한 결과는 눈치 수준이 높으면 사회불안 수준이 낮음을 의미하는 것으로These results mean that when the level of nunchi is high, the level of social anxiety is low…p7The action factor was not correlated with performance anxiety (r = -.080).
수행불안과는 상관이 없었다(r=-.080, p>.05)…it was not correlated with performance anxiety (r=-.080, p>.05).p6또 다른 하위요인인 행동요인을 보면 행동요인은 상호작용 사회불안과 부적인 상관이 있었고Looking at the other subfactor, the action factor was negatively correlated with social interaction anxiety…p6Higher self-concept clarity went with significantly lower social interaction anxiety (r = -.492).
자기개념 명확성은 상호작용 사회불안과도 유의한 부적인 상관이 있었고(r=-.492, p<.001)Self-concept clarity was significantly negatively correlated with social interaction anxiety (r=-.492, p<.001).p6For social interaction anxiety, the link with the perception factor was significantly stronger than with the action factor.
상호작용 사회불안에서는 사회불안과 파악요인의 상관이 행동요인보다 유의하게 더 큰 것으로 나타났으나(Z=2.4, p<.001)For social interaction anxiety, the correlation with the perception factor was significantly larger than with the action factor (Z=2.4, p<.001).p7The perception factor affected social anxiety both directly and through self-concept clarity.
파악요인은 자기개념명확성을 매개로 상호작용 사회불안에 영향을 미치기도 하고 직접 영향을 미치기도 하였다The perception factor affected social interaction anxiety both through self-concept clarity and directly.p7The action factor had no direct effect and influenced social anxiety only through self-concept clarity.
행동요인은 자기개념명확성을 매개로 해서만 사회불안에 영향을 미치고 직접 영향을 미치지는 않았다The action factor affected social anxiety only through self-concept clarity and had no direct effect.p1The model summarizing these paths fit the data reasonably well.
이 모형은 자료에 대체로 잘 부합하였고This model fit the data reasonably well.p8This link between nunchi and social anxiety differs from an earlier finding that nunchi was unrelated to depression or anxiety; the authors attribute this to social anxiety being tied to relationships.
눈치가 우울이나 불안과 같은 변인과는 상관이 없었다는 연구결과(허재홍, 2014b)와는 다른 결과이다…this differs from the finding that nunchi was not correlated with variables such as depression or anxiety (Heo, 2014b).p8사회불안이 정신건강 변인이기는 하지만 대인관계와 관련된 변인이기 때문에 우울이나 불안과는 달리 부적인 상관이 나온 것으로 보인다Although social anxiety is a mental health variable, it is also an interpersonal variable, which seems to be why, unlike depression or anxiety, a negative correlation appeared.p9Authors’ interpretation
Perception matters because watching the other person and the situation keeps “self-focused attention” — which fuels social anxiety — from arising, and lets people check the facts of the situation.
상황을 관찰하는 것은 사회불안을 일으키는 자기초점화 주의가 일어나지 않게 하면서…observing the situation prevents the self-focused attention that causes social anxiety…p9이렇게 상대방의 마음이나 상황을 파악하는 것이 사회불안에서 중요한 이유는The reason grasping the other's mind or the situation matters in social anxiety…p9자신이 처한 상황이 어떤지 사실 확인을 통해 왜곡된 상황처리를 하지 않기 때문…because by checking the facts of one's situation, one does not process the situation in a distorted way.p9The action factor, by contrast, means doing what others want and matching their mood, which gives no chance to correct the distorted thinking at the heart of social anxiety.
사회불안에서 중요한 왜곡된 인지를 수정할 기회가 없고 이 때문에 사회불안을 감소시키지 못하는 것으로 보인다…there is no opportunity to correct the distorted cognition important in social anxiety, and for this reason it does not seem to reduce social anxiety.p9행동요인의 경우에는 상대방이 필요한 것을 해주거나 상대방의 기분에 맞춰서 말을 하거나 행동하는 것이기 때문에In the case of the action factor, because it means doing what the other person needs or speaking and acting to suit the other's mood…p9Among college students, high nunchi may mean having built a clear self-concept, which helps people see a positive rather than negative self-image and so eases anxiety.
대학생 집단에서 눈치 수준이 높다는 것은 명확한 자기개념을 확립한 것을 의미하고…in the college student group, a high level of nunchi means having established a clear self-concept…p9부정적인 자아상보다는 긍정적인 자아상을 보도록 하여 사회불안을 감소시키는 것은 아닌가 생각된다…it may lead people to see a positive rather than a negative self-image and thereby reduce social anxiety.p9Limits the authors note
The concept of nunchi itself is not yet clearly established, so its nature needs further study.
눈치 개념이 아직 명확하게 확립된 것이 아니기 때문에…because the concept of nunchi has not yet been clearly established…p10추후 연구를 통해 눈치가 어떤 속성인지를 계속 밝힐 필요가 있다…future research needs to keep clarifying what kind of attribute nunchi is.p10Because only college students were studied, the results are limited in how far they generalize.
본 연구는 대학생을 대상으로 하여 도출된 결과이기 때문에 일반화하는 데 한계가 있다Because this study's results were derived from college students, there are limits to generalization.p10Key terms
Nunchi (눈치) Sensing what others are thinking or the mood of the situation you're in, and acting in a way that fits that mind or mood.
다른 사람의 마음이나 자신이 처한 상황의 분위기를 파악하고 상대방의 마음 또는 자신이 처한 상황의 분위기에 적합한 행동을 하는 것이다…grasping other people's minds or the atmosphere of one's situation and acting appropriately to the other's mind or the atmosphere of one's situation.p2Self-concept clarity How consistent and stable over time your ideas about yourself are, and how confident you are that you know yourself.
사람들이 스스로에 대해 갖고 있는 개념으로서 내적일관성과 시간적 안정성, 그리고 얼마나 알고 있는지를 확신하는 정도를 의미한다고 한다…the concepts people hold about themselves, meaning the degree of internal consistency, temporal stability, and confidence in how well they know themselves.p4Taijin kyofusho (fear-of-offending social anxiety) Social anxiety in which people fear not that others will see their anxiety, but that their anxiety symptoms will make others uncomfortable; reported in East Asia.
자신의 불안증상이 다른 사람을 불쾌하게 할 것을 두려워하는 사회불안이 동아시아에서 보고되었다Social anxiety in which one fears that one's anxiety symptoms will make other people uncomfortable has been reported in East Asia.p3자신의 불안 증상을 다른 사람이 볼까 봐 두려워하는 사회불안과는 달리Unlike social anxiety in which one fears others will see one's anxiety symptoms…p3