Psychology of Ingo for Koreans: Accompaniment of Rewards and Reimbursement of Faults

Traditionally, Korean self-cultivation began with enduring pain — yet the authors see today’s Korean society as having grown strongly oriented toward pleasure and material things, wanting needs met right away.

Still, ingo (enduring hardship) is a universal concept rooted deep in Korean life, so Koreans may keep a way of judging that values endurance even while seeming to chase pleasure — checking this is the study’s starting point.

Three studies: Study 1 analyzed everyday endurance cases written by university students, Study 2 the endurance in Korean folk tales, and Study 3 judgments of hypothetical scenarios.

Study 1: 36 university students. Study 2: 97 university students (rating 20 folk tales). Study 3: 262 students at three universities in Seoul.
In Studies 1–2, the endurance was classified as intended or not, for oneself or for others, and as having a good or bad outcome (in Study 1 the researchers judged the outcome). In Study 3, for each of four types of endurance participants read one “endured” and one “did not endure” story — eight in all — and answered on 7-point scales.

The everyday endurance cases students recalled varied in intent and in whom they served, but very few ended badly.

Endurance in folk tales, likewise, was judged to lead almost always to good outcomes.

Ratings split for “Gyeonu and Jiknyeo” (the Herdsman and the Weaver); the authors suggest many participants felt one meeting a year was not enough to make up for the pain of separation.

In “devotion-endurance” (like dawn prayers), a good result was seen as more valuable after endurance, but endurance did not raise the perceived chance of a good result.

In “fate-acceptance endurance,” where one simply bears it, participants still saw endurance very positively and felt it alone deserved a reward.

In “fault-endurance,” after wrongdoing, even with the same fault, how much responsibility is lifted can depend on whether the person suffered and bore it inwardly.

The authors read this as meaning that, in making up for a wrong, one’s inner attitude counts for more than simply accepting punishment imposed from outside.

Outcomes were not ignored: how meaningful endurance seemed depended on whether the result was good or bad, and gaining a good result through endurance was rated most desirable.

Devotion-endurance matters between people too: sincerely doing what others find hard and unpleasant becomes a measure of one’s care, building and keeping relationships.

The expectation that mere endurance will be rewarded reflects, the authors argue, a Korean worldview in which fortune and misfortune turn in cycles (as in saeongjima, 새옹지마, and gojingamnae, 고진감래).

If post-fault endurance affects how the law is applied, exceptions to the law multiply — so the authors say whether to withhold punishment because someone has reformed needs rethinking.

The effort-endurance scenario emphasized ability in the “non-endurance” version, letting ability creep in, so it was not suitable for showing the effect of endurance.

There was only one scenario per type of endurance, so the many situations in which each type can occur were not covered.

Sanggye (상계, 相計) A word matching the native Korean “ekkida” — to cancel out what is owed on each side. In this paper, it means “paying off” a wrong with the suffering one has endured.

Jeongseong-ingo (정성-인고, devotion-endurance) Taking on hardship for oneself or others where the hardship can hardly be said to help reach the goal directly (e.g., dawn prayers for one’s child).

Sunmyeong-ingo (순명-인고, fate-acceptance endurance) Bearing suffering that arrived unbidden, with no way to overcome it, by accepting it like fate.