Starting from “mi-un jeong, go-un jeong” (hateful and sweet jeong), the study identified what jeong is made of and confirmed a path: jeong → caring actions → a sense of security and someone to lean on.
The Structural Relationship among Cheong (Hateful and Sweet Cheong), Its Actions and Functions
정(미운정 고운정)의 심리적 구조, 행위 및 기능간의 구조적 관계 분석
QUESTION
What makes up jeong, as seen through “hateful and sweet jeong,” and how are jeong, the actions that express it, and its functions structurally related?
FINDINGS
Jeong, its expressive actions, and their functions were all significantly related: when jeong forms, caring actions follow, and those actions make people feel secure and supported.
'정이 든다'함은 아껴주는 마음을 담은 행위 등을 수반하게 되고 그러한 행위는 든든하고 의지가 되는 기능을 가지고 있는 것으로 해석해 볼 수 있다.“Forming jeong” brings with it actions that carry a caring heart, and such actions can be interpreted as having the function of making one feel secure and supported.p1Family — especially spouses — was named most often as the people with whom one shares hateful-and-sweet jeong.
가장 많은 응답은 가족, 특히 부부관계였는데The most common answer was family, especially the marital relationship…p10Five components of jeong emerged: caring and trusting, treating each other without formality, we-ness and oneness, living together over time, and human understanding of the other.
첫 번째 요인인 아껴주고 믿어주기(설 명변량 2264%)를 구성하는 문항•들`은 서로를 아껴줄 때The items making up the first factor, caring and trusting, … when they care for each other…p11Alongside its benefits (security, closeness), jeong was also seen as having a downside: it can get in the way of rational judgment.
특기할 만한 결과는 정이 갖는 역기능 적 측면인데, 정 때문에 이성적 판단을 하는데 방해를 받는다는 것이다.A noteworthy result is jeong’s dysfunctional side: because of jeong, one’s rational judgment is hindered.p16The “hateful” side — being hurt or treated coldly — is part of jeong but does not affect its actions or functions; the authors read hateful jeong as a feeling that forms in hindsight.
미운정이란 결과적인 감 정이고 의도성 속에서 구성되는 것이 아닌 만큼 행위 와 기능에 대해 무관함을 의미한다Hateful jeong is a resultant feeling, not something built intentionally, so it is unrelated to actions and functions.p18IN DAILY LIFE
A daughter-in-law who lived with her mother-in-law says after moving out: “We bickered and fought, and I came to feel every kind of jeong for her, hateful and sweet.”
“시어머니와 지지고 볶고 살면서 미운정 고운정 다들었다”고 말한다“Living with my mother-in-law, bickering and fighting, I came to feel all the hateful and sweet jeong.”p5Two drivers arguing after a minor collision suddenly make peace when they discover they are from the same hometown or high school.
가벼운 자동차 접촉사고로 언쟁을 벌이다가 상대가 같은 고향사람이거나 같은 고등학교의 선후배 관계임을 알게 될 때…arguing over a minor car accident, when they learn the other person is from the same hometown or is a senior or junior from the same high school…p4Korean professors arrange in advance to go to lunch together, while someone who walks and eats alone tends to be seen as lonely or pitiable.
한국의 교수들 은 식당에 가기 전에 미리 같이 갈 약속을 하고 만나 서 식당을 간다.Korean professors make plans to go together before heading to the cafeteria, and meet up to go.p1In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
Korean “we” draws a line against outsiders — a “taking sides” kind of we — and jeong is the cement that binds such relationships together.
우리성관계의 형성에서 관계의 부착 및 밀착에 시벤트 역할을 하는 대인간의 정(情)이…jeong between people, which acts as cement in attaching and binding relationships in forming we-relations…p4Koreans believe deep jeong forms only when hateful jeong grows along with sweet jeong; the study asked how these seemingly contradictory feelings coexist.
깊은 정, 두터운 정은 고운정 뿐만 아니라 미운정까지 함께 들 때 생긴다고 한국인들은 믿는다Koreans believe that deep, thick jeong arises when not only sweet jeong but also hateful jeong forms together.p5Method
Two stages: first, open-ended questionnaires whose answers were grouped into categories; second, a 5-point survey built from those results, analyzed with factor analysis and structural equation modeling.
정을 표현하는 방법 및 이운정 고운정의 기능을 묻는 질문들로 구성되었…composed of questions asking how jeong is expressed and what functions hateful-and-sweet jeong has.p11총 170명의 피험자를 대상으로 실시하였고…was conducted with a total of 170 participants…p9총 271명이다. 피험자의 연령범위는 18세에서 48세이며…a total of 271 people. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 48…p11각 문항은 Likett 5점 척도 하에서 평가하도록 하였다Each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale.p11Detailed findings
Family, especially spouses, was named most often, followed by romantic partners and friends.
가장 많은 응답은 가족, 특히 부부관계였는데The most common answer was family, especially the marital relationship…p10Respondents said hateful-and-sweet jeong forms through repeated cycles of fighting, resenting, and making up.
싸우고 미워하다가도 다시 풀어지는 과정을 반복하는 가운데 형성된다…forms through repeating the process of fighting and resenting and then reconciling again.p10Of the five conditions for jeong, “treating each other without formality” consisted of moments when someone close behaves badly toward you — being selfish or cold.
정관계에 있으면서 자신에게 미운 행동을 하는 경우들임을 알 수 있다…these are cases in which someone in a jeong relationship behaves hatefully toward oneself.p11“We-ness and oneness” meant feeling that the relationship cannot be cut off despite resentment or hurt.
상대에 대한 미움이나 서운함에도 불구하고 관계를 끊을 수 없다고 생각하는 것이다…thinking that the relationship cannot be cut off despite resentment or hurt toward the other.p11Jeong is expressed through caring, considerate actions — yet jeong can also grow amid unwelcome words and annoying behavior.
내가 듣기 싫어하는 말을 한다거나 얄밉게 행동하는 등의 행위를 해도 정이 들 수 있음…implies that jeong can form even through actions such as saying things I don’t like to hear or behaving annoyingly.p13Jeong had three functions: feeling secure and supported, hindering rational judgment, and a no-distance ease where you need not read the room (nunchi) or keep up face (chemyeon).
눈치를 볼 필요가 없고 체면을 차리지 않는 무거리감No-distance: no need to read the room (nunchi) or keep up face (chemyeon).p13The most important path overall: a caring heart and caring actions lead to security and being able to rely on each other.
정의 구성과 그 행위 및 기능 면에서 가장 중요한 요소는 아껴주는 마음과 행위를 통해 든든함과 서로에게 의지가 된다는 것The most important element in jeong’s structure, actions, and functions is that through a caring heart and caring actions, people feel secure and can rely on each other.p16The hateful side (“treating without formality”) was part of forming jeong but unrelated to how jeong is expressed or what it does.
비록 성은 들 수 있으나 행위와 기능과의 관계에서 상관이 없음을 알 수 있다…although jeong may form, there is no relation with actions and functions.p16Authors’ interpretation
In advertising, jeong is warm like home and mother; in real relationships where people live elbow to elbow, it can hurt, annoy, and tire.
정이란 때로 서로를 아프게 할 수 있고 자신의 의도와 상관없이 상대를 상처 벌 수 있으며 때로 귀찮고 피곤한 것일 수 있다Jeong can at times hurt each other, wound the other regardless of one’s intention, and at times be bothersome and tiring.p17Hateful and sweet behaviors don’t separate: people feel hurt by small words while guessing those words are not the other’s true heart.
사소한 언행에 섭섭해하면서도 그것이 상대의 본심이 아님을 미루어 짐작하기 때문이다…because they feel hurt by trivial words and actions while inferring that these are not the other’s true heart.p17Jeong with only the sweet side is incomplete — the kind that can easily come apart when circumstances change.
고운정의 한 편만 존재한다면 그것은 완전치 못한 정이고If only the sweet side of jeong exists, it is incomplete jeong…p18Limits the authors note
Two of the five components — we-ness/oneness and human understanding — had reliability below .70, unlike the rest.
우리성 일서감과 상대에 대한 인간적 이해를 제의한 나머지 요인들은 .70 이상의 비교적 높은 신뢰도를 보였다The remaining factors, excluding we-ness/oneness and human understanding of the other, showed relatively high reliability of .70 or above.p11Among expressive actions, “true-heart actions” (speaking formally, being polite) had low reliability (.45).
등의 문항으로 구성되어 있고 .45의 비교적 낮은 신뢰도를 보였…composed of such items, and showed relatively low reliability of .45.p13Key terms
Jeong (정, 情) Not a strong feeling like love, but one that forms unnoticed — “like clothes getting wet in drizzle” — and is felt when looking back.
정은 '이슬비에 옷이 젖듯이' 자신도 모르는 사이에 생기는 감정이자 회고적 성격을 가진Jeong is a feeling that forms without one knowing, “like clothes getting wet in a drizzle,” and is retrospective in nature.p6Relational “we” A “we” felt not because of shared tasks or hobbies, but when people feel bound heart to heart and depend on each other.
마음으로 맺어진 관계성과 상호의존성이 경험되고 인식…when relatedness and interdependence bound by the heart are experienced and recognized…p3Jeongni (情理) and sari (事理) Ordinary relationships follow sari — the logic of reason and fairness; jeong relationships follow jeongni — the logic of jeong.
일반적 관계는 사리의 관계이지만 정관계는 정리의 관계이다Ordinary relationships are relationships of sari, but jeong relationships are relationships of jeongni.p7