Contrary to the view that collectivist cultures lack self-enhancement, the study finds that Koreans also tend to see themselves in an inflated light — and that this is linked to psychological adjustment.
Cross-cultural Study of the Relationship between Self-Enhancement Bias and Psychological Adjustment
자기고양 편파와 심리적 적응의 관계에 대한 비교문화 연구
QUESTION
Do Koreans show a self-enhancement bias, how is it related to psychological adjustment, and how does this compare with an individualist culture (Germany)?
FINDINGS
Among Korean university students, the tendency to see oneself as better than one really is was meaningfully related to psychological adjustment.
한국 대학생들에게서 자기고양 편파와 심리적 적용은 유의미한 관계가 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다Among Korean college students, self-enhancement bias and psychological adjustment were found to have a significant relationship.p1Self-enhancement scores correlated fairly highly with self-esteem (.52).
자기고양은 자기 존중감과 .52의 비교적 높은 상관을 보였는데Self-enhancement showed a relatively high correlation of .52 with self-esteem…p11Comparing Korea and Germany, the link between self-enhancement and psychological adjustment was stronger in the Korean groups than in the German ones.
자기고양과 심리적 적응의 상관 정도는 독일 집단에 비해 한국 집단이 더 강한 것으로 드러났다The degree of correlation between self-enhancement and psychological adjustment was found to be stronger in the Korean group than in the German group.p17The author reads this as directly contradicting earlier claims that self-enhancement does not appear in collectivist cultures.
선행 연구들의 주장과 정면으로 대치되는 현상으로서 매우 홍미로운 결과라고 할 수 있다…a very interesting result, a phenomenon directly opposed to the claims of previous studies.p17집단주의 문화권에서는 자기고양 경향이 나타나지 않으며…that self-enhancement does not appear in collectivist cultures…p17IN DAILY LIFE
The proverb “If it goes well, it’s thanks to me; if it goes badly, blame the ancestors” — which the author says contains the typical features of self-enhancement bias.
'잘 되면 내 덕이고 못 되면 조상 탓'이라는 속담에는 자기고양 편파의 전형적인 특징이The proverb “If things go well, it’s my doing; if they go badly, it’s the ancestors’ fault” contains the typical features of self-enhancement bias…p16The idea that after a good dream you should buy a lottery ticket — which the author gives as an example of the “illusion of control,” believing you can sway what is really chance.
좋은 꿈을 꾸면 복권이나 한 장 산다는 생각이 아주 일반적으로 퍼져 있었다The idea that if you have a good dream you should at least buy a lottery ticket was very widespread.p16복권 당첨의 확률을 높일 수 있을 것이라 고 믿는 전형적인 통제의 착각에 해당된다…this is a typical illusion of control, believing one can raise the odds of winning the lottery.p16In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
Taylor and Brown reached the radical conclusion that people who see themselves in a balanced, unbiased way are not the well-adjusted ones but those who suffer — a claim that provoked much controversy.
편파적이지 않고 균형잡힌 형태로 자기 관련 정보를 처리하는 사람은 잘 적응한 사람이 아니라 주관적 고통을 경험하는 사람…a person who processes self-relevant information in a relatively unbiased, balanced form is not a well-adjusted person but one who experiences subjective distress…p2사람수. 196)”이라는 다 소 파격적인 결론을 내렸다…reached the somewhat radical conclusion…p2이러한 주장은 당연히 많은 논란을 불 러일으켰으며This claim naturally provoked much controversy…p2Meanwhile, researchers who divide cultures into individualist and collectivist argued that self-enhancement is common in individualist cultures but rare or even reversed in collectivist ones.
자기고양 편파 경향이 개인주의 문화권에서는 보편적으로 나타나지만, 집단주의 문화권에서는 드물게 나타나거나 반대로…[claims] that self-enhancement bias appears universally in individualist cultures, but appears rarely or in reverse in collectivist cultures…p4Method
Two studies. The first built a self-enhancement bias scale (final 10 items, 4-point) based on Taylor and Brown’s definition (overrating one’s abilities, overperceiving control, excessive optimism) and examined its correlations with adjustment measures; the second used the same scale to compare Korean and German students and workers.
척도와 자기 존중감, 생활만족감, 고독감 및 대인불안을 측정하는 척도들과의 상관관계를 살펴보았다…[we examined] the correlations of the scale with scales measuring self-esteem, life satisfaction, loneliness, and interpersonal anxiety.p9자기고양 편파와 심리적 적응의 관계를 파악하기 위하여 두 가지 연구를 수행하였다Two studies were conducted to understand the relationship between self-enhancement bias and psychological adjustment.p1자신의 능력을 비현실적 으로 긍정적으로 평가하는 경향이 있다…tend to evaluate their abilities unrealistically positively.p8자신이 개입한 모든 상황에서 높은 통제력을 지 니고 있는 것으로 지각하는 경향이 있다…tend to perceive themselves as having high control in every situation they are involved in.p8셋째, 자신의 현재나 미래에 대해 지나치게 낙관적으Third, [they tend to think] overly optimistically about their present or future…p8최 종적으로 확정한 10문항의 자기고양 편파 척도 를 사용하였다The finally confirmed 10-item self-enhancement bias scale was used.p10'완전히 그렇게 생각한디(4점)'의 4점 척 도로 평가하게 하였다…rated on a 4-point scale up to 'I completely think so (4 points)'.p10서울과 지방 소재 3개 대학에 재학중인 학생 247명에게 설문조사를Students enrolled at three universities in Seoul and other regionsp9최종적으로 238명(남 107명, 여 131명, 평균 연령 20.74세)의 자료를 분석하였…finally analyzed data from 238 people (107 men, 131 women, mean age 20.74).p9연구 대상에 노동자를 포함시켜 개인주의 문화권인 독일과 비교한…including workers among the participants and comparing with Germany, an individualist culture…p1설문조사를 실시하여 최종적으로 236명 의 자료를 분석하였다…conducted a survey and finally analyzed data from 236 people.p11국내 모 전자 회사에 근무하는 남여 생산직 근로자들에게 설문조사를 실시하여 최종적으로 163명의 자료를 분석하였다A survey of male and female production workers at a domestic electronics company; data from 163 were finally analyzed.p12학생들에게 설문조사를 실시하여 최종적으로 247 명의 자료를 분석하였다…surveyed students and finally analyzed data from 247 people.p12성별 미확인은 12명이었다 114명 전체의 평균 연령은 35.08세였다…12 did not report sex. The mean age of all 114 was 35.08.p12예비 연구에서 사용한 것과 동일한 척도를 사 용하였다The same scales as in the preliminary study were used.p12자기고양의 평균치는 한국 표집이 독일 표집보다 유의미하게 더 높았다The mean self-enhancement score was significantly higher in the Korean sample than in the German sample.p14Detailed findings
The scale had people answer statements like “I think my future is full of infinite possibilities,” from “I do not think so at all” to “I completely think so.”
나의 미래는 무한한 가능성으로 가득 차 있다고 생각한다I think my future is full of infinite possibilities.p9'전혀 그렇게 생각하지 않는다(1 점)'에서 '완전히 그렇게 생각한디(4점)'의 4점 척…from 'I do not think so at all (1 point)' to 'I completely think so (4 points)' on a 4-point scalep10In the first study, self-enhancement correlated fairly highly with self-esteem (.52) and somewhat less with life satisfaction.
자기고양은 자기 존중감과 .52의 비교적 높은 상관을 보였는데, 생활만족감과의 상관은 그보다 다소 낮은Self-enhancement showed a relatively high correlation of .52 with self-esteem, while its correlation with life satisfaction was somewhat lower…p11Among students, the correlation between self-enhancement and self-esteem was .61 for Koreans — higher than for German students.
자기고양과 자기 존중감의 상관은 한국 대학생들이 .61인데 비해The correlation between self-enhancement and self-esteem was .61 among Korean students, whereas…p12독일 대학생들은 37이었다 자기고양과 나머지 척도들의 관계에서도 한국 대학생들이…for German students it was .37. In relations between self-enhancement and the other scales, too, Korean students…p13Among workers too, the self-enhancement–self-esteem correlation was higher for Korean workers (.42) than for German workers (.23).
노동자들의 자기고양과 자기 존중감의 상관은 .42로서 한국 대학생들만큼 높지는 않았지만 독일 노동자들의 .23에 비해 높았다…workers’ correlation between self-enhancement and self-esteem was .42 — not as high as Korean students’, but higher than German workers’ .23.p13Average self-enhancement scores were meaningfully higher in the Korean sample than in the German sample.
자기고양의 평균치는 한국 표집이 독일 표집보다 유의미하게 더 높았다The mean of self-enhancement was significantly higher in the Korean sample than in the German sample.p14On the other hand, the positive adjustment indicators — self-esteem and life satisfaction — were meaningfully higher in the German sample.
심리적 적용의 긍정적 지표인 자기 존중감과 생활만족감은 독일 표집이 한국 표집보다 유의미하게 더Self-esteem and life satisfaction, the positive indicators of psychological adjustment, were significantly higher in the German sample than in the Korean sample.p14To check whether this was just a student trait, workers were also surveyed — and Korean students and workers did not differ in self-enhancement.
한국 대학생 집단과 노동자 집단은 자기고양 경향에서 유의미한 차이가 없었다The Korean student group and worker group showed no significant difference in self-enhancement tendency.p17한국 대학생 집단의 문화적 특수성 때문일 가능성도 있기 때문에 대학생활을 경험하지 못한 성인 노 동자 계층으로…because it might be due to the cultural specificity of Korean university students, [the scope was widened] to adult workers without college experience…p17Self-esteem was higher among workers than students in Germany, but in Korea it was the reverse — workers were lower than students.
독일의 경우에는 노동자 집단이 대학생 집단보다 자기 존중감이 유의미하게 높았는데, 한국의 경우에는 이와 반대로 노동자 집단이In Germany, the worker group had significantly higher self-esteem than the student group, while in Korea, conversely, the worker group…p17노동자 집단이 대학생 집 단보다 유의미하게 낮았다…the worker group was significantly lower than the student group.p17Authors’ interpretation
People in collectivist cultures can also act self-enhancingly when the focus of evaluation is on themselves rather than on their relationships with others or groups.
평가의 초점이 타인이나 집단과의 관계가 아닌 자기 자신에게 맞추어질 경우에 집단주의 문화권의 개인들도 자기고양적으로When the focus of evaluation is on oneself rather than on relationships with others or groups, individuals in collectivist cultures can also [behave] self-enhancingly.p6The individualism–collectivism framework spurred much research, but it also oversimplified the complexity of culture by lumping it into overly broad concepts.
도식은 문화의 복합성을 지나치게 포괄적인 개념으로 단순하게 처리하는 오류를 범하기도 하였다[The individualism–collectivism] scheme also made the error of treating the complexity of culture too simply, with overly broad concepts.p6도식은 여러 분야에 걸쳐 많은 연구들을 촉진시 킨 기폭제의 역할을 하였다…the scheme acted as a catalyst that spurred much research across many fields.p6Simply comparing the two countries’ averages is risky, since the same behavior can be adaptive in one culture and maladaptive in another.
동일한 행동 양식이라 할지라도 문화적 배경에 따라 어떤 문화에서는 적응적인 반응이 다른 문화에서는 부적응적일 수도Even the same behavior pattern, depending on cultural background, can be an adaptive response in one culture and maladaptive in another.p14문화적 배경이 현저하게 다른 두 집단의 평균치 를 단순 비교하는 것은 자칫 잘못된 판단을 내 릴 가능성이 있다Simply comparing the means of two groups with markedly different cultural backgrounds risks leading to wrong judgments.p14Limits the authors note
Many items were dropped while building the scale and its factor structure was unclear, so the author says one should question whether it truly measured self-enhancement.
조사를 거치면서 많은 문항이 삭제되었으며, 척도의 요인 구조가 명확하게 드러나지 않았다…many items were deleted through the [pilot] survey, and the factor structure of the scale did not appear clearly.p17본 연구자 제작한 자기고양 편파 척 도가 실제로 자기고양 경향을 제대로 측정하였 는지를 의심해 보아야 할 것이다…one should question whether the self-enhancement bias scale made by the researcher actually measured self-enhancement properly.p17Whether Koreans’ self-enhancement stems from positive illusions about their own abilities or is simply showing off for others remains to be confirmed.
단순히 남에게 보여주기 위한 과시적 행동에서 비롯된 것인지의 여부도 확인해야 할 것이다…whether it stems simply from showing-off behavior meant to impress others must also be checked.p18자기고양 경향이 자신의 능력에 대한 긍 정적 착각에서 비롯된 것인지…whether the self-enhancement tendency stems from positive illusions about one's abilities…p18Key terms
Self-enhancement bias The tendency to evaluate oneself more positively than one really is.
자기를 실제 이상으로 긍정적으로 평가하는 경향을 말한다…refers to the tendency to evaluate oneself more positively than one really is.p2Illusion of control Believing you can control things that actually happen through outside factors such as probability or luck.
확률이나 운과 같이 외적인 요인에 의해 발생하는 현상을 자신이 통제할 수 있다고 믿는 신념…the belief that one can control phenomena caused by external factors such as probability or luck…p16Psychological adjustment Something a person builds through their give-and-take with the surrounding social and cultural environment.
자신을 둘러싼 사회문화적 환경과의 상호작용 과정을 통해 형성해 나가는 것이다…is formed through the process of interaction with the sociocultural environment surrounding oneself.p2