Asking 3,406 students, parents, and teachers what raises and lowers quality of life, the study found relationships, money, self-regulation, and education at the core.
Factors Influencing Quality of Life for Individuals and Korean Society: Indigenous Psychological Analysis across Different Generations
한국 사회와 개인 삶의 질 인식에 대한 토착심리 탐구: 삶의 질을 높이는 요소와 낮추는 요소에 대한 세대별 지각을 중심으로
QUESTION
How do Korean elementary, middle, high school, and university students, their parents, and teachers perceive the factors that raise and lower quality of life in Korean society and in their own lives — and what does this reveal about Korean indigenous psychology?
FINDINGS
Both students and adults named “economic factors” most often (over 30%) as what raises quality of life in Korean society.
삶의 질을 높이는 가장 대표적인 범 주로 '경제적 요인'이 30% 이상의 높은 반응 율을 보이고…as the most representative category raising quality of life, “economic factors” showed a high response rate of over 30%…p6학생과 성인의 모는 하위집단에서 ,경제적 요 인'이 가장 높은 비율을 보였다…'economic factors' showed the highest rate in all subgroups of students and adults.p6As what lowers quality of life in Korean society, students most often named political instability, adults economic instability.
한국 사회 삶의 질을 낮추는 요소로 학생은 정치 불안을, 성인은 경제 불안을 가장 많이 지적하였다As factors lowering quality of life in Korean society, students most often pointed to political instability and adults to economic instability.p1Students rated their quality of life more positively the better off their family, the younger they were, and the better their grades.
학생은 가정의 경제수준이 높을수록, 나이가 어릴수록, 학업성적 이 좋을수록, 자기의 삶의 질을 긍정적으로 인식하였다Students perceived their quality of life more positively the higher their family’s economic level, the younger they were, and the better their academic grades.p1Most striking: Koreans believe that getting along well with others is very important for a high quality of life.
한국 사람들이 높은 삶의 질을 구현하 기 위해 인간관계를 원만하게 잘 하는 것이 매우 중요하다는 인식을 하고 있다는 점이다…the point that Koreans perceive that maintaining harmonious relationships is very important for achieving a high quality of life.p25라는 질문을 던졌을 때 이 연구의 결과로부터 가장 주목하게 되는 것은…when this question is asked, what stands out most from the results of this study is…p25IN DAILY LIFE
Many people who won billions of won in the lottery ended up unhappy as their relationships with family and friends fell apart (a TV broadcast case).
로또가 수십억 이상 당침되었어도 가족이나 친구들과의 관계가 붕 괴되면서 결과적으로 행복하지 않은 경우가 많았Even after winning billions in the lottery, there were many cases in which relationships with family and friends collapsed and, as a result, people were not happy.p26로또복권 때문에 인생 역전을 이룬 사람들의 이야기(SBS, 2006년 1월 14일)…the stories of people whose lives were turned around by the lottery (SBS, January 14, 2006)…p27Cyworld (“Cy”) became so common that hardly any teenager was not a member and active on it.
인터넷 '싸이' 에 가입하여 활동하지 않는 청소년이 없을 정 도로 싸이는 보편적인 것이 되었다…“Cy” on the internet has become so universal that there is hardly a teenager who has not joined and is not active on it.p31In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
Earlier research (Inglehart) found that, comparing people born from the 1920s to the 1970s, the shift toward post-materialist values was most rapid in Korea — meaning large value gaps between generations.
특별히 한국에서 이러한 변화가 가장 급격 하게 나타나는 것으로 확인되었다…it was confirmed that this change appeared most rapidly in Korea in particular.p31nglehart(1997)가 1920년대 출생자들에서부터 1970년대 출생자들을 비교했을 때When Inglehart (1997) compared people born in the 1920s through those born in the 1970s…p3세대 집단간에 근대화로부터 탈현대화되는 가치의 차이가 매 우 현저하다고 해석할 수 있다…it can be interpreted that the value gap between generational groups, from modernization to postmodernization, is very marked.p3The authors' earlier study focused on individual life and left out perceptions of quality of life in Korean society as a whole; this study fills that gap and also looks at what lowers quality of life.
그러나 분석의 초점이 개인생활에 있었 기 때문에, 한국 사회의 전반적인 삶의 질에 관한 사람들의 인식이 포함되지 않았다However, because the focus of the analysis was on individual life, people’s perceptions of the overall quality of life in Korean society were not included.p4삶의 질을 낮추는 요소가 무엇인지에 대 해 더불어 검토하는 것이 필요하다…it is also necessary to examine what the factors lowering quality of life are.p4인 삶의 질을 높이는 요소와 낮추는 요소에 대해 어떠한 인식을 갖고 있는지를 종합적으 로 분석함으로써…by comprehensively analyzing how they perceive the factors that raise and lower [social and individual] quality of life…p4Method
An open-ended questionnaire survey: answers were grouped into categories and counted; quality-of-life ratings and background variables (age, family economic level, achievement) were analyzed with correlation and multiple regression.
이 연구를 위한 분석대상은 총 3,406명이었 디(학생_1,331명, 성인-2,075명)The total number of participants for this study was 3,406 (students: 1,331; adults: 2,075).p5남녀 초, 중, 고, 대학생 1,331명과 그들의 부모 및 교사 2,075명이었다…1,331 male and female elementary, middle, high school and university students and 2,075 of their parents and teachers.p1학생은 초 중 인문고 실업고와 대학생이 모두 포함되었으 며Students included elementary, middle, academic high school, vocational high school and university students.p5유 사한 항목들을 묶어 범주를 구성하였다 모든 항목과 범주에 양적인 값을 부여하여 분석틀 을 제작하고…similar items were grouped to form categories; quantitative values were assigned to all items and categories to build a coding frame…p6모든 자유반 응문항들을 양적인 값으로 입력하여 빈도분석 을 실시하였다…all open-ended responses were entered as quantitative values and frequency analysis was conducted.p6여러 배경변인들에 대한 응답은 답지에 기록된 값들을 그대로 입력하여, 상관 관계분석과 중다회귀분석(stepwise 방식)을 하였 다…responses on various background variables were entered as recorded, and correlation and (stepwise) multiple regression analyses were conducted.p6삶의 질 수준에 대한 지 각과 연령, 가정의 경제수준 및 성취도와의 관계를 살펴보고…to examine the relationship between perceived quality-of-life level and age, family economic level, and achievement…p5가정생활 학교생활 직장생활 여가생활 및 종합적으로 삶의 질을 높이는 요 소와 낮추는 요소를 응답자들이 직접 기록했 다…respondents themselves wrote down the factors raising and lowering quality of life in family, school, work, and leisure life, and overall.p5각 생활 영역에 대해 삶의 질 수 준을 7점 척도에서 응답하도록 했다…they rated their quality-of-life level for each life domain on a 7-point scale.p5Detailed findings
“Economic factors” were named most often (over 30%) as raising quality of life in Korean society, followed by “people's effort,” “culture/leisure,” and “harmonious relationships.”
삶의 질을 높이는 가장 대표적인 범 주로 '경제적 요인'이 30% 이상의 높은 반응 율을 보이고…as the most representative category raising quality of life, “economic factors” showed a high response rate of over 30%…p6두 번째로는 '국민들의 노력'이 25% 이상으로 부각되었으며, 세 번째로는 '문 화/여가생활'이…second, 'citizens' effort' stood out at over 25%, and third, 'culture/leisure life'…p6그 다음으로 '원만한 인간관계'가 지적되었고, 이외에 '올바른 정책'…next, 'harmonious human relationships' was pointed out…p6That “people's effort” came second suggests Koreans value self-regulation — effort and willpower — not only in personal life but for society as a whole.
삶을 질을 높이는 요소로 국민들의 노력이 두 번째로 중요하게 부각된 사실은The fact that people’s effort emerged as the second most important factor raising quality of life…p9한국 사 람들이 노력이나 의지력과 같은 자기를 조절 하고 관리하는 것을 중요시 여기는 경향을 개 인의 삶에서 만이 아니라 한국 사회라는 집단 에 대한 인식에서도…Koreans' tendency to value regulating and managing oneself, such as effort and willpower, not only in individual life but also in their perception of Korean society as a collective…p9High educational zeal was named both as raising quality of life and, through side effects like excessive competition, as lowering it — seen as two sides of the same coin.
높은 교육열과 이로 인한 높은 학력 이 동전의 양면처럼 한국 사회의 삶의 질을 높이는 요소로도 중요하지만…high educational zeal and the resulting high educational attainment, like two sides of a coin, are important as factors raising the quality of life in Korean society, but…p9과도한 경쟁과 같이 그것의 부작용이 한국 사회 삶의 질을 떨어뜨릴 수도 있는 것으로 지각되고 있음을…its side effects, such as excessive competition, are perceived as possibly lowering quality of life in Korean society.p9As what lowers quality of family life, students most often named conflict among family members, adults financial problems.
가정생활 삶의 질을 낮추는 요소로 학생은 가족 간의 갈등을, 성인은 경제문제를 가장 많이 지적하였다As factors lowering quality of family life, students most often pointed to conflict among family members and adults to financial problems.p1Students at every level — elementary through university — named “friendships” as the most important factor raising quality of school life.
삶의 질을 높이는 요소로 '친구관계'가 가장 중요한 범주로 확인되었으며…“friendships” were confirmed as the most important category raising quality of life…p12표 6에 제시된 바와 같이, 초 중 고 대학생 집단 모두 학교생활As shown in Table 6, in all groups of elementary, middle, high school and university students, school life…p12The biggest factor lowering quality of school life was friend problems for elementary students and academic burden for middle school, high school, and university students.
초등학생들은 친구문제가, 중 고 대 학생들은 학업에 대한 부담이 학교생활에서 삶의 질을 낮추는 가장 대표적인 요소라고 할 수 있는데…for elementary students, problems with friends, and for middle school, high school, and university students, academic burden can be said to be the most representative factor lowering quality of school life…p12At work, parents emphasized economic factors such as income, while teachers emphasized a sense of achievement — job satisfaction and meaning.
부모집 단에서는 수입에 초점을 둔 경제적인 요인을 보다 강조하는 반면에, 교사집단에서는 일의 만족이나 보람과 같은 성취감을 더욱 강조하…the parent group emphasized economic factors focused on income more, whereas the teacher group emphasized a sense of achievement, such as job satisfaction and fulfillment…p16For adults, family economic level explained 30% of overall quality of life, and achievement added another 6%.
성인들의 경우에는 가정의 경제수준이 30% 의 설명력을 보이고, 그 다음으로 성취도가 6%의 설명력을 추가하였다For adults, family economic level showed 30% explanatory power, and achievement added a further 6%.p24Authors’ interpretation
Money is a necessary condition for quality of life but not a sufficient one; confusing the two can turn money that could help into something harmful.
필요조건인 재화를 필요충분조건으로 사람들이 오해하는…people mistaking wealth, a necessary condition, for a necessary and sufficient condition…p28삶의 질 향상에 도움이 되는 양 화의 소재를 악화로 변형시킬 수 있다…can turn what would be good money that helps improve quality of life into bad money.p28필요충분조건이 아 닌 필요조건으로서의 경제적 요인…economic factors as a necessary, not a necessary-and-sufficient, condition…p25The authors see self-regulation — thinking positively, working sincerely, managing oneself — as one of the great secrets to creating happiness in Korean life.
한국 사람의 삶에 서 행복을 창조하는 대단한 비법 중의 하나가 자기조절이라고 할 수 있을 것이다…one of the great secrets to creating happiness in Koreans’ lives can be said to be self-regulation.p29자기의 마음 긍정적인 사고를 통해 성실한 노력의 자세로 스스로 관리할 수 있게 되었을 때…when one becomes able to manage one's own mind through positive thinking and an attitude of diligent effort…p29Even self-regulation and educational achievement, which seem unrelated to relationships, are largely rooted in a relationship-centered culture.
얼핏 보기에는 관계주의와 무관해 보이는 자기조절이나 심지어 교육적 성취마저도 그 저변에 흐르고 있는 정신은 상 당부분 관계문화에 뿌리를 둔 것이라고 할 수 있다…even self-regulation and educational achievement, which at first glance seem unrelated to relationalism, have an underlying spirit largely rooted in relational culture.p31Limits the authors note
Key terms
Post-materialism (탈물질주의) The tendency to pursue quality of life rather than economic growth for survival, and not to emphasize authority.
생존을 위한 경제성장보다는 삶의 질 을 추구하고, 권위를 강조하지 않는 것…pursuing quality of life rather than economic growth for survival, and not emphasizing authority…p4Self-regulation (자기조절) In this study, used to mean thinking positively and having an active attitude.
긍정적으로 사고하고 적극적인 태도를 갖는다는 의미에서의 자기조절…self-regulation in the sense of thinking positively and having an active attitude…p29“Cy” and the culture of sai (사이, 間) The “Cy” in Cyworld reads as the “cy” of cyber in English and as sai (사이, “between” people) in Korean.
영 어로는 사이버의 싸이(다)이고 한국말로는 사 이(間)로서In English it is the “cy” of cyber, and in Korean it is sai (間, between)…p31