Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association 1986;24(2):123-137.
논문편 : 한 , 미 양국 대학생의 성역할 정체감과 자존감에 관한 비교문화연구
정옥분
Sex role identity and self esteem among Korean and American college students
Ock Boon Chung
ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to answer the following questions : The first overall question had to do with the relationship between sex-role identity and self-esteem-more specifically, is androgyny or masculinity more importamt in explaining the variation in self-esteem? The second overall question had to do with the degree to which the relationship between sex-role identity and self-esteem is a universal or a culturally specific phenomeon-more specifically, is the relationship between sex-role identity and self-esteem the same in Korean and American cultures? The Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory were administered to 208 American college students and 207 Korean college students, respectively, in introductory sociology classes. The BSRI and SEI are standardized for American subjects and written in English. Prior to administering these instruments to Korean subjects, they were translated ito the Korean Language. In order to fully explore the data, qualitative as well as quantitative measurement of the BSRI were used, and both factorial and regression analyses were performed in this study. The most important cross-cultural differences found in the present study are directly related to the two research questions. In the U.S. sample, masculine attributes were found to be more important in explaining self-esteem. On the other hand, androgynous attributes were positively related to self-esteem in the Korean sample. These findings also provide the answer to the second question. That is, different cross-cultural patterns of relationship were found between sexrole identity and self-esteem, providing some support for a culture-bound relationship. These cross-cultural differences were discussed in terms of both confucian values held by Koreans and Bakan's suggestion of a positive relationship between agentic characteristics and modernization.
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