Eunsoo Choi | Korea University, Republic of Korea (original) (raw)

Papers by Eunsoo Choi

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

In the published article, there was an error in the affiliation of the second and third author. T... more In the published article, there was an error in the affiliation of the second and third author. The affiliations of In-Jae Choi and Eunsoo Choi are switched. In-Jae Choi's affiliation is "National

Sustainability, 2020

Social enterprises, organizations that pursue social purposes while generating profits, have garn... more Social enterprises, organizations that pursue social purposes while generating profits, have garnered attention recently as potential key players for a sustainable economy. However, research on the perception of social enterprises by lay people has been ignored even though positive reception of social enterprises is an important condition for their sustainability. In the present study, we compared for-profit enterprise employees (n = 200) and social enterprise employees (n = 162) and examined their differences in attitude toward the profit-making aspects of social enterprises as well as the employees working for social enterprises. The results showed that for-profit enterprises overestimated that social enterprise employees were extrinsically motivated and underestimated their prosocial intentions. In addition, for-profit enterprise employees were less favorable toward the profit-making aspects of social enterprises, including payment of high salaries for the social enterprise emplo...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2023

The present study examined the difference between women and men in perceiving leadership roles. T... more The present study examined the difference between women and men in perceiving leadership roles. Two experiments, one conducted online and the other in a lab, investigated the subjective experiences of Japanese men and women when they are assigned with different roles (e.g., leader vs. subordinate). Both studies revealed that women perceived their role as less legitimate when they were assigned leader role (vs. subordinate role). In contrast, men did not differ in their perceived legitimacy according to the assigned roles. This discrepancy in legitimacy perception in response to different roles between men and women accounted for a significant variance in women's lower sense of status when they were a leader (vs. subordinate), but not among men. Our study results illustrate the psychological barrier operating for women in organizations that are embedded in a cultural context in which women leaders are highly underrepresented.

PSYCHOLOGIA

The present study examined the interacting effects of trait (central traits of personality: warm ... more The present study examined the interacting effects of trait (central traits of personality: warm vs. cold) and group information (in-group/out-group categorization: we versus other) in impression formation. These effects were investigated using the subliminal multiple-priming technique, in which the four possible combinations of trait and group information (warm-we, cold-we, warm-other, or cold-other) preceded picture stimuli of a person. Participants' overall impressions of the target person (such as good-bad and likable-dislikable judgments) were then assessed. The results revealed a significant interaction effect of characteristic and group information on the likableunlikable rating. The prime of we-cold led to a more favorable impression than those of other-cold and we-warm. The findings suggest the dynamic interaction of inconsistent information on impression formation and the implications of the present findings are discussed.

PLOS ONE

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction... more Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in wh...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

Previous research has shown that parental support has beneficial effects on the psychological wel... more Previous research has shown that parental support has beneficial effects on the psychological well-being of adolescents. Going beyond prior research, the present study made distinctions between information, emotional, and financial parental support and examined adolescents from United States (N = 1,002), China (N = 1,172), South Korea (N = 3,993), and Japan (N = 1,112). The frequency and impact of different types of perceived parental support on adolescents' positive self-belief and distress levels have been investigated. Consistent with the existing literature, the results showed American adolescents perceived greater emotional and informational support than others, while Chinese, Korean, and Japanese adolescents perceived greater tangible support compared to American adolescents. Notably, Chinese adolescents reported higher levels of parental support than other East Asian adolescents. The perceived parental support influenced positive self-beliefs equally across cultural groups, but informational support impacted distress to a greater degree for American adolescents than East Asian adolescents. The implications of the present research are discussed.

PLOS ONE, 2021

The present study examined the daily well-being of Koreans (n = 353,340) for 11 weeks during the ... more The present study examined the daily well-being of Koreans (n = 353,340) for 11 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 20 –April 7). We analyzed whether and how life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and life meaning changed during the outbreak. First, we found that the well-being of Koreans changed daily in a cubic fashion, such that it declined and recovered during the early phase but declined substantially during the later phase (after COVID- 19 was declared world pandemic by WHO). Second, unlike other emotions, boredom displayed a distinctive pattern of linear increase, especially for younger people, suggesting that boredom might be, in part, responsible for their inability to comply with social distancing recommendations. Third, the well-being of older people and males changed less compared to younger people and females. Finally, daily well-being dropped significantly more in the hard-hit regions than in other regions. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge for the world as people strive... more The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge for the world as people strive to cope with this significant threat to their well-being. This intensive longitudinal study of the first 94 days of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea (Phase 1: initial outbreak, Phase 2: intense social distancing) examined individuals’ changes in well-being, in relation to their use of coping strategies and fear of infection. A sample of 10,464 South Koreans participated in surveys during Phase 1 and Phase 2, resulting in 35,846 observations. Multilevel growth models revealed a decrease in well-being while different coping strategies moderated the individual rate of change in well-being. Although preventive measures were associated with a greater decrease in well-being, cognitive appraisal and behavioral strategies predicted stable well-being during the pandemic. Coping strategies further mediated the association between fear of infection and deterioration of well-being.

Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and mainly human phenomenon. The persistence of this behavior thro... more Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and mainly human phenomenon. The persistence of this behavior throughout adulthood has fascinated and puzzled many researchers. Scholars have argued that emotional tears serve an attachment function: Tears are thought to act as a social glue that binds individuals together and triggers social support intentions. Initial experimental studies supported this proposition across several methodologies, but these were typically conducted only across Western participants, resulting in limited generalizability. The present study examines this effect across 36 countries spanning all populated continents, providing the most comprehensive investigation of the social effects of tearful crying to-date. Next to testing possible mediating factors, we also examine a number of moderating factors, including the crier’s gender and group membership, the situational valence (positive or negative situations), the social context (in private or public settings), the perceived ...

THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND SOCIAL ISSUES, 2016

Happiness research has primarily been conducted based on the American model of happiness. The age... more Happiness research has primarily been conducted based on the American model of happiness. The agentic concept of happiness in the West emphasizes the positive feeling state stemming from individual achievement and positive interpersonal relationships. However, previous studies on lay theories of happiness in other East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, have suggested that these meanings of happiness differ from those of the Western cultural context. The present study examined the lay theory of happiness among Koreans using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, the authors compared the Korean model of happiness with that of the Japanese and Americans from Uchida and Kitayama (2009). The findings from the present research indicate that the Korean model of happiness involves both positive and negative states and consequences of happiness, unlike the uniformly positively connoted happiness in Western cultural contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the current findings on happiness research in the Korean culture.

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

Previous research indicates that social relatedness is beneficial to physical health; however, fi... more Previous research indicates that social relatedness is beneficial to physical health; however, findings on the relative strength of the relationship between these variables have been inconsistent. The present study employed cross-sectional survey (Study 1) and a daily diary survey (Study 2) to examine the link between social relatedness and physical health by age. Using a representative sample of Korean adults ( = 371) aged from 20 to 69, Study 1 examines the link between social relatedness (loneliness, perceived social support) and physical health (physical symptoms, chronic health conditions) using age as a moderator. The results show that participants' age moderates the association between social relatedness and physical health. Study 2 ( = 384) further corroborated the findings from Study 1 by showing that when controlling for the physical symptoms experienced prior to the daily diary reports, the level of loneliness experienced over a 13-day period exacerbates the age diffe...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2016

Previous research has documented that Asians tend to somatize negative experiences to a greater d... more Previous research has documented that Asians tend to somatize negative experiences to a greater degree than Westerners. It is posited that somatization may be a more functional communication strategy in Korean than American context. We examined the effects of somatization in communications of distress among participants from the US and Korea. We predicted that the communicative benefits of somatic words used in distress narratives would depend on the cultural contexts. In Study 1, we found that Korean participants used more somatic words to communicate distress than US participants. Among Korean participants, but not US participants, use of somatic words predicted perceived effectiveness of the communication and expectations of positive reactions (e.g., empathy) from others. In Study 2, we found that when presented with distress narratives of others, Koreans (but not Americans) showed more sympathy in response to narratives using somatic words than narratives using emotional words. These findings suggest that cultural differences in use of somatization may reflect differential effectiveness of somatization in communicating distress across cultural contexts.

The association between perceived stress with heightened negative emotions and dampened positive ... more The association between perceived stress with heightened negative emotions and dampened positive emotions is well established. Much less clear, however, is the extent to which ideal and experienced levels of hedonic balance (i.e., the difference in intensities between positive and negative emotions) predict stress across cultural contexts. There is wide cultural variation in dominant models of emotions; for example, the Russian cultural context is thought to emphasize low hedonic balance relative to European American or Hispanic American cultural contexts. Thirty-two European Americans, 25 Hispanic Americans, 33 Asian Americans, and 20 Russian Americans provided reports of ideal and momentary hedonic balance. Momentary reports were sampled over 10 days. Perceived levels of stress were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the study. There were cultural group differences in ideal and momentary hedonic balance, with Russian Americans reporting lower ideal and momentary hedonic balance than Hispanic Americans. Across cultural groups, lower levels of momentary hedonic balance were predictive of perceived stress. In the Russian American group, but not the other groups, lower ideal hedonic balance was associated with lower levels of perceived stress. These results suggest that the Russian cultural model of emotions shape both ideal and momentary hedonic balance, with lower levels of ideal hedonic protecting against the potentially stressful impact of low experienced hedonic balance.

Transcultural psychiatry, Jan 20, 2015

The meanings of "anhedonia" and "depressed mood," the cardinal emotional symp... more The meanings of "anhedonia" and "depressed mood," the cardinal emotional symptoms of major depression, may be shaped by cultural norms regarding pleasure and sadness. Thirty-two European Americans, 26 Hispanic Americans, 33 Asian Americans, and 20 Russian Americans provided reports of (a) depressive symptoms, (b) momentary emotions and pleasure, and (c) global subjective well-being. Momentary reports were collected over 10 days using handheld personal digital assistants. Reports of anhedonia were associated with heightened levels of momentary low arousal negative emotions (e.g., sadness), whereas reports of depressed mood were associated with dampened levels of momentary positive emotions (e.g., happiness). Symptoms of anhedonia and depressed mood interacted in their associations with momentary pleasure. In addition, the associations of anhedonia and depressed mood with positive emotions and life satisfaction differed across cultural groups. Specifically, these s...

Journal of Affective Disorders, 2022

Background: Workplace gender discrimination (WGD) may have long-term negative impacts on female w... more Background: Workplace gender discrimination (WGD) may have long-term negative impacts on female workers' mental health. We aimed to investigate the association between WGD and the prevalence of depressive symptoms using a nationally representative sample of female employees in South Korea. Methods: Data of 3190 adult female employees were obtained from the 2018 nationwide Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families. Women's perception of WGD was assessed using a 6-item questionnaire. Respondents were classified into high, medium, and low levels of WGD according to the 25th and 75th percentile scores. A score of ≥10 on the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Scale was defined as having significant depressive symptoms. Results: A high level of WGD was significantly associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) for depressive symptoms compared to the low level (OR = 1.87, 95% confidence interval = 1.45-2.41). In the subgroup analyses, high WGD levels were associated with the highest OR for depressive symptoms in the following subgroups: younger age (19-39 years), those with a college degree, non-standard workers, pink collar workers, those with a workplace size of 10-29 employees, those with high levels of job autonomy, or low levels of emotional labor. Limitations: Causal interpretation is limited owing to the study's cross-sectional design. Conclusions: A high level of perceived WGD was associated with depressive symptoms among female employees. Certain groups of female employees may be particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of WGD on depression.

PloS One, 2022

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction... more Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in which individuals can cope with communication in which facial expressions are paramount.

Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2021

As with other cognitively determined emotional experiences, regret is shaped by and expressed in ... more As with other cognitively determined emotional experiences, regret is shaped by and expressed in a particular cultural milieu. However, past research on regret has primarily been conducted in Western cultures, especially the United States, and cross-cultural research has been limited. In three studies, we employed various methods (survey, social media data, and experiment) to examine how regret is experienced differently in South Korea (a collectivistic culture) and in the United States (an individualistic culture). We discovered that regret experiences were dependent on the life domain in the collectivistic culture-individuals in this culture were more likely to be prevention-oriented and regretful about actions (what they have done) in social domains but more promotion-oriented and regretful about inactions (what they have failed to do) in personal domains. In comparison, those in the individualistic culture were more likely to regret inactions regardless of life domains, a tendency associated with a promotion focus.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2021

The pathogen stress hypothesis posits that pathogen-related threats influence regional and indivi... more The pathogen stress hypothesis posits that pathogen-related threats influence regional and individual differences in collectivism since behavioral practices associated with collectivism limit the spread of infectious diseases. In support of the hypothesis, previous research demonstrates the association between individualism/collectivism and pathogen stress based on historical records or experimental manipulation. However, it is still unclear whether individuals would indeed value collectivism during the outbreak of infectious diseases. Thus, we investigated the concurrent effects of pathogen-related stress on the endorsement of individualism/collectivism by examining 9322 Koreans for 14 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that the level of collectivism among respondents were higher after than before the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the average level of collectivism on a given day showed a significant association with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the same day during the outbreak. Interestingly, individualism did not significantly change for the same period.

Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 2021

Drinking alcohol and exercising are two of the most popular ways of dealing with stress. Despite ... more Drinking alcohol and exercising are two of the most popular ways of dealing with stress. Despite the fact that they often co-occur, few studies have examined the role of the two activities together in everyday wellbeing. The current research aimed to investigate the

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2021

Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and likely uniquely human phenomenon. Scholars have argued that em... more Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and likely uniquely human phenomenon. Scholars have argued that emotional tears serve an attachment function: Tears are thought to act as a social glue by evoking social support intentions. Initial experimental studies supported this proposition across several methodologies, but these were conducted almost exclusively on participants from North America and Europe, resulting in limited generalizability. This project examined the tears-social support intentions effect and possible mediating and moderating variables in a fully pre-registered study across 7007 participants (24,886 ratings) and 41 countries spanning all populated continents. Participants were presented with four pictures out of 100 possible targets with or without digitallyadded tears. We confirmed the main prediction that seeing a tearful individual elicits the intention to support, d = 0.49 [0.43, 0.55]. Our data suggest that this effect could be mediated by perceiving the crying target as warmer and more helpless, feeling more connected, as well as feeling more empathic concern for the crier, but

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

In the published article, there was an error in the affiliation of the second and third author. T... more In the published article, there was an error in the affiliation of the second and third author. The affiliations of In-Jae Choi and Eunsoo Choi are switched. In-Jae Choi's affiliation is "National

Sustainability, 2020

Social enterprises, organizations that pursue social purposes while generating profits, have garn... more Social enterprises, organizations that pursue social purposes while generating profits, have garnered attention recently as potential key players for a sustainable economy. However, research on the perception of social enterprises by lay people has been ignored even though positive reception of social enterprises is an important condition for their sustainability. In the present study, we compared for-profit enterprise employees (n = 200) and social enterprise employees (n = 162) and examined their differences in attitude toward the profit-making aspects of social enterprises as well as the employees working for social enterprises. The results showed that for-profit enterprises overestimated that social enterprise employees were extrinsically motivated and underestimated their prosocial intentions. In addition, for-profit enterprise employees were less favorable toward the profit-making aspects of social enterprises, including payment of high salaries for the social enterprise emplo...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2023

The present study examined the difference between women and men in perceiving leadership roles. T... more The present study examined the difference between women and men in perceiving leadership roles. Two experiments, one conducted online and the other in a lab, investigated the subjective experiences of Japanese men and women when they are assigned with different roles (e.g., leader vs. subordinate). Both studies revealed that women perceived their role as less legitimate when they were assigned leader role (vs. subordinate role). In contrast, men did not differ in their perceived legitimacy according to the assigned roles. This discrepancy in legitimacy perception in response to different roles between men and women accounted for a significant variance in women's lower sense of status when they were a leader (vs. subordinate), but not among men. Our study results illustrate the psychological barrier operating for women in organizations that are embedded in a cultural context in which women leaders are highly underrepresented.

PSYCHOLOGIA

The present study examined the interacting effects of trait (central traits of personality: warm ... more The present study examined the interacting effects of trait (central traits of personality: warm vs. cold) and group information (in-group/out-group categorization: we versus other) in impression formation. These effects were investigated using the subliminal multiple-priming technique, in which the four possible combinations of trait and group information (warm-we, cold-we, warm-other, or cold-other) preceded picture stimuli of a person. Participants' overall impressions of the target person (such as good-bad and likable-dislikable judgments) were then assessed. The results revealed a significant interaction effect of characteristic and group information on the likableunlikable rating. The prime of we-cold led to a more favorable impression than those of other-cold and we-warm. The findings suggest the dynamic interaction of inconsistent information on impression formation and the implications of the present findings are discussed.

PLOS ONE

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction... more Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in wh...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

Previous research has shown that parental support has beneficial effects on the psychological wel... more Previous research has shown that parental support has beneficial effects on the psychological well-being of adolescents. Going beyond prior research, the present study made distinctions between information, emotional, and financial parental support and examined adolescents from United States (N = 1,002), China (N = 1,172), South Korea (N = 3,993), and Japan (N = 1,112). The frequency and impact of different types of perceived parental support on adolescents' positive self-belief and distress levels have been investigated. Consistent with the existing literature, the results showed American adolescents perceived greater emotional and informational support than others, while Chinese, Korean, and Japanese adolescents perceived greater tangible support compared to American adolescents. Notably, Chinese adolescents reported higher levels of parental support than other East Asian adolescents. The perceived parental support influenced positive self-beliefs equally across cultural groups, but informational support impacted distress to a greater degree for American adolescents than East Asian adolescents. The implications of the present research are discussed.

PLOS ONE, 2021

The present study examined the daily well-being of Koreans (n = 353,340) for 11 weeks during the ... more The present study examined the daily well-being of Koreans (n = 353,340) for 11 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 20 –April 7). We analyzed whether and how life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and life meaning changed during the outbreak. First, we found that the well-being of Koreans changed daily in a cubic fashion, such that it declined and recovered during the early phase but declined substantially during the later phase (after COVID- 19 was declared world pandemic by WHO). Second, unlike other emotions, boredom displayed a distinctive pattern of linear increase, especially for younger people, suggesting that boredom might be, in part, responsible for their inability to comply with social distancing recommendations. Third, the well-being of older people and males changed less compared to younger people and females. Finally, daily well-being dropped significantly more in the hard-hit regions than in other regions. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge for the world as people strive... more The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge for the world as people strive to cope with this significant threat to their well-being. This intensive longitudinal study of the first 94 days of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea (Phase 1: initial outbreak, Phase 2: intense social distancing) examined individuals’ changes in well-being, in relation to their use of coping strategies and fear of infection. A sample of 10,464 South Koreans participated in surveys during Phase 1 and Phase 2, resulting in 35,846 observations. Multilevel growth models revealed a decrease in well-being while different coping strategies moderated the individual rate of change in well-being. Although preventive measures were associated with a greater decrease in well-being, cognitive appraisal and behavioral strategies predicted stable well-being during the pandemic. Coping strategies further mediated the association between fear of infection and deterioration of well-being.

Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and mainly human phenomenon. The persistence of this behavior thro... more Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and mainly human phenomenon. The persistence of this behavior throughout adulthood has fascinated and puzzled many researchers. Scholars have argued that emotional tears serve an attachment function: Tears are thought to act as a social glue that binds individuals together and triggers social support intentions. Initial experimental studies supported this proposition across several methodologies, but these were typically conducted only across Western participants, resulting in limited generalizability. The present study examines this effect across 36 countries spanning all populated continents, providing the most comprehensive investigation of the social effects of tearful crying to-date. Next to testing possible mediating factors, we also examine a number of moderating factors, including the crier’s gender and group membership, the situational valence (positive or negative situations), the social context (in private or public settings), the perceived ...

THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND SOCIAL ISSUES, 2016

Happiness research has primarily been conducted based on the American model of happiness. The age... more Happiness research has primarily been conducted based on the American model of happiness. The agentic concept of happiness in the West emphasizes the positive feeling state stemming from individual achievement and positive interpersonal relationships. However, previous studies on lay theories of happiness in other East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, have suggested that these meanings of happiness differ from those of the Western cultural context. The present study examined the lay theory of happiness among Koreans using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, the authors compared the Korean model of happiness with that of the Japanese and Americans from Uchida and Kitayama (2009). The findings from the present research indicate that the Korean model of happiness involves both positive and negative states and consequences of happiness, unlike the uniformly positively connoted happiness in Western cultural contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the current findings on happiness research in the Korean culture.

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

Previous research indicates that social relatedness is beneficial to physical health; however, fi... more Previous research indicates that social relatedness is beneficial to physical health; however, findings on the relative strength of the relationship between these variables have been inconsistent. The present study employed cross-sectional survey (Study 1) and a daily diary survey (Study 2) to examine the link between social relatedness and physical health by age. Using a representative sample of Korean adults ( = 371) aged from 20 to 69, Study 1 examines the link between social relatedness (loneliness, perceived social support) and physical health (physical symptoms, chronic health conditions) using age as a moderator. The results show that participants' age moderates the association between social relatedness and physical health. Study 2 ( = 384) further corroborated the findings from Study 1 by showing that when controlling for the physical symptoms experienced prior to the daily diary reports, the level of loneliness experienced over a 13-day period exacerbates the age diffe...

Frontiers in Psychology, 2016

Previous research has documented that Asians tend to somatize negative experiences to a greater d... more Previous research has documented that Asians tend to somatize negative experiences to a greater degree than Westerners. It is posited that somatization may be a more functional communication strategy in Korean than American context. We examined the effects of somatization in communications of distress among participants from the US and Korea. We predicted that the communicative benefits of somatic words used in distress narratives would depend on the cultural contexts. In Study 1, we found that Korean participants used more somatic words to communicate distress than US participants. Among Korean participants, but not US participants, use of somatic words predicted perceived effectiveness of the communication and expectations of positive reactions (e.g., empathy) from others. In Study 2, we found that when presented with distress narratives of others, Koreans (but not Americans) showed more sympathy in response to narratives using somatic words than narratives using emotional words. These findings suggest that cultural differences in use of somatization may reflect differential effectiveness of somatization in communicating distress across cultural contexts.

The association between perceived stress with heightened negative emotions and dampened positive ... more The association between perceived stress with heightened negative emotions and dampened positive emotions is well established. Much less clear, however, is the extent to which ideal and experienced levels of hedonic balance (i.e., the difference in intensities between positive and negative emotions) predict stress across cultural contexts. There is wide cultural variation in dominant models of emotions; for example, the Russian cultural context is thought to emphasize low hedonic balance relative to European American or Hispanic American cultural contexts. Thirty-two European Americans, 25 Hispanic Americans, 33 Asian Americans, and 20 Russian Americans provided reports of ideal and momentary hedonic balance. Momentary reports were sampled over 10 days. Perceived levels of stress were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the study. There were cultural group differences in ideal and momentary hedonic balance, with Russian Americans reporting lower ideal and momentary hedonic balance than Hispanic Americans. Across cultural groups, lower levels of momentary hedonic balance were predictive of perceived stress. In the Russian American group, but not the other groups, lower ideal hedonic balance was associated with lower levels of perceived stress. These results suggest that the Russian cultural model of emotions shape both ideal and momentary hedonic balance, with lower levels of ideal hedonic protecting against the potentially stressful impact of low experienced hedonic balance.

Transcultural psychiatry, Jan 20, 2015

The meanings of "anhedonia" and "depressed mood," the cardinal emotional symp... more The meanings of "anhedonia" and "depressed mood," the cardinal emotional symptoms of major depression, may be shaped by cultural norms regarding pleasure and sadness. Thirty-two European Americans, 26 Hispanic Americans, 33 Asian Americans, and 20 Russian Americans provided reports of (a) depressive symptoms, (b) momentary emotions and pleasure, and (c) global subjective well-being. Momentary reports were collected over 10 days using handheld personal digital assistants. Reports of anhedonia were associated with heightened levels of momentary low arousal negative emotions (e.g., sadness), whereas reports of depressed mood were associated with dampened levels of momentary positive emotions (e.g., happiness). Symptoms of anhedonia and depressed mood interacted in their associations with momentary pleasure. In addition, the associations of anhedonia and depressed mood with positive emotions and life satisfaction differed across cultural groups. Specifically, these s...

Journal of Affective Disorders, 2022

Background: Workplace gender discrimination (WGD) may have long-term negative impacts on female w... more Background: Workplace gender discrimination (WGD) may have long-term negative impacts on female workers' mental health. We aimed to investigate the association between WGD and the prevalence of depressive symptoms using a nationally representative sample of female employees in South Korea. Methods: Data of 3190 adult female employees were obtained from the 2018 nationwide Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families. Women's perception of WGD was assessed using a 6-item questionnaire. Respondents were classified into high, medium, and low levels of WGD according to the 25th and 75th percentile scores. A score of ≥10 on the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Scale was defined as having significant depressive symptoms. Results: A high level of WGD was significantly associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) for depressive symptoms compared to the low level (OR = 1.87, 95% confidence interval = 1.45-2.41). In the subgroup analyses, high WGD levels were associated with the highest OR for depressive symptoms in the following subgroups: younger age (19-39 years), those with a college degree, non-standard workers, pink collar workers, those with a workplace size of 10-29 employees, those with high levels of job autonomy, or low levels of emotional labor. Limitations: Causal interpretation is limited owing to the study's cross-sectional design. Conclusions: A high level of perceived WGD was associated with depressive symptoms among female employees. Certain groups of female employees may be particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of WGD on depression.

PloS One, 2022

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction... more Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in which individuals can cope with communication in which facial expressions are paramount.

Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2021

As with other cognitively determined emotional experiences, regret is shaped by and expressed in ... more As with other cognitively determined emotional experiences, regret is shaped by and expressed in a particular cultural milieu. However, past research on regret has primarily been conducted in Western cultures, especially the United States, and cross-cultural research has been limited. In three studies, we employed various methods (survey, social media data, and experiment) to examine how regret is experienced differently in South Korea (a collectivistic culture) and in the United States (an individualistic culture). We discovered that regret experiences were dependent on the life domain in the collectivistic culture-individuals in this culture were more likely to be prevention-oriented and regretful about actions (what they have done) in social domains but more promotion-oriented and regretful about inactions (what they have failed to do) in personal domains. In comparison, those in the individualistic culture were more likely to regret inactions regardless of life domains, a tendency associated with a promotion focus.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2021

The pathogen stress hypothesis posits that pathogen-related threats influence regional and indivi... more The pathogen stress hypothesis posits that pathogen-related threats influence regional and individual differences in collectivism since behavioral practices associated with collectivism limit the spread of infectious diseases. In support of the hypothesis, previous research demonstrates the association between individualism/collectivism and pathogen stress based on historical records or experimental manipulation. However, it is still unclear whether individuals would indeed value collectivism during the outbreak of infectious diseases. Thus, we investigated the concurrent effects of pathogen-related stress on the endorsement of individualism/collectivism by examining 9322 Koreans for 14 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that the level of collectivism among respondents were higher after than before the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the average level of collectivism on a given day showed a significant association with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the same day during the outbreak. Interestingly, individualism did not significantly change for the same period.

Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 2021

Drinking alcohol and exercising are two of the most popular ways of dealing with stress. Despite ... more Drinking alcohol and exercising are two of the most popular ways of dealing with stress. Despite the fact that they often co-occur, few studies have examined the role of the two activities together in everyday wellbeing. The current research aimed to investigate the

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2021

Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and likely uniquely human phenomenon. Scholars have argued that em... more Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and likely uniquely human phenomenon. Scholars have argued that emotional tears serve an attachment function: Tears are thought to act as a social glue by evoking social support intentions. Initial experimental studies supported this proposition across several methodologies, but these were conducted almost exclusively on participants from North America and Europe, resulting in limited generalizability. This project examined the tears-social support intentions effect and possible mediating and moderating variables in a fully pre-registered study across 7007 participants (24,886 ratings) and 41 countries spanning all populated continents. Participants were presented with four pictures out of 100 possible targets with or without digitallyadded tears. We confirmed the main prediction that seeing a tearful individual elicits the intention to support, d = 0.49 [0.43, 0.55]. Our data suggest that this effect could be mediated by perceiving the crying target as warmer and more helpless, feeling more connected, as well as feeling more empathic concern for the crier, but