• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-130
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• 2018

Social class has become a major focus of research in the field of Western psychology due to its critical impact on human life. The Korean scholarship in psychology, however, has paid very little attention to the issue of social class despite the deepening of social stratification in the country; and the concepts and measurement they used were typically borrowed from sociology. In this study, I discussed what social class means and how it should be measured in order to emphasize the importance of the concept and its related issues. To this end, I examined a variety of theoretical backgrounds on the measurement of social class and the concept of socioeconomic status (SES)-a term commonly used as a synonym for social class. This study divided the method of measuring social class into objective social class and subjective social class, and outlined the characteristics of each approach and their main indicators. Finally, I assessed the recent trend in the Korean psychology on social class measurement. Among the 23 studies I have found, 65.2% used the objective social class index; and education was the objective indicator they most frequently employed, followed by income and occupation. Social stratification identity was used in all seven studies that applied subjective social class. And seven different words to describe social class was found. Based on these results, I concluded that there should be a call for more direct research on social class variables. In addition, I suggest that 'social class', instead of socioeconomic status, should be used as a preferred term in the future studies and propose a few notes on how to use the objective indicators and subjective social class measurement.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.281-291
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• 2019

Objectives: The validity of instruments measuring socioeconomic position (SEP) has been a major area of concern in research on cardiovascular health disparities. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the current status of the methods used to measure SEP in research on cardiovascular health disparities in Korea and to provide directions for future research. Methods: Relevant articles were obtained through electronic database searches with manual searches of reference lists and no restriction on the date of publication. SEP indicators were categorized into compositional, contextual, composite, and life-course measures. Results: Forty-eight studies published from 2003 to 2018 satisfied the review criteria. Studies utilizing compositional measures mainly relied on a limited number of SEP parameters. In addition, these measures hardly addressed the time-varying and subjective features of SEP. Finding valid contextual measures at the organizational, community, and societal levels that are appropriate to Korea's context remains a challenge, and these are rarely modeled simultaneously. Studies have rarely focused on composite and life-course measures. Conclusions: Future studies should develop and utilize valid compositional and contextual measures and appraise social patterns that vary across time, place, and culture using such measures. Studies should also consider multilevel influences, adding a focus on the interactions between different levels of intertwined SEP factors to advance the design of research. More attention should be given to composite and life-course measures.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.23 no.2 s.74
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• pp.137-148
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• 2005

This study compared one-child households' economic structures between those who determined not to have more children and those who have a birth plan. This study examined the demographic characteristics and economic variables such as income, consumption expenditures, assets. debt, and a subjective evaluation of future economic status. Especially, it compared the effects of socioeconomic variables on expenditures on a child between low-fertility and birth-planned households. From a questionnaire completed by a husband or wife of one-child households, 154 low-fertility households and 201 birth-planned households were obtained. A t-test, chi-square test, multiple regression analysis and a dummy variable interaction technique were used. The findings of this study are as follows: First, low-fertility households were older, had higher income, and had more educated, employed wives. Their marital duration was longer, and their child was older than those of birth-planned households. Second, low-fertility households had higher consumption expenditures than did birth-planned households. Especially, expenditures of apparel and shoes, health care, education, and entertainment were significantly higher for low-fertility households. Also, low-fertility households spent more than did birth-planned households on a child. However, low-fertility households had significantly more debt than did their counterparts, and their expectation level of future economic status were lower than that of birth-planned households. Third, the effects of socioeconomic variables on expenditures on a child were different between low-fertility and birth-planned households. Age, education level, husband's occupation, wife's employment status, income, net asset, and subjective evaluation of future economic status showed significant differences. Income elasticity of expenditure on a child was significantly higher for low-fertility households than their counterparts.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.864-873
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• 2022

The subjective health status of adolescence reflects one's overall socio-emotional function and is an important factor in determining the health-related quality of life during this period. This study was to identify the correlation between subjective health status and health equity of adolescents. Data from the 16th online survey of youth health behavior (2020) was used to analyze 39,987 adolescents. Health equity was used as indicator for residential areas, economic conditions perceived by students, household abundance, family type, and parental education. Subjective health status was classified as a healthy group("very healthy", "healthy") and unhealthy group("normal", "unhealthy", and "very unhealthy") in response to the question "how do you think your health is usually?" The data were analyzed using complex sample analysis by using SPSS/Win 22.0. Significant factors related to the subjective health status of subjects were the area of residence (OR=0.86, p=.031), economic level (OR=1.33-2.09, p<.001), and family type (OR=1.24, p=.033). The economic level perceived by adolescents was the most important variable related to the subjective health status of adolescents, and adolescents from multicultural families often perceived their health as unhealthy compared to adolescents from general families. Therefore, there is a need for continuous interest in adolescents with low economic levels and adolescents from multicultural families and specific strategies to improve their health status.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.288-302
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• 2019

Background: The one-person households (OPH) are rapidly increasing and vulnerable to socioeconomic and health problems. Because it is predicted to be inequitable to health care utilization, we would like to find out about the equity of health care utilization of the OPH by comparison with the multi-person households (MPH). Methods: This study followed the theoretical framework of Wagstaff and van Doorslaer (2000), O'Donnell and his colleagues (2008), where the horizontal inequity index is the difference between the concentration indices of actual health care utilization and health care needs. This study employed the 9th Korea Health Panel survey, and a total of 10,807 cases were analyzed. Health care needs were measured by age, sex, subjective health status, chronic disease count, Charlson's Comorbidity Index, limitation of activities, and disability. Results: Compared with the MPH, there were pro-poor inequities in hospitalization, emergency utilization, hospitalization out-of-pocket payments, and pro-rich inequities in outpatient out-of-pocket payments for the OPH. The decomposition of the concentration index revealed that chronic disease count made the largest contribution to socioeconomic inequality in outpatient utilization. Age, health insurance, economic activities, and subjective health status also proved more important contributors to inequality. The variables contributing to the hospitalization and emergency utilization inequity were age, education, Charlson's Comorbidity Index, marital status, and income. Conclusion: Because the OPH was more vulnerable to health problems than the MPH and there were pro-poor inequities in medical utilization, hospitalization, and emergency costs, it is necessary to develop a policy that can correct and improve the portion of high contribution to medical utilization of the OPH.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 1995

This study aims 1) To explicate the multidimensional structure of a widely used measure of subjective well-being, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center(PGC) Morale Scale is used to measure health in elderly populations and 2) To examine the relationship between the socioeconomic status and related variables, health and physical disability and subjective well-being in elderly populations. The selection of subjects was determined through a survey of 672 rural dwelling elderly persons(269 males and 403 females) aged 60 years and over. The respondents were interviewed by 18 trained health workers using the questionnaire from July 4 to July 9 in 1994. The subjects were surveyed again during the period from August 1 to August 6 in 1994 to conform the questionnaire's reliability. Subjective well-being was evaluated using the Revised Questionnaire of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center(PGC) Moral Scale(17 items, Lawton, 1975). The results are as follows : 1) The item scores were intercorrelated and subjected to a principal component analysis. A rotated three-factor solution was done, accounting for 40.9% of the total variance. Thus, the PGC morale Scale can be derived from three stable factors : Factor 1 was explained "Lonely Dissatisfaction(7 items)", Factor 2 was explained "Agitation (5 items)", Factor 3 was explained "Attitude Towards Own Aging (5 items)". Further, these factors have a high degree of internal consistency, as determined by Cronbach's alpha : 0.7852. 2) The total mean score of PGC Morale Scale was 8.73. Sex, Age, Education, Current disease, Family type, Economic status, ADL, IADL were significantly difference in mean scores of PGC morale scale. 3) In the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis of subjective well-being. the most contributing factors were economic status, IADL, current disease, family type, sex and the R square was 0.23.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.3-25
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• 2017

Objectives: We examined which socioeconomic and intergenerational characteristics were associated with the level of intention to marry among Korean men and women in young adulthood. Method: Data came from 351 men and 391 women who were 25-34 years old, had never been married, and had at least one living parent. We conducted multiple regression analyses by gender after controlling for age and current romantic relationship. Results: Among the socioeconomic characteristics, more years of education was linked to both men's and women's higher levels of intention to marry. For women, having a secure, full-time job was related to greater intention to marry. For men, the higher their subjective socioeconomic status, the greater their intention to marry. Among intergenerational characteristics, both men's and women's positive attitudes toward supporting elderly parents were related to a higher level of intention to marry. For men, the frequency of providing instrumental support for their parents was negatively associated with the men's intention to marry. For women, higher levels of agreement with parents' responsibility to support their adult children as well as greater affection for their parents were positively related to greater intention to marry. Conclusions: The findings suggest that young adults' socioeconomic resources and the family context are important predictors of young adults' marital intentions. The results also reveal gender differences in the factors associated with young adults' marital intentions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8877-8881
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• 2014

Background: Despite social gradients in adult smoking, the effects of socioeconomic position (SEP) on adolescent smoking is not well understood. This study examined effects of subjective SEP as well as the objective SEP on smoking among Korean adolescents. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the 2012 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students (38,221 boys; 35,965 girls). SEP was assessed by the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and the self-rated household economic status. Relationships between SEP and smoking were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results: The low perceived SEP for either the high or low FAS grade was related to an elevated likelihood of smoking in both genders. A significantly higher risk of smoking was found in boys of low perceived SEP in middle school (odds ratio [OR] 1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-1.77 for high FAS, OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.21-1.98 for low FAS), and of low perceived SEP and high FAS in high school (OR 1.13; 95% CI 1.02-1.26). Among girls, an elevated risk of smoking was observed in middle school group with low perceived SEP and low FAS (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.44-2.79) and in the high school group of low perceived SEP, regardless of FAS level (OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.14-1.57 for high FAS, OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.04-1.65 for low FAS). Conclusions: The relationship of subjectively perceived SEP with smoking is as important as objective SEP and more significant in Korean high school adolescents.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.4 s.63
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• pp.728-739
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• 1998

To improve wellness and quality of life by recognizing the health efforts of stress, the author estimated the relationships between stress, subjective symptoms and clinical diagnosis through a questionnaire and a battery of specified laboratory tests; electrocardiography, blood pressure, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), gamma glutamyl transferase$(\gamma-GTP)$, fasting blood sugar, gastro-endoscopy or UGI, abdominal sonography, etc. The data was gathered from 337 clients who were undergoing multiphasic screening program at a University Hospital from January to March 1998. The mean age of subjects was $46.5{\pm}11.2$ years and the mean of body mass index was $24.0{\pm}3.7kg/m^2$. The mean vol of stress was $18.5{\pm}6.0$ expressed as the score out of 40. By general characteristics and lift style among male, mean level of stress was significantly higher in case of lower socioeconomic status, habitual drug use, longer daily working time(>10 hours), no regular exercise, drinkers, irregular meal, skip-ping breakfast(p<0.05). In case of female, that was significantly higher in case of lower education, lowe. socioeconomic status, longer daily working time(>10 hours), no regular exercise, drinkers, smokers, irregular meal, skipping breakfast(p<0.05). Significant correlations were observed between stress and subjective symptoms in all kinds of organ system (p<0.01). Correlation coefficients of stress among male were relatively high with neuro-psychiatric symptom$(\gamma=0.476)$ and cardio-vascular symptom$(\gamma=0.361)$ in order, and correlation coefficients of stress among female was highest with neuro-psychiatric symptom$(\gamma=0.371)$. The prevalence of the diagnosis through the battery of laboratory tests was high in upper gastrointestinal disorders and hypercholesterolemia in order in both sex group. Among male the mean score of stress was significantly high in ulcerative peptic disorder of upper gastrointestine and hepatopathy in order (p<0.05) . Among female that was significantly high in diabetes mellitus. In summary, it is likely that there are associations between stress, subjective symptoms and clinical diagnosis. To promote wellness and quality of life it would be of value that periodic stress evaluation program and stress management including apropriate control of smoking and drinking, regular exercise and meal.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.219-239
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• 2022

The study investigated the relationship between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) of 508 Korean adults and their perception of justice (distributive and procedural justice for self and general others), and verified whether there is a moderating effect of age (20s versus 30s and over). A self-report survey on SES and perception of justice was conducted. Then, using the SPSS 27 and PROCESS Macro 4.0 program, a correlation analysis looking into the relationship among the study variables was performed along with the ANOVAs comparing the mean differences of study across age-groups to support the group division criteria. Next, a moderation analysis was conducted. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the participants' SES showed a positive relationship with all sub-factors of justice perception and a negative relationship with age. Second, age had a inverse relationship on distributive justice for self and general others, and procedural justice for self, but a non significant relationship on procedural justice for general others. Third, when looking into the mean differences of the research variables according to age, the 20s had different characteristics compared to the 30s and over. In comparison, there were no significant differences within the 30s and over group. Fourth, the moderating effect of age in the relationship between subjective SES and perception of justice was positively significant in the case of distributive justice for self and procedural justice for general others. In the case of distributive justice for self, the positive slope of the graph in which subjective SES predicts distributive fairness for self was steeper in the 30s and older group compared to the 20s. Regarding the procedural justice for general others, subjective SES was not a significant predictor in the 20s group. However, SES positively predicted procedural justice in the 30s and older group. This study is meaningful since it suggested age differences in subjective SES and perceptions of justice by revealing the different relationship patterns of subjective SES and perception of justice according to age.