Why Do Koreans Love Ethnic Players in the MLB? A Focus on Ethnic Identity and Player Identification

Asians hold a collectivistic culture, and they feel attachment to people who have the same ethnic background. This study explored how roles of ethnic identity influenced fan behaviors of Korean audiences toward Hyun-jin Ryu, the Korean Major League Baseball player. The results showed that ethnic identity influenced player identification, which led to attitudes toward the L.A. Dodgers. Congruence mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and player identification. It is also found that transportation mediated the relationship between player identification and attitudes toward the L.A. Dodgers. These results provide a cultural explanation of fan behaviors of ethnic players. Managerial implications can also be found.

Mask Wearing Behavior and COVID-19: Synthetic Effects of Individualism and Collectivism in Korea

The behavior of the general public has largely been critical to the effective COVID-19 response. Republic of Korea has shown a better response performance than many other countries around the world. Based on the theories of individualism-collectivism, this study analyzes how the Korean culture influences the mask-wearing behavior of people in Korea. Two online surveys were conducted after the first wave and in the middle of third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. The results of regression analysis demonstrate that, when demographic variables are controlled, concerns around infecting others and respondents’ horizontal individualistic tendency have significant positive effects on mask wearing behavior. Meanwhile, horizontal collectivism also positively affects the respondents’ mask-wearing behavior as expected in collectivistic culture of Korean people. We conclude that the general collectivism of Korean people is mutually synergetic with the horizontal individualism in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.

Perceived Family Environment and Self-Concept Among Young Adults in Indian Context

'Self' can be described in a very extensive manner, but it stays to be exclusively individualistic to a person's existence and experience. Family Environment has been known to influence the Self Concept as it was observed to have a tangible impact, with many roles inclusive in collectivistic cultures such as India. The purpose of the paper was to establish the link between Family Environment and Self Concept in Indian Context among Young Adults. The methodology used for the paper is Qualitative Research on the basis of a survey conducted upon 40 young adults questioning them about Perceived Family Environment and Self Concept. The survey resulted that in the family environment, people when in accordance to family's expectations receive affection, support, expressiveness and other conditions show positive Self Concept. But, the results also established individual components such as hating self in situations of failures, prioritizing expectations of others over own. This proves that all other factors were dependent on expectations of family, reflecting that their Self Concept is interdependent of societal roles and of roles assigned by the family. Our traditional family system (collectivistic culture) and environment, conditions us to create our Self Concept based on the parameters and expectation framework created by the family.

Caregiver Relationships and Distress Moderated by Collectivism

The number of older populations raising their grandchildren has increased. Past research has indicated the distress custodial grandparents’ experience is related to their family relationships (Hayslip, Shore, & Emick, 2006). Family relationships are also influenced by a variety of factors such as social history, culture, family structure, and individual differences (Uhlenberg & Kirby, 1998). The current study evaluated the influence of culture on the relationship between caregiver relationship quality and mental health by examining 885 children (18-25 years; M=18.93). This study also compared the difference in cultural impact between custodial grandparents-grandchildren and biological parents-children. Measures included the Network of Relationships Inventory, Hofstede Cultural Questionnaire, and Adult Behavior Checklist. Path analysis was conducted using AMOS 26.0 which resulted in an interaction between relationship closeness and collectivism to predict custodial grandparent depressive symptoms. Custodial grandparents who reported a lower level of closeness with their grandchildren in a higher collectivistic culture reported a significantly higher level of depression symptoms than those in a more individualistic culture, particularly for custodial grandmothers. However, custodial grandparents who reported a higher level of closeness with their grandchildren in a higher collectivistic culture reported significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than those in a more individualistic culture. Furthermore, compared to biological parents, custodial grandparents reported significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms when reporting higher collectivistic culture. These findings will inform the need for more research to assess factors of cultural features that reduce psychological problems and support family relationships to adapt psychological therapies in older adults.

SOCIAL CRITICISM OF ASIAN CULTURE IN FILM “TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE” WITH BARTHES’ POPULAR CULTURE THEORY

Mass media often perceived Asian Culture as a powerless culture. Just like in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film that criticizing Asian culture. This study aimed to unveil the social criticism of Asian culture depicted on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. This qualitative study using Popular Culture Theory with Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis method by three elements of analysis (denotation, connotation, and myth). This study unveiled that the social criticism of Asian culture is linked with its collectivistic culture and interdependent characteristic, also overly-controlled Asian parents. This study also found the shift and consolidation of myth of Asian culture. Other than that, social criticism of Asian culture depicted on the film is the form of low culture and used as the asset to gain profit. Therefore, Asian culture has been marginalized and wrapped as a form of commercialized culture. Keywords: asian culture, popular culture, film, social criticism, semiotics