Chun-Shin Taylor, Teresa A. Wilkins, Ph.D.

The Incremental Validity of Spirituality and Religiousness as Predictors of Cultural Well-Being among Korean Americans

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A burgeoning amount of research has accumulated related to the increasing needs of minority populations, but researchers have called for investigating the role of religion and spirituality as important variables in understanding the intricate dynamics between culture, ethnic identity, and psychological outcomes (Chae, Kelly, Brown, & Bolden, 2004; Edara, 2016).  The current study aimed to investigate the psychological constructs of spirituality and religion and their roles in predicting psychological well-being, resilience, cultural orientation, and ethnic identity among 1^st and 2^nd generation Korean Americans (KAs). 

Participants were 75 KA men and 66 KA women age 19 to 75 (M=32.61, SD=10.17) years. The sample was divided into two groups: 1^st generation KAs (n=71), which included the 1^st and 1.5 generation; and, 2^nd generation KAs (n=70), which included 2^nd generation KAs and mixed races. The sample consisted of Catholic (23.4%), Christian (52%), Buddhist (11%), atheist/agnoistic (11.3%), no religious affiliation but spiritual (14.9%), and others (4.9%).  Participants were given batteries of assessments: a demographic sheet, personality inventory IPIP 50 (Goldberg, 1992), Scale of Protective Factors (SPF-24: Ponce-Garcia, Madewell, & Kennison, 2015), Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS: Ryff, 1989), Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS: Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjian, Bamaca-Gomez,2004), and the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiment (ASPIRES, Piedmont, 2010).

The findings indicated only one group difference in spirituality on Connectedness. Concerning personality, group differences were interpretably minimal. Overall, 1^st generation KAs’ spirituality and religiousness were more related to psychological well-being, cultural orientation, ethnic identity, and resilience than 2^nd generation KAs. Evidence of a different but significant role of religiousness was found between the two groups.  Religious Involvement demonstrated predictive power for 1^st generation KAs but not for 2^nd generation KAs although there was no mean difference between the two groups on this scale.  In contrast, Connectedness played a significant role as a predictor for 2^nd generation KAs but not for 1^st generation KAs. The factor structure of the ASPIRES scale was recoverable, except for Connectedness for 1^st generation KAs, and fully recoverable for 2^nd generation KAs.  Factor loadings for the 2^nd generation KAs’ loadings matched normative values better than loadings for 1^st generation KAs.

As spirituality serves as a potential resource for helping individuals manage stressors in their lives (Koenig, 2012; Piedmont, 2012), counselors need to be aware of not only culture specific phenomena in the experience of spirituality, but also of differences that may exist across different generations. These inter-generational effects may reflect in KAs the unique challenges different cohorts encounter in enculturation, such as the generational gap, value conflicts, language barriers, and socioeconomic status (Suinn, 2010), and mental distress from racial discrimination in counseling sessions (Gee, Spencer, Chen, Yip, & Takeuchi, 2007).  The current study provides a first step in outlining some of these issues as they pertain to Korean Americans and their overall psychological well-being and resilience.

References

 

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