Date of Award

5-2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Child and Family Studies

Advisor(s)

Ambika Krishnakumar

Keywords

Adolescents, Korea, Confucian values

Subject Categories

Family, Life Course, and Society

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among adolescent personality traits, Confucian values, parenting styles (and psychological control), and aggressive behaviors in South Korean families. Although the use of aggression by Korean adolescents has increased in contemporary Korean society, there is a lack of research on how adolescent personality traits and cultural values impact adolescent behavioral outcomes through parenting styles and psychological control. The sample included 361 parents (mothers and fathers) and their adolescents (7th and 8th grade) and the teachers of participating adolescents. Results indicated that adolescents' agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism were associated with adolescent overt, relational, and cyber aggression. Adolescents' Confucian values were associated with their relational and cyber aggression. Mothers' Confucian values were associated with their adolescents' overt aggression, and fathers' Confucian values were related to their adolescents' cyber aggression. Mothers' and fathers' authoritarianism did play an important role as a mediator in the relationship between adolescents' personality traits and their aggression. Adolescents' personality traits were associated with their overt aggression via a mediating role of fathers' and mothers' psychological control. Findings revealed that parenting styles and psychological control did not mediate the relationship between adolescent and parental Confucian values and adolescents' aggressive behavioral problems.

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Open Access

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