Features of the Role Structure and Relationships in Korean and Russian Couples

Abstract

The modern world leads to collapse of the marriage institution. It causes a lot of problems. One of them raises the question of how ethnic culture preserves the relationships in married couples within traditional framework if these couples live in a different national cultural; environment. Both Russian and Korean are collectivism cultures. However, in Russia individualism is spreading very quickly among young people. In Korean families elderly people have a big influence, they adhere to Confucianism. Russians have more democratic relations and adhere to Christianity. We tried to prove that Korean couples still have traditional marital roles, relationships, and attitudes. The purpose of the study is to compare the role structure, features of the husband-wife relationship, and attitudes in the Russian and Korean married couples living in Russia. Russian and Korean family roles are considered in the article, as well as the features of family attitudes that characterize the type of family and describe the mentality of Russians and Koreans. A comparative cross-methodology was applied within pairs and between Korean and Russian pairs, and data was factorized. The sample consisted of n = 80 participants. We used the following methods: measurement of roles in a family; study of understanding relationships, emotional attraction and authoritarianism; attitudes towards love, children, money, and divorce. The scientific novelty of the research is expressed in the fact that the comparison with various aspects of the structure of roles and relationships in modern Korean and Russian couples is carried out, the members of married couples of both nationalities are compared. The study showed that Russians and Koreans living in Russia have become very similar in their lifestyle, but they differ in the internal arrangement of the family, role preferences and attitudes in a married couple, especially in relation to children, sex, psychological climate and financial responsibility. The data obtained can be used in family counseling and therapy.