After reviewing the notion of caring-self from a Korean feminist perspective, this paper argues that caring-self, in spite of its great contribution to pastoral care and education of women, is an essentialist notion based on Western individualism, one that excludes the experiences of men and women of nonwestern/communal cultures. Critically examining psychological literature of women's self-esteem and Korean self-esteem literature, I argue that to provide more appropriate pastoral care and education for Korean women, it is necessary to understand what and how their concept of the person is formed in a Korean communal context.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Korea National Statistical Office, 2001. Since 1970, there has not been any year that has balanced birth rate. The highest unbalanced year was 1990 with 116.5 and the lowest was 1973 with 104.6.
REFERENCES
Anderson, B. A. (2003). Population change in Korea and among Koreans in China. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center of University of Michigan.
Bae, H., & Crittenden, K. S. (1988). From attributions to dispositional inferences: Patterns of Korean students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 129 (4 ), 481–489.
Bakan, D. (1966). The duality of human existence: Isolation and communion in western man. Boston: Beacon Press.
Bellah, R. H., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162.
Bem, S. L. (1975). Sex role adaptability: One consequence of psychological androgyny. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 637–643.
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88, 354–364.
Brabeck, M. M. (Ed.). (1989). Who cares? Theory, research and educational implications of the ethic of care. New York: Praeger.
Brabeck, M. M. (1996). The Moral self, values, and circles of belonging. In K. F. Wyche & F. J. Crosby (Eds.) Women's ethnicities: Journeys through psychology. (pp. 145–165). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cho, N. (1991). The emergence of individualism in Korean organizations. In G. Yoon & S. C. Choi (Eds.), Psychology of the Korean people (pp. 209–232). Seoul, Korea: Donga Publishing Corporation.
Choi, S. C., & Choi, S. H. (1993). Cheong: The socio-emotional grammar of Koreans. Unpublished Manuscript. Seoul, Korea: Chung Ang University.
Chow, E. N. (1987). The influence of sex-role identity and occupational attainment on the psychological well-being of Asian American women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 69–82.
Chung, S. (1980). The Image of the person in the Korean traditional culture. Kwang Jang, December, 20–23.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Giroux, H. A. (Ed.). (1991). Postmodernism, feminism, and cultural politics: Redrawing educational boundaries. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Han, G., & Choe, S. (1994). Effects of family, region, and school network ties on interpersonal intentions and the analysis of new activities in Korea. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications (pp. 214–224). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hooks, B. (1990). Yearning: Race, gender, and cultural politics. Boston, MA: Sound End Press.
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw Hill.
Hsu, F. L. K. (1985). The self in cross-cultural perspective. In G. A. Devos, J. Marsella, & F. L. K. Hsu (Eds.), Culture and self: Asian and western perspectives (pp. 24–65). New York: Tavistock Publications.
James, K. (1993). Conceptualizing self with in-group stereotypes: Context and esteem precursors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 117–121.
Jones, S. L., & Lamke, L. K. (1985). The relationship between sex role orientation, self-esteem, and sex-typed occupational choice of college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 9, 145–152.
Jordan, J. V., Kaplan, A. G., Miller, J. B., Stiver, I. P., & Surrey, J. L. (Eds.). (1991). Women's growth in connection. New York: Guilford.
Josephs, R. A., Tafarodi, R. W., & Markus, H. R. (1992). Gender and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 391–402.
Kim, J. U. (1991). The Koreans: Their mind and behavior. Seoul, Korea: Kyobo Books.
Kim, M. P. (1988). Faithfulness, guilt, and shame in women of the Yi dynasty in Korea: With contemporary illustrations and implications for pastoral care and counseling in the Korean church in the Republic of Korea. Th.D. Dissertation, School of Theology, Boston University.
Kim, Y. A. (1991). Han: From brokenness to wholeness, A theoretical analysis of Korean women's Han and a contextualized healing methodology. Ph.D. Dissertation, School of Theology at Claremont, Claremont, CA.
Kim, Y. J. (1976). Women of Korea. Seoul, Korea: Ewha Woman's University Press.
Kimlicka, T., Cross, H., & Tarnai, J. (1983). A comparison of androgyny, feminine, masculine, and undifferentiated women on self-esteem, body satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 7, 291–294.
Kohlberg, L. (1973). Continuities and discontinuities in childhood and adult moral development revisited. Collected papers on moral development and moral education. Cambridge, MA: Moral Education Research Foundation, Harvard University.
Kwok, P. L. (2002). Unbinding our feet: Saving brown women and feminist discourse. In L. E. Danielson & P. L. Kwok (Eds.), Postcolonialism, feminism & religious discourse (pp. 62–81). New York: Routledge.
Lau, S. (1989). Sex role orientation and domains of self-esteem. Sex Roles, 21, 415–422.
Lee, K. T. (1983). The Personality Structure of the Korean People. Seoul, Korea: Sinwon.
Lee, S. W. (1991). The cheong space: A zone of non-exchange in Korean human relationships. In G. Yoon & S. C. Choi (Eds.), Psychology of the Korean people: Individualism and collectivism (pp. 85–99). Seoul, Korea: Donga Publishing Corporation.
Lee-Park, S. A., & Park, S. J. (1994). Women and man in community: An Asian reflection. The Ecumenical Review, 46, 147–156.
Leege, J. (Trans.) (1963). The I Ching. New York: Dover.
Long, V. O. (1986). Relationship of masculinity to self-esteem and self-acceptance in female professionals, college students, clients, and victims of domestic violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 323–327.
Long, V. O. (1991). Gender role conditioning and women's self-concept. Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 30, 19–29.
Lykes, M. B. (1984). Autonomous individualism verses social individuality: Towards an alternative understanding of the self. Ph. D. Dissertation, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
Lykes, M. B. (1985). Gender and individualistic vs. collectivist bases for notions about the self. Journal of Personality, 53, 356–383.
Mackie, M. (1983). The Domestification of self: Gender comparisons of self imagery and self- esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly, 46, 343–350.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.
Miller, J. B. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston, MA: Beacon.
Miller, J. B. (1984). The development of women's sense of self. Work in Progress. No.12. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Working Papers Series.
Oh, K. J. (2001). Cultural influences on child behavior problems. In G. Yoon & S. C. Choi. (Eds.), Psychology of the Korean people: Individualism and collectivism (pp. 139–154). Seoul, Korea: Donga Publishing Corporation. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Employment outlook. Paris: OECD.
Park, A. S. (1993). The wounded heart of God. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Sampson, E. E. (1993). Celebrating the other: A dialogic account of human nature. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Sanford, L. T., & Donovan, M. E. (1984). Women and self-esteem. New York: Penguin Books.
Schwalbe, M. L., & Staples, C. L. (1991). Gender differences in source of self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 158–168.
Shin, K. R. (1993). Factors predicting depression among Korean-American women in New York. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 30 (5), 415–423.
Slugoski, B. R. & Ginsburg, G. P. (1989). Ego identity and explanatory speech. In J. Shotter & K. J. Gergen (Eds.), Texts of identity (pp. 36–55). London: SAGE.
Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity and femininity. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1980). Masculine instrumentality and feminine expressiveness: Their relationships with sex role attitudes and behaviors. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 5, 147–163.
Stafford, I. P. (1984). Relation of attitudes toward women's roles and occupational behavior to women's self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 332–378.
Sue, S. (1977). Psychological theory and implications for Asian Americans. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 55, 381–389.
Sweder, R. A. (1991). Cultural psychology: What is it? In A. J. Marsella & G. M. Whit (Eds.), Thinking through cultures. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Shweder, R. A., & Bourne, E. J. (1982). Does the concept of the person vary cross-culturally? In R. A. Shweder & R. A. LeVine (Eds.), Culture theory: Essays on mind, self, & emotion (pp. 158–199). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tronto, J. (1992). Beyond gender difference to a theory of care. In M. J. Larrabee (Ed.). An ethic of care: Feminist and interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 240–257). New York: Routledge.
Whitley, B. E. (1983) Sex role orientation and self-esteem: A critical meta analytic review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 765–768.
Whitley, B. E. (1988). Masculinity, femininity, and self-esteem: A multitrait-multimethod analysis. Sex Roles, 18, 419–431.
Willemsen, E. W. (1987). Sex-role orientation, self-esteem, and uniqueness: An exploration of the undifferentiated category. Psychological Reports, 60, 859–866.
Wu, Jenai (1992). Masochism and fear of success in Asian women: Psychoanalytic mechanisms and problems in therapy. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 52, 1–12.
Yorburg, B. (1974). Social identity: Sex roles and social identity. New York: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Boyung Lee is Assistant Professor of Educational Ministries at Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, B. Caring-self and Women's Self-esteem: A Feminist's Reflection on Pastoral Care and Religious Education of Korean-American Women. Pastoral Psychol 54, 337–353 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-005-0004-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-005-0004-z