The present study deals with the modernity in urban Koreans residing in the city of Pusan, the second largest city in Korea. The modernization which refers to the process of change from less developed society to advanced industrial society, has been s...
The present study deals with the modernity in urban Koreans residing in the city of Pusan, the second largest city in Korea. The modernization which refers to the process of change from less developed society to advanced industrial society, has been studied by many scholars in several different societies. Among the several factors that affect the modernization of a nation, the value of the people has generally been regarded as one of the most important factors influencing the national development. This is perhaps because in any society, the national development is almost invariably accompanied by process of modernization of its society. The modernization of a society is dependent upon the modernity of its people and the concomitant changes that bring about in their values.
This study is concerned with the measurement of urbanities in large metropolitan area, the city Pusan, in Korea, a fast developing country. Attempts are made to measure the modernity values of the urban residents with particular reference to: 1) the values of the family, 2) economic values, 3) values concerning social issues, 4) political attitudes, and 5) religious values.
In addition to making a general assessment of the value orientation of urban Koreans, as to modernity versus traditional values, attempts are made to measure the effects of selected independent variables on the modernity and also to study how they are interrelated to one another.
Specially, the study attempts: 1) to measure the values of the family, economic values, values relating to social issues, political values, and religious values, 2) to measure the modernity and the traditionality of the values and the changes thereupon, 3) to measure the degree of interrelationships among different values, and 4) to measure the relationship of sex, age, place of origin, education, religion, occupation, income, contacts with communications and the family composition on the modernity and to isolate the effects of these variables on the modernity.
The analysis of our data, strongly suggested that there were several statistically significant causal relationships among the values. According to our data the relationship between the values of the family and values relating to social issues was the highest followed by the relationships between economic values and social values, family values and economic values, family values and political values, religious values and social values, economic values and religious values, political values and social values, religious values and political values, family values and religious values and economic values and political values in that order.
The variables which significantly affect the modernity among the urbanites in Korea were found as follows :
1) The younger their ages, the more modernized their values of the family, economic and religious values.
2) The male urbanites were revealed to be more modernized in economic values.
3) The white collar urbanites were found to be more modernized in economic and social values than the blue collar urbanites.
4) The higher their educational level, the more modernized their political values and the less modernized their economic values.
5) The lower the degree of T.V. contacts, the more modernized their political and religious values.
6) The lower the degree of newspaper contacts, the more modernized their social values.
7) The urbanites of nuclear family type were more modernized I their values of the family.
8) The urbanites belonging to Christians and Catholics were found to be more modernized in their religious values and values in the family.
Finally it was hypothesized in the study that the effects of education, uses of T.V., family type, income, place of origin etc. on modernity would be high. However, the analysis of the data did not support these hypotheses. The age was the only factor found significant in identifying the modernity and traditionality.