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Academic Achievement-Oriented Society and Its Relationship to the Psychological Well-Being of Korean Adolescents

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Book cover The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth

Part of the book series: Quality of Life in Asia ((QLAS,volume 2))

Abstract

It is hard to deny that Koreans’ faith and investment in education have played a pivotal role in rebuilding the nation after a devastating war and achieving its economic growth. To Koreans, education has meant the best way to improve the quality of life. Ironically, Koreans’ zeal for education became a burden, and because of it, the quality of life, especially that of youth, is being compromised. Since high academic achievement becomes the most important goal for Korean youth, other aspects of their development are largely ignored, and this can have serious effects on the overall quality of their life. In this chapter, we highlight the serious state of psychological well-being of Korean youth by examining Korean society’s orientation toward academic achievement and various aspects of the psychological state of Korean adolescents and the connection between them.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are various opinions about the cause of this decrease. On one hand, some say that it is because of the shrinking demand for studying abroad, but on the other hand, others attribute it to the decline in birthrate and the economic slowdown.

  2. 2.

    In Korea, after graduating middle school, students usually go to either a general high school or a vocational high school.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI), 114 Taebongno, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, 137-715, South Korea

    Sun-Young Ahn & Hye-Jeong Baek

Authors
  1. Sun-Young Ahn
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  2. Hye-Jeong Baek
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Correspondence to Sun-Young Ahn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Fellow, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.

    Chin-Chun Yi

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Ahn, SY., Baek, HJ. (2012). Academic Achievement-Oriented Society and Its Relationship to the Psychological Well-Being of Korean Adolescents. In: Yi, CC. (eds) The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4081-5_13

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