Too Much of a Good Thing: Social Capital and Academic Stress in South Korea

Jonathan A. Jarvis, Allison W. Corbett, Jared D. Thorpe and Mikaela J. Dufur
Additional contact information
Jonathan A. Jarvis: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Allison W. Corbett: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jared D. Thorpe: Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Mikaela J. Dufur: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA

Social Sciences, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: In intense academic environments such as in South Korea, students experience extreme levels of academic stress. This stress peaks as students prepare for the college entrance exam in the final year of high school. Stress is associated with a host of negative outcomes, and academic stress is the leading cause of suicidal ideation among youth in South Korea. Research suggests that in high-stress contexts such as this, social capital can improve academic success and mental health, while reducing risky or deviant behaviors. However, this research has predominantly focused on Western contexts. Because of the unique intensity of educational pursuits and intense investment in education by parents, South Korea provides a compelling case for research on the effects of family and school social capital on youth academic stress. Using data from the Korea Youth Panel Survey ( N = 2753), we find that particular components of family and school social capital can both reduce and exacerbate academic stress. While measures of closeness and connection to parents reduced academic stress, school social capital had a limited impact on academic stress. Furthermore, there may be a limit to the effectiveness of social capital to help with academic stress before it becomes too much of a good thing.

Keywords: social capital; school relationships; education in Asia; South Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/11/187/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/11/187/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:187-:d:433603

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().