Harris Hyun-Soo Kim

Ewha Womans University · Department of Sociology

Our study contributes to the scholarship by examining the concrete ways in which two distinct types of interpersonal connection—strong/close versus weak/distant—are independently related to self-rated health and life satisfaction cross-nationally. In addition, we explore whether and how the two types of interpersonal connection modify the magnitude...

This study examines the independent and interactive effects of perceived social support (positive ties) and relational stress (negative ties) on loneliness in later life. To that end, we differentiate the sources of social support, tap multiple items to measure relational stress, and analyze a large cross-national dataset containing probability sam...

Why do some people ‘cooperate’ by adhering to anti‐pandemic government guidelines and mandates, while others opt to behave in more selfish ways? This study addresses this question by focusing on the concept of ‘conditional cooperation’. Data were drawn from the Global Behaviors and Perceptions in the COVID‐19 Pandemic, a large online survey ( N = 9...

A large volume of research highlights the adverse effects of relative deprivation on subjective well-being. Across different empirical settings and modelling approaches, a conceptual common denominator exists: the bulk of prior studies assumes that lower social status, by definition, implies higher relative deprivation, resulting in reduced well-be...

Why are some ingroup members (i.e., natives) more tolerant of, or hostile toward, outgroup others (i.e., immigrants)? A large volume of evidence exists attempting to address this issue. The bulk of findings from observational and experimental research focuses on the dual concept of ‘realistic’ and ‘symbolic’ threat, operationalized in terms of migr...

This chapter examines how Korean people’s sense of societal fairness (i.e., social trust) has shifted over time (from 2004 to 2014). To that end, it focuses on the roles of egocentric and sociocentic economic concerns. In a bivariate stratified analysis, sociotropic concern is shown to have a significantly positive effect on societal fairness at bo...

This study examines the relationship between individual-level social capital and compliance attitudes toward health protective measures in the context of COVID-19. We drew on secondary population-based data fielded during the pandemic's initial phase (April - June of 2020). The analytic sample consists of 9124 older American adults (ages 55 and ove...

Research on attitudes toward immigrants and refugees largely focuses on intergroup conflict and related threats imposed by outgroup members. This study shifts the analytic focus to intragroup conflict: a domestic struggle among natives over how to handle recently arrived refugees and on their perception of foreign workers in general and Muslims in...

According to critics of globalization, it has ushered in a new era of economic inequality, with some of the biggest “losers” being the majority working classes in advanced capitalist democracies. Economically aggrieved, culturally threatened, and politically excluded, they have become the bedrock of right-wing political parties in much of Europe an...

Using two waves of nationally representative data, the present study shows the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated anti-outgroup and anti-ingroup attitudes among South Korean adults. To that end, in a quasi-experimental setting, it exploits the survey interview timing as a source of exogenous variation to investigate the causal in...

Using cross-national data containing information on the status rank of network alters, this study investigates the potential negative effects of "upward status heterophily," ties to and perceived interaction with higher status others. According to our main finding, upward status heterophily is associated with poor physical health and lower subjecti...

This study examines whether and how an individual’s subjective, or self-rated, popularity is related to one’s structural position in the peer network, as measured by betweenness centrality and structural hole measure. Data were drawn from the original fieldwork conducted in Laos ( N = 1,490; boys = 40%; M age = 13), a low-income country in Southeas...

The present study examines how contextual age discrimination moderates the individual-level association between perceived age discrimination and happiness among older Europeans. In this endeavor, we test two opposing views: 1) the “social norm” hypothesis that predicts the association between perceived age discrimination and happiness to become wea...

Objectives: This study investigated a potential curvilinear link between social distancing behavior and subjective health in later life. It also evaluated whether food insecurity and community social capital moderated the focal relationship. Methods: Data were drawn from three waves of the COVID Impact Survey (N = 19,234). Mixed-effects models w...

Throughout parts of the Western world, populist nationalism has gained increasing momentum. Despite cross-national differences in populist leaders and parties, one common feature stands out: xenophobic prejudice. This paper examines in the U.S. context, first, a common assumption linking outgroup threat perception with support for restrictive immig...

Previous literature has recognized the importance of social relationship in understanding people’s engagement in aggressive behavior. Yet, largely due to data limitations, only few studies have empirically explored how social status precisely influences interpersonal violence. In this research, we investigate the determinants of peer-to-peer violen...

Aims The purpose of this study was first, to investigate the harmful effects of food insufficiency on health outcomes – self-rated health (SRH) and self-assessed depressive symptoms – during the COVID-19 pandemic and, second, to test whether these effects fluctuated across the US in terms of state-level social capital. Methods Data were drawn from...

In addition to causing unprecedented mortality and wreaking havoc on national economies, the coronavirus disease pandemic has significantly undermined public mental health. How has the pandemic-induced psychological and mental distress contributed to declining political trust cross-nationally? Using a large-scale global survey comprising respondent...

The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating mental health consequences across the world. Among others, economic uncertainty created by job loss due to the pandemic has been a main culprit. This study examines the deleterious effect of losing a job personally or living with a family member who did on mental health among American adults. We also exa...

Existing research shows that anti-immigrant attitudes are driven by a wide variety of individual- and contextual-level factors. The present study introduces “societal violence”—the degree to which human rights are violated and physical survival is threatened in society—as a significant, yet neglected, explanatory concept in analyzing negative attit...

Objectives: We investigate whether older adults who place greater trust in their political leadership fare better in terms of mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also test if and how the trust-wellbeing relationship varies across individual- and country-level moderators. Methods: Based on cross-national data consisting of over 13,0...

Most research on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration problematically conflates the documented and the undocumented. Previous studies also largely ignore the autonomous role of population density. Based on data drawn from two nationally representative surveys, this paper focuses on contemporary American attitudes towards undocumented immigr...

Objectives: Social networks and resources embedded in them are shown to promote mental health. This study examines whether there may be deleterious consequences of interpersonal ties and social capital on loneliness and depression in later life. Method: Using data from the latest wave of National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) 201...

Using the latest (fourth) wave of Asian Barometer Survey (2014–2016), this study examines how national pride and two types of trust (general and particular) are related to nativist preference (cultural nativism), independent of anti-immigration attitudes, among citizens in East and Southeast Asian countries. Findings from multilevel models show tha...

This paper explores the role of social capital in mitigating the mental health harms of social/mobility restrictions instigated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We test whether: (a) social capital continued to predict lower mental distress during the pandemic; and (b) whether social capital buffered (moderated) the harm of social/mobility rest...

Using a unique cross-national dataset, we explore the interplay between household income, coronavirus-induced anxiety, national context, and self-rated health (SRH) across dozens of countries among more than 13,500 older adults. Based on multilevel models, we find that the emotional anxiety due to COVID-19 negatively predicts SRH, net of country ra...

The present study examines the associations between multiple measures of social trust and two outcomes of psychological wellbeing (happiness and depression) among South Korean adults (n = 1549) living in residential communities, that is, administrative districts (n = 77) in and around the capital city of Seoul. Based on multilevel modeling, we find...

Individual attitudes towards immigration are powerfully driven by ethnic context, that is, size of foreign-born population. We advance the literature by examining how the change (growth) in foreign-born population, in addition to its size (level), is related to two distinct outcomes: natives’ views on legal and unauthorized immigration. By analysin...

This study analyzes global health consequences of the new coronavirus disease by focusing on the roles of normative beliefs on social distancing and country-level factors, i.e., mobility estimate and globalization index. We fitted mixed effects models to examine the associations between two outcome measures, depression and self-rated health, and th...

A large body of research exists concerning determinants of public opinion on immigration and immigrants, primarily based on Western countries. Given that South–South migratory flows have increased dramatically in recent decades, we contribute to the literature by analyzing cross-national probability data in the Asian context. Using multilevel model...

Background and Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in social isolation globally, creating heightened levels of stress and anxiety. This study investigates the link between social isolation and mental well-being in later life, and how it varies across countries. Research Design and Methods We draw on a subset of old...

Background: The present study examines the impact of coronavirus-related restrictions on mental health among American adults, and how this relationship varies as a function of time and two measures of vulnerability (preexisting physical symptoms and job insecurity). Methods: We draw on data from two waves of Corona Impact Survey, which were fiel...

Research shows that ageism (systemic discrimination against people because of their age) significantly undermines physical and psychological wellbeing, particularly among older adults. Our aim is to contribute to the literature by investigating whether this negative association varies across national religious context. We estimate multilevel models...

This study evaluates the effect of an integrated health care educational program on several behavioral changes related to environmental health among Laotian students. Students in the experimental group received education concerning environmental health-related issues, including air pollution and chemical exposure. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) an...

This study examines the relationship between online social media use and protest participation during the Arab Spring, pro-democracy movements that swept across vast parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). What role did online communication media play in individual decisions to participate in these high-risk political activities? We addre...

This study examines the relationship between suicidality and smoking behavior. Specifically, it examines how and the degree to which suicide ideation and plan are associated with the probability of being a regular smoker among school-based children. Data come from Lao Student Health Survey (2017), a project funded by the National Research Foundatio...

This study analyzes the network antecedents of receiving job search assistance, specifically how and to what extent social capital relates to this process. Data come from probability samples on four East Asian countries. Hierarchical linear models are estimated to investigate the associations between social capital and inequality in the receipt of...

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between bullying victimization, measured at individual and school levels, and suicide intent and plan among youth living in less developed parts of the world. Methods: Multilevel modeling is used to estimate the degree to which school-level bullying has an independent effect on the two suicide measur...

This research investigates the gendered labor market consequences of immigrant social networks. Based on a nationally representative sample and using alternative analytic strategies, the present study investigates how and the extent to which informal job search, that is, finding a job through a personal contact, is associated with the earnings outc...

A substantial literature has emerged examining the relationship between ethnic diversity due to immigration and social cohesion in the host country. Empirical evidence concerning this relationship, however, remains inconsistent, if not contradictory. Aside from rare exceptions, the bulk of evidence is also based on North American and European count...

This study examines the multilevel associations between perceived socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective wellbeing (SWB) among community residing South Korean adults. Based on primary survey data, this research provides evidence on the contingent ways in which status perception and wellbeing are associated across individual and contextual (resid...

Objectives: This study examines the multilevel relationship between functional limitations and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling US older adults, and how it is moderated by community environmental characteristics (neighborhood fear, social cohesion, structural disadvantage and residential stability). Method: Data come from two waves of N...

Objectives Research on youth suicide behavior has emphasized parent–child relations as a critical protective factor. This study investigates whether “too much” regulation of children, i.e., overprotection, may actually increase the likelihoods of youth suicide intent and plan. Methods Data are drawn from the subset of the Global School-based Stude...

This study examines the relationship between social capital and health by focusing on a novel empirical case: Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). Specifically, it examines individual- and community-level associations between network size and self-rated health (SRH) among community-dwelling Lao adults, and how gender may moderate those associati...

W e examine the association between ties to delinquent friends and suicidal ideation among adolescents, and whether this association varies across neighborhoods. We analyze two waves of data from the Korean Youth Panel Survey, which comprise nationally representative samples of high school students in South Korea, a country with the highest suicide...

Research indicates that mobile phone dependency (MPD) is associated with various behavioral and internalizing problems. While a significant amount of findings points to its negative outcomes, there is a dearth of evidence concerning the determinants of MPD. This study focuses on this critical, yet understudied, subject by analyzing the associations...

Objectives: This research examined the associations between two types of trust, generalized and particularized, and self-rated health among immigrants. Study design: Data were drawn from the World Values Survey (WVS6), the latest wave of cross-sectional surveys based on face-to-face interviews. Methods: The immigrant subsample analyzed herein...

This study examines factors associated with the physical health of Korea’s growing immigrant population. Specifically, it focuses on the associations between ethnic networks, community social capital, and self-rated health (SRH) among female marriage migrants. For empirical testing, secondary analysis of a large nationally representative sample (NS...

With increasing global migration, immigrant incorporation and assimilation have become a growing concern. Prior research has mostly focused on economic adaptation of immigrants in North American and European context. This study shifts the focus to political incorporation of foreign-born spouses and other naturalized citizens living in South Korea,...

A substantial body of research, based largely on North American and European contexts, demonstrates that social networks play a critical role in protecting and promoting mental, as well as physical, health. The purpose of this study is to examine how “weak” and “strong” network relations are differentially related to individual mental health (depre...

This paper examines the relationship between ethnic social capital and contingent employment or temporary work among immigrant women in Korea. It focuses on two types of social capital: bonding and bridging. The former is conceptualized in terms of co-ethnic ties, whereas the latter is measured as interethnic connections (ties with native-born popu...

This study investigates some of the key social factors associated with mental health by focusing on the role of social capital defined in terms of two related yet distinct variables: general trust and social support (from kin and non-kin members). Data from the 2010 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), which consists of a nationally representative...

Evidence concerning the relationship between ethnic social networks and labor market outcomes is mixed. Some studies indicate that immigrants with more social capital benefit in terms of formal-sector employment, higher occupational status, and greater earnings. Others argue that embeddedness in and reliance on ethnic networks can hamper economic i...

The main objective of our study is to assess the relationship between playing online video games games and mental well-being of adolescents based on a nationally representative sample. Data come from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS), a government-funded multiyear research project. Through a secondary analysis of W2 and W3 of data...

This study examines the extent to which online media activities are associated with psychological well-being of adolescents. Data come from the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), a government-funded multiyear research project. Based on Wave 4 (2007) and Wave 5 (2008) of KYPS, the most recent data available, hierarchical linear models are estimated t...

Purpose: The current study was conducted for evaluation and comparison of dietary behavior and food intake in different regions of Lao PDR. Methods: The survey was conducted on 979 people aged 40-59 years old living in 25 urban provinces and 25 rural provinces in four districts (VTE Capital-Chanthabuly, Xaysetha, VTE Province-Phonhong, and Thoulakh...

Since Durkheim's classic work on suicide, sociologists have sought to shed light on the linkage between social context and individual susceptibility to suicidal thoughts and attempts. Though suicide is a worldwide phenomenon, however, the existing scholarship primarily focuses on adult populations in Western countries. Moreover, despite the fact th...

Objective The interdisciplinary literature on social capital has given relatively little attention to the potential downside of social embeddedness. Based on a cross‐national data set (International Social Survey Programme), this study examines how and to what extent social ties and organizational membership are associated with experiencing “too ma...

Based on a large cross-national dataset, we investigated the role of parental smoking (a risk factor) and parental supervision (a protective factor) on the frequency of smoking by youths in resource-poor countries. In addition, we tested for cross-level interactions between these two predictors and national wealth on the outcome variable. Pooled cr...

Research on the social determinants of health suggests that interpersonal networks play a critical role in facilitating individual mental and physical well-being. Prior studies also indicate that ecological or contextual factors contribute to positive health outcomes. This study extends prior research by examining the factors associated with adoles...

The question of “who participates” has received a great deal of scholarly attention among political sociologists. Increasingly, students of political participation, both formal and informal, have relied on the concept of social capital- defined in terms of trust, networks, norms of reciprocity, and organizational membership (Putnam 1993)- in analyz...

Social Capital, Social Integration and Suicidal Thoughts among Korean Youths Abstract The focus of this research is to examine some of the key factors that influence suicidal tendencies among youths in Korea. The teenage suicide rate in Korea has been one of the highest among all OECD nations, attracting the attention of scholars and policy mak...

Objectives: Much evidence suggests that social capital (e.g. networks, trust, organizational memberships) has a significant effect on self-reported health. Previous research, however, has focused primarily on Western countries. The current research seeks to remedy this problem by investigating the association between multiple social capital indica...

The main objective of this study is to examine the role of trust as it relates to individual political behaviour. Previous research suggests that social (generalised) trust and political (institutional) trust are associated with the likelihood of getting involved in both informal and formal political activities. Despite the large volume of studies,...

The purpose of this study is to examine the social determinants of health based on the analysis of the Asian Barometer Survey (2003) which consists of cross-national representative populations in ten Asian countries. The study investigates how and to what extent social capital- measured in terms of general trust, political trust, and social network...

This study examines the network determinants of post-migration social capital among a group of foreign wives living in Korea. Based on a newly collected dataset, which consists of representative samples of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese women, it analyzes how and to what extent the survey respondents' preexisting transnational ties to prior co-e...

A bstract Both economists and sociologists generally recognize the importance of reputation in coordinating economic transactions. In a perfectly competitive and anonymous market characterized by faceless buyers and sellers, the issue of reputation would be irrelevant and unnecessary. In reality, however, markets are often filled with varying degre...

The focus of this article is to examine how and to what extent social networks serve to alleviate information problems on both demand and supply sides of the market, and how this mechanism contributes to income inequality among legal service providers. The empirical context of this study is a random sample of urban lawyers in Chicago. The findings...

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it seeks to contribute to the ongoing sociological debate surrounding the immigrant enclave hypothesis, originally articulated by Alejandro Portes and his associates. It also extends this debate beyond the empirical setting on which the previous research has almost exclusively focused, i.e., developed...