Does Optimism Moderate Parental Achievement Pressure and Academic Stress in Korean Children?

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of dispositional optimism on the relationship between the perception of parental achievement pressure and academic stress in South Korean children. Participants comprised 386 children, aged 10, recruited from 6 elementary schools in rural and metropolitan regions of South Korea. Participants completed self-report questionnaires on optimism, perception of achievement pressure from parents, and academic stress. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify significant variables. The multiple linear regression analysis showed children’s optimism significantly buffered academic stress. With increased parental pressure to achieve, children with higher optimism scores experienced less academic stress than those with lower optimism scores. The results suggest that optimism can alleviate stress for Korean children who live in an extremely stressful academic climate.     

Can an organization's philanthropic donations encourage consumers to give? The roles of gratitude and boundary conditions

This study examines whether an organization's charitable donation will prompt consumers who closely identify with the organization to give to the charity as well. We posit that identifying with a benefactor will enhance the perception that consumers are involved in the donation process, which evokes grateful feelings. We also predict that the amount of the organization's donation will positively moderate the influence of organization identification on charity‐evoked feelings of gratitude, while attitude toward the organization's charity will positively moderate the gratitude–donation relationship. In Study 1, we show how gratitude arises in the context of corporate social responsibility by demonstrating the mediating role of perceived donation contribution in the relationship between organization identification and gratitude. In Study 2, we demonstrate that organization identification has a significant indirect effect on donation intention through gratitude. Multigroup analyses show that the identification–gratitude link is more salient when the organization commits to donating a larger amount of money to a charity. Furthermore, the impact of gratitude on donation intent is significantly stronger for individuals who hold a favorable attitude toward the organization's corporate social responsibility activity. Our findings indicate that an organization's charitable giving also encourages consumers to give to the community via vicariously felt gratitude. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Globalizing Canadian Education from Below: A Case Study of Transnational Immigrant Entrepreneurship Between Seoul, Korea and Vancouver Canada

Witnessing the rise of the international education industry for the last two decades, this study examines the role of Korean immigrant entrepreneurs who play an important role in promoting Canadian education in the global market. Relying on close social and cultural linkages between Korea and Canada, the ways in which Korean immigrant entrepreneurs operate their transnational business demonstrate how globalization actually works in practice. Exploring immigrant participation at the heart of the knowledge economy (education), we also ask if the entrepreneurial opportunities that are being cultivated by Korean-immigrants represent an innovative shift from traditional and low-level ethnic niche economies toward more lucrative opportunities.