Cross-Cultural Study of Life's Regrets and Prides Among Older Adults in the US and South Korea

Objectives. Little research has been done on the sources of older adults’ self-conscious emotions such as pride and regrets and the impact of culture on life reviews in cross-cultural and international samples.  The purposes of this research are to examine the contents and intensities of life regrets and pride among culturally diverse groups of older adults.  The association between life regrets and pride with current life stressors or coping resources, as well as, the relationship between depressive symptoms and the specific contents and intensities of life regrets and pride were further explored in this cross-cultural study.

Methods. The data were collected using cross-sectional, semi-structured, and face-to-face interviews with a convenience sample of 128 Americans and 111 South Koreans.  To elicit the content, frequency, and intensity of pride and regrets, open-ended questions are used to elicit the kind of pride and regrets that the respondent might have had.  The frequency of pride/regrets was measured by a five-point scale, associated with each mentioned pride and regret. The degree of pride and regret was measured by a five-point scale. 

Results. Findings indicated that supportive children, strong marriages, health, independent living, successful careers, stable financial situations, civic engagement and family caregiving are universal sources of great pride across the cultures in America and Korea. On the other hand, strong cultural values about family cohesion and support among older adults may explain the relatively high intensity of respondents’ regrets about family conflict and children’s problems. 

Regrets related to the lack of education were the most common, with 15.8% of Americans and 26.7% of Koreans.  Koreans also expressed higher intensity than American sample (15.1 vs. 8.13, respectively).   Across culture, most respondents who expressed educational regrets did so in relation to their regrets about not having been able to work for higher paying jobs and specific career-related regrets.  More Koreans (9.4%) expressed their concern about financial situations, while their American peers expressed regret about insufficient hobby and not having traveled much especially while health permitted (8.3%). The other common regret was related to marital problems (12.4% of the American and 8.4% of Koreans) as well as unsatisfactory relations with their children (7.5% of Americans and 14.1% of Koreans). The highest regret intensity was associated with respondent’s grief/loss among Americans (16.6) and phial piety among Koreans (19.5). Specific to cultural value of filial piety, eight Korean respondents (4.2%) mentioned the unexpected death of parents before they had a chance to mend their troubled/distant relationships with the parents.  Whereas more variety of regret was reported by Americans. Overall, Korean respondents reported higher intensity of their regret in almost all areas. 

Implications. Reviewing past life experiences is a common activity for older adults.  Studies of mental health in late life have examined the effects of both regrets (negative self-conscious and emotion) and pride (positive self-conscious motion) simultaneously. Further study should explore subgroup analysis and cross-cultural differences.