We are currently exploring stereotypes and prejudice toward social minorities in South Korea, including women, migrant workers, older people, people with disabilities, North Koreans, refugees, and sexual minorities, among others. Our research takes both a holistic approach (i.e., generalized prejudice) and a target-specific approach (e.g., ambivalent sexism toward women) to investigate attitudes toward stigmatized groups.

Furthermore, we aim to illuminate the psychological and societal conditions that reduce prejudice toward stigmatized groups and also encourage individuals to engage in actions that promote the rights and interests of minority groups, an effort known as 'allyship.'

Political polarization is a critical issue across global societies, including South Korea. Through collaborative research involving scholars from various academic disciplines, we are investigating the psychological and behavioral factors that exacerbate political polarization and extremism within Korean society. We primarily focus on the value structures and ideological beliefs of Korea's major political parties and aim to identify conditions that cultivate tolerant and constructive political behaviors among Koreans.

North and South Korea have been divided since the end of World War II, despite once being a unified nation with shared historical and cultural heritage. Relations between North and South Korea can be viewed as an intractable conflict (Bar-Tal, 2007), and psychological reconciliation is necessary for successfully resolving this intergroup conflict.

We are investigating various psychological factors that influence attitudes towards reconciliation (e.g., unification of the two Koreas) and positive attitudes toward the outgroup within this intergroup context. Our research utilizes a dual-social identity approach, intergroup contact, intergroup empathy, and stereotypes, among other elements.

We investigated how teams can become more creative and successfully negotiate with other teams by finding integrative solutions. We primarily apply the 'SYM-COIN (Synergy Model of Collectivistic Values and Independent Self)' in studying workgroup dynamics and its functioning. For more information about this model, please visit the website of the Social Psychology Lab at SKKU: https://socialpsych-skku.wixsite.com/mysite.