집단정체성으로서의 세대와 그 정치적 효과

초록

This paper claims that current research on ‘generation’ has both theoretical methodological problems mostly because it regards generation as age cohort. Theoretically, to measure a group identity, we need to take subjective identification to the group into account, and generation cannot be an exception. This paper proposes new measure for generation as group identity by taking subjective identification towards names of generation into account. Generation measured with new method is shown to be different from ‘age cohort.’ Not only is it possible to have multiple generational identifications, but individuals in same age can also have different generational identification. Furthermore, generation causes positive attitude toward in-group and negative one to outgroup only with saliently conflicting situation. The findings of this paper suggest two important points. First, we should be cautious to deal with generation empirically. Simply, generation as group identity is not the same as age cohort. Second, generation plays as a group identity only in the condition of salience, which suggests generational conflicts in Korea may be exaggerated.

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