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Hyunsook Jang

Professor Brandon Jablonski

PSY.2200.501

29 November 2020

Senior Interview

I interviewed my grandmother, who is 85 years old. She raised me when I was a kid since

she has been a housewife for her entire life. She is Korean, and she was born and grew up in the

countryside in Korea called Kyungsan with such a big family that consisted of 11 members

including her. She is the eldest of four daughters and three sons. She did not know what hunger

was as she lived in affluence because her father was the owner of the largest orchard in the

village until they had to leave all and take refuge because of the Korean War. She is now living

with my uncle’s family in Seoul, South Korea, so I interviewed her with Zoom. She did not have

any trouble finding the words she wants to say, finishing her sentences, or naming things when I

interviewed her. However, she asked the same questions a few times, not because of her cognitive

functioning problems, but because she wears a hearing aid on her left ear.

Topic: Adolescence then and now

Questions and Responses

Q1: Did you attend high school? Did you want to?

A: The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when she was 15 years old. She remembered that

her grandfather passed away while all of her family were at a refugee camp in Busan, Korea. After

her family left Kyungsan because of the war, they lived in a small village in Busan starting farming

again. However, they lived poorly, like all the people living in their village, because of the war. She

had to find a job and work to supplement the family income with her parents since there were 6

younger siblings and an old grandmother. She did not, maybe could not, attend high school even

though she really wanted to because she had to work to support her family.

Q2: Did you want to go to work?

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A: When she had to find a job to support her family, she was frustrated and did not want to work,

but she had no other options. She got a job at the hotel anyway, but unlike the first few months,

she started to enjoy going to work because she found out that there are so many chances to

meet people from many different areas or countries as working at the hotel. She was able to

learn basic Japanese and English conversation while she worked there.

Q3: How many hours per week did you work?

A: She said that there was no fixed working time, and sometimes she had to stay at the hotel all

day long. She estimated that she worked more than 100 hours per week.

Q4: How much did you contribute to the family income?

A: Her income was higher than her farmer parents because she worked longer than any other

workers in the hotel, and she often got a big tip. She contributed almost 70 percent of the family

income for many years.

Q5: What options did you consider for how you would spend your adult life (career, marriage,

etc.)?

A: She married when she was 20 as most of the women got married when they were young at

that time. Her parents put her into an arranged marriage, so there was no option for her about

marriage. However, after she married, she did not have to work, so she considered to finish high

school and go to university. Her greatest wish was to become a nurse, but she did not have a

chance because she had four kids in her 20’s.

Q6: What do you think of today's teenagers?

A: She thinks that today’s teenagers, at least her grandchildren who are living with her, are not

grateful for anything they have. (She is generalizing her grandchildren’s behavior because they are

the only teenagers she knows.) Unlike in her teens, there is an opportunity to get an education

and to do what they want, and they have parents or systems that are standing by to support

them, but they complain a lot. Also, they seem to like what they really want since they are living

in a deluge of information.
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Q: Predict the common developmental events and challenges you would expect your interviewee

to be facing in the next few years, based on what you have learned. On what challenges and

opportunities is your subject focused, looking ahead?

A: The biggest challenge that she would face in the next few years is probably her physical

function or health. Her hearing is getting worse and worse. Her ability to detect sound will decline

significantly in the next few years.

Q: Your analysis of your interviewee as a student of developmental psychology. The question is

whether the theory is right, not whether your subject is right. Does your interviewee fit what we

have learned about late adulthood, as described in the text? Is there any sense in which the

theory about development in old age seems to be wrong or inadequate?

A: I think my grandmother fits somehow what I have learned about late adulthood. I could not

analyze her 100 percent by this short interview, but I agree with the theory that the elderly may

have an advantage in developing wisdom, particularly if they have: (1) dedicated their lives to the

“understanding of life,” (2) learned from their experiences, and (3) become more mature and

integrated (Ardelt, 2011, p. 283).

Q: What questions about development came up for you in the process of doing the interview and

writing the report?

A: The question that came up for me in the process of doing this interview is how the typical

Korean grandmother and American grandmother will be different. In other words, I was curious

about the cultural effect on development.

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Works Cited

Alcohol Use in Pregnancy. (2020, April 30). Retrieved September 6, 2020, from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/alcohol-use.html

Berger, K. S. (2016). Invitation to the life span. New York, NY: Worth.

Weesang, Park. Personal interview. 25 November 2020.