The "Spoon Theory" and Etiquette
- Ashley Young
- Nov 4, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 11, 2018
For my discussion, I’d like to examine the “Spoon Theory” and its relation to nepotism in TQ Group. In episode 12 we see how a shift in hierarchy and status influences the employee’s actions in respects to their etiquette and treatment towards Myeong-Seok.
From the beginning of the drama, Myeong-Seok, who was portrayed as an irresponsible “gold spoon”, never had a good reputation in the company as his first appearance in the drama was of him showing up drunk and late to church. As Hyejin Kim described “gold spoons are not expected to work or try to achieve anything through their effort” (2017: 844). It was evident that he was hired as an executive of TQ Group because of his family background as the son of Chairman Park and Madam Jang. Moreover, Hyejin Kim reminds us that family background has an impact on opportunities for social advancement (2017: 840). Furthermore, Myeong-Seok was never presented in a positive light for his big-headedness and ill-mannered attitude towards other employees working below him. He’s known for his bad “working relationships” which
Moon and colleague interpret as “the way employees are expected to work with each other in the organization, alluding to concepts such as fairness, harassment, or intimidation” (2017: 16).
Moon, Uskul and Weick explains that a majority of Korean corporations follow Confucian values that help manage the society as a whole (2017: 15). It’s evident that Korea is an extremely hierarchical society as portrayed through their rules of etiquette. They value those with highest authority with a “strong fear of displeasing their superiors and a substantial desire for explicit and stable relationships within hierarchies” (Moon et al., 2017: 15). Thus, when Myeong-Seok was an executive of TQ Group, the employees of TQ Business Operations group did not step up for themselves when he bullied them around as seen in previous episodes.
In episode 12, as drunk photos of Myeong-Seok were passed around on the internet. Chairman Park could not stand the embarrassment to his family name and fired his son. However, with the convincing of his mother he was able to return to work as an employee rather than an executive. In the scene we see Myeong-Seok’s first day working as an employee with Business Operations group. The dynamics of their “working relationship” (Moon et al., 2017: 16) with Myeong-Seok shifts to a more equal level within the company hierarchy. The team immediately shows no respect or fear towards the “gold spoon” Myeong-Seok although being mindful of his family background. It’s because they know that he’s been downgraded in the company by his own father, so they start to interact with him like a peer than a superior.
To conclude, I would imagine that the “Spoon Theory” is evident especially in the jaebeol in Korea. Nepotism is a very common phenomenon as a result of this theory. As a result, many younger generations feel they are living in “hell-Chosun” (Kim 2016: 39). This term has “negative and depressing features of South Korean society” where the main issue is when “their efforts do not necessarily guarantee success”. These “silver spoons” in TQ group might feel some resentment toward Myeong-Seok for this inevitable classification of Korean society.
Word Count: 541
Bibliography
Kim, Hyejin. “‘Spoon Theory’ and the Fall of a Populist Princess in Seoul.” The Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 76, no. 4 (2017): 839 – 849.
Kim, Jiyoon. “South Korean Youth in Crisis Implications for Political Leadership.” Georgetown Journal of Asian Affiars. (2016): 39 – 44.
Moon, Chanki, Ayse K. Uskul, and Mario Weick. “On Culture, Ethics, and Hierarchy: How Cultural Variations in Hierarchical Relations Are Manifested in the Code of Ethics of British and Korean Organizations.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Vol.48, no. 1 (2017): 15 – 27. doi:10.1111/jasp.12486.
Discussion:
1. Do you think there is a barrier between “gold spoons” and “silver spoons” of big corporations like TQ group like how the drama portrays? Is it just for dramatic effect?
2. Do you think being a “gold spoons” will cause one to act differently towards others? Does it matter
(All images/screenshots were taken from Myasiantv and no copyright or infringement intended)
Hi team,
Just a reminder that the contents of the lecture Wendy mentions are specific to the DPRK - these particular social divisions do not apply to the ROK. I appreciate that Tori’s post is more specific in terms of plot aspects as examples - try not to come up with long-winded hypothetical scenarios for the final.
First, please edit the post to fix all the Romanization of character names. Part of what I am trying to teach here is that consistent and correct Romanization is important for communication. I have previously corrected the Romanization for this group several times-- and emphasized this in class. 'Myung-suk' is the Romanization that matches 뮹숙 (and I have NEVER seen 뮹 and 숙 is almost always in women's names). You mean 명석 which is correctly Romanized Myeong-seok.
In an in-text citation you can say (Moon et al 2017). In the text, since it's only three names, just say Moon, Uskul and Weick. Moon and colleagues doesn't work.
Are you sure the Bus-Ops people weren't afraid because he'd been disciplined by…
I agree with Edward that if you are a gold spoon, you will get anything you want as a kid and take everything around you as granted. But I would like to add more thoughts of why “gold spoon” people act in the way that they are acting now. I don’t think gold spoon can be blamed on their actions because I believe the gold spoon’s social group are always full of other gold spoon people in which they all behave the same way. That’s why they never think they are the not fitting into the society or if there’s anything wrong with their behavior. Moreover, I think how family teach you while growing up brings a huge impact o…
Being a “gold spoon” definitely will cause to act differently towards other due to them being in a higher position and as well as having so much money. In Korea, status is always a thing that Koreans respect as being old doesn’t mean you will get respected by your younger peers in the company. In the drama, Myung-Suk acted like a big shot in the beginning as he doesn’t really care due to him being the CEO’s son and he’s got money, causing most to fear him or hating his guts. People like these also tend to never have any struggles due to having parents to clean up their mess. Not only that, but they also never really learn anything…
There are definite differences between gold spoons and silver spoons, mostly based on the connections one has access to. Myung-suk is a gold spoon and is always portrayed as being the most connected to people. Gold spoons not only have access to more money but many connections as well which is one of the reasons Myung-suk could get such a great position in the company without having to do much. Myung-suk's relationship with his father directly influenced his position in the company which most likely would not have been as high if he was a silver spoon. Despite money and net worth differences between gold and silver spoons, connections to higher positions can definitely influence the type of job one…