Part 1:
In the US culture, individualism is prevailing, and privacy is commonly supported (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Therefore, a future mother-in-law in US would not share a bedroom with her daughter-in law-to-be unless bed-sharing is the last option for them to take. According to Ting-Toomey and Chung (2012), compared with females in collectivistic environments, US females are more individualistic (p. 48). Considering this premise, a US mother-in-law is unlikely to put forward such a request of bed-sharing. Also, because the woman is going to be her son’s wife, and because the general mood of US society is relatively open, then it is fine for the prospective couple to sleep in the same room.
However, South Korea is a country with the value pattern of collectivism that “promotes relational interdependence, ingroup harmony, and ingroup collaborative spirit” (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012, p. 45). This setting endorses harmony within a certain group including work and family, which in this case, forces the future mother to provide the best sleeping condition she have for her future daughter. On the other hand, South Korea in mother-in-law’s generation is kind of conventional and not open in the sexual relationship. The value the mother received when she was young may be that it is important to keep distance from males and they cannot share a bed until they get married. Influence by these elements, it is reasonable for a future mother-in-law to make the request of bed-sharing.
As a Korean male and within the Korean context, the son might agree with his mother’s behavior even if he has objections in his mind. In the Korean cultural group, the society exhibit a strong uncertainty avoidance value pattern (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012, p. 50). Thus, the son might follow his mother so that they can avoid conflicts, especially if his family situation is also in strong uncertainty avoidance pattern. In addition to the value pattern of strong uncertainty avoidance, South Korea with collectivism values advocates filial piety that asks children to respect parents’ wishes, which reduces the chances for children to refuse their parents.
Part 2:
There are different customs for different cultures. In this case, there is an apparent cultural conflict. "U.S. American cultures and psyches reflect and promote independence" (Markus, 2017). American culture focuses on independence and social distance. In American families, parents and children rarely live together, especially after their children get married. So, in the eyes of this American woman, it's tough to accept sharing a bed with her mother in law. Even she has previous working experience in Asia, and it does not mean that this requirement is acceptable to her.
However, in Korean culture, the home of Koreans is "our home", they must first send and receive "us" signals. The individual is smaller than the collective, which is one of the outstanding consciousness of Koreans. The mother in law is a traditional Korean woman. Thus, she thinks that sharing a bed with her daughter-in-law is an excellent way to express that she considers this American woman is a part of the family.
Nevertheless, if the son wants to mitigate the conflict, and he needs to consider the difference between two cultures. According to Ting-Toomey & Chung (2012), the authors illustrated that "Many Asian and Native American cultures, however, may resort to using the understated spiral reasoning style, including subtle messages, implied hints, reserved talks, relational reasons, Furthermore, thoughtful nonverbal gestures to convey intended meaning and context." South Korea belongs to high context culture. Communication is more about context and hint. For direct and frank communication, they prefer implicit communication. America is a low context culture. Americans prefer direct candor to hint. When communicating, they pay more attention to face-to-face. In the Korean context, the son may understand what his mother did, but he cannot directly express his feelings.