chinese psychology

1. Chinese Psychology 11.2006

3. I. Chinese Childhood Socialization Psychologists: focus on individuals, examine individual capacities and variation in child development . Anthropologies: pay more attention to cultural environmental influences, e.g. socio-economic conditiond of a population

4. I. Chinese Childhood Socialization Childhood Socialization: how parents rear their children and how children learn to become acceptable members of a society. That is, to explore what is an acceptable Chinese way of socializing children and what kind of adults Chinese socialization aims to produce.

5. I.1 The Confucian Tradition of Parental Education Through the past 2000 years, Chinese scholars and political authorities have a clear idea about the concept of the child. Ideas were first stated in essays (in 1st century B.C) by Confucian scholars, who proposed the important role adult family members should assume in early childhood education. By the time of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, neo-Confucian scholars wrote short essays in plain language to guide parents in providing their children with proper discipline.

6. I.1.1 Environmental Theories of Child Development Basic assumption: a child�s disposition derives from environmental influences, even before birth and during gestation. E.g. the need for �womb education� A pregnant woman seeks to shape the character of the coming child by restricting her activities, e.g. avoiding spicy or bitter food�

7. I.1.2 Models and Strategies of Traditional Child Rearing Teaching by example was and still is an important principle. E.g. A school-teacher is expected to set the standard of personal morality. Parents frequently made reference to teaching by example as an essential element for successful education. They may make dramatic actions and site symbolic examples. E.g. Mencius� mother

8. I.1.3 Training of Affective Control Early training in the control of affective display is part of the education in good manners. Yanshi Jiaxun ,Yan�s Family Teaching (by Yan Zhidui, 531-91 AD): train a child from infant to learn to interpret adult�s facial expressions and to act according to parental wishes. Emphasis: composed, reverential behvaior and on the restriction of physical activities among children. �No leaping, arguing, joking, or using vulgar language.� Not to reveal one�s thoughts and feelings. (bugou yanxiao)

9. I.1.4 On Dongshi (understanding things) When the son reaches the age of dongshi (reason), the father must be serious and proper in his speech and way of living in order to teach his son. Cheng brothers(11 century Confucian scholars said, �People in ancient times discipline their children as soon as they can eat and talk.�

10. I.1.4 On Dongshi (understanding things) Filial devotion must be taught to toddlers as soon as they can walk/talk. One has to pay daily respect to grandparents and to address elderly properly. �To educate a daughter-in-law, one must begin on the first of marriage; to educate a child, one must begin with infancy.�

11. I.2 Contemporary Chinese Conceptions of Socialization Chinese socialization: training for obedience, for proper conduct, for impulse-control, and for the acceptance of social obligations, while a relative lack of emphasis is given to independence, assertiveness, and creativity.

12. I.2.1 Socialization in Taiwan In kindergartens and elementary schools, Chinese children were found to be less aggressive, to be more cooperative in a group, to be trained in concentration to accomplish a task in learning Maths or painting, to be subject to more pronounced gender-role differentiation, and to receive deliberate training in honouring the collective. For Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese and those Chinese immigrant in US: Chinese parents are more restrictive or authoritarian than the US.

13. I.2.2 Various Chinese Areas: Shanghai What is a Good Child? 1. good moral character (loved others, group-oriented, cooperative, respects elders, good manners, obedient, demonstrates dongshi, an understanding of adults� desires) 2. Intelligence (eager to study in school, to do homework, smart, a quick learner) 3.obedience 4. good health 5. good personality

14. I.2.2 Various Chinese Areas: Shanghai What is a good parent? 1. One is responsible about her child receiving a good education. 2. One who behaves oneself so as to set a good model for the child. The goal of child training in the family: 1. Carry out moral education for the children 2. To coach the child to study 3. To enrich the child�s good personality 4. To ensure the child does homework

15. I.2.3 Various Chinese Areas: Southern Taiwan Parents should teach desirable values, including respect elders and identification with Chinese culture. Manners and obey rules, learn to �become human.� Most do not agree that children should be assertive, as they value a loving parent-child relationship. Parents should show loving, tender care to children, a view that disagrees with the ancient Confucian maxim that a father must be strict & a mother must be kind. Parents should keep promises and apologize if they are wrong. They must make time with their children. They agree on embracing and kissing to show love.

16. I.2.4 Various Chinese Areas: Singapore Parents are more conservative/ traditional in childhood socialization than the other two areas. Goal of socialization: education; maintenance of Chinese identity, assertiveness (more Westernized). The importance of discipline in early childhood: �The child should obey and not be allowed to talk back.� Respect for adults, and elderly in particular.

17. II. Emotion among the Chinese Kleinman (1986 paper): Chinese tend to believe emotion to be dangerous, value moderation in all matters, and emphasize social harmony over individual expression. That is, emotional behavior is normatively moderate or suppressed. In traditional Chinese medicine, extreme emotions are thought to cause illness

18. II.1 Emotional Behavior in a Social Context Potter (1988 paper): Emotions are less relevant in China than they are in the West. Emotions are best ignored like minor aches and pains, they do not achieve social ends and are not need to legitimate social relationships. Harmful emotions are discouraged, others can be expressed but ignored. �How I feel doesn�t matter!� Villagers did not expect emotional expressive-ness to help in achieving an end.

19. II.2 Love in a Social Context Potter: In China, social order/ relationships and behavior do not require an emotional basis. In the West, love is thought to be the proper basis of relationship between husband and wife and between fatehr and son. In Potter�s Chinese village, marriages were arranged. Filial piety should be there. �Romantic love is culturally alien in Mainland China� marriage choice is ideally based on �good feelings.�� Good feelings: unconditional responsibility and altrusim Love: oi-ching, a new term in Chinese

20. II.2 Love in a Social Context Jankowiak (1993 paper): in his study of Hohhot, the capital of the inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Romantic love as the theme of films and magazines. Young people date and fall in love. �Romantic love existed well before the founding of the Han dynasty.�

21. II.2 Love in a Social Context Traditional marriage: arranged, without romantic love. Yet, in poetry/fiction/drama, there is romantic love. Love between a man and a prostitute.

22. III. The Role of Belief in Chinese Culture In theorizing about the structure of values, one has to meet 3 universal requirements of social existence: Needs of individual Needs for coordinated social interaction Needs for the survival and well-being of the group This functional framework should be applicable to beliefs: Psychological beliefs Social beliefs Environmental beliefs

23. III. The Role of Belief in Chinese Culture Psychological beliefs: A central assumption of Confucianism: people are essential benevolent (ren). Social beliefs: individuals are believed to have to ability to develop their moral standards and to abide by them. This belief in individual morality is often used to explain the lack of an objective. Consistent legal system in traditional Chinese societies. Environmental beliefs: Feng shui is a supernatural belief shared by traditional and modern Chinese

24. III.1. Psychological BeliefsIII.1.1 Locus of Control Locus of control: internal/external Internal control: the belief that reinforcements are under the control of the individual External control: reinforcements are under the control of external forces, e.g. fate, luck, chance It is widely agreed in literature that because of the collectivistic orientation, Chinese tend to possess a stronger belief in external control than Westerners.

25. III.1.1 Locus of Control Tsui (1978 paper): HK Chinese undergraduates were more internal than were American-born Chinese undergraduates in the US. Hung (1974 paper): undergraduates in Taiwan did not differ from the Americans in internality. Smith, Trompenaars, & Dugan (1993 paper): Chinese are not necessarily more external than are all Westerners.

26. III.1.2 Externality & the Nature of the Outcome Humility, which originates from Confucianism, is a norm in Chinese culture. Chinese employees in Taiwan evaluated their performance less positive than did their supervisors, a pattern opposite to that commonly observed in the US.

27. III.1.2 Externality & the Nature of the Outcome The humility norm is related to the attributional pattern of the Chinese, who tend to make external attributions for successes and internal attributions for failures. HK Chinese subjects made self-effacing attributions for their performance in public but self-enhancing attributions in private. The salience of the humility norm in Chinese societies suggests that Chinese people select more internal explanations for failures than for success, the US the opposite.

28. III.1.2 Externality & the Nature of the Outcome The internality of Chinese is qualified by the nature of the outcome. Chinese were more external for successful events than were the US.

29. III.1.3 Effort and Ability Attributions in Academic Situation Compared with Americans, Chinese believe that academic achievements is more strongly related to effort. Chinese parents of primary students in Taiwan put more stress on the importance of hard work, and less on the importance of innate ability, than did American parents in explaining their children�s academic results. Such an emphasis on efforts is rooted in human malleability which is advocated by Confucianism.

30. III.1.4 Self-Concept Chinese culture: group-oriented, believing the group rather than the individual is the basic unit in society. This group-orientation hypothesis has obvious implications for the conception of the self. The collective self was more salient for subjects from China than for the US. Chinese identify themselves as the member of a specific group. Yet, Chinese subjects from HK responded at a level similar to the US. So, was the difference due to cultural or political & economic differences?

31. III.1.4 Beliefs about Self-Concept Chinese self entails components that are not observed in the West. Chinese hold a less positive view of the self than do the US. Chinese children showed lower ratings in cognitive, physical and general self-esteem. Chinese-American graduate students and professionals regarded themselves as less active, less attractive, less sharp, less beautiful than did local Americans. But is it because they are the minority/ discriminated?

32. III.2 Social BeliefsIII.2.1 Collectivist Beliefs Chinese: collectivistic Because the futures of individuals from the same in-group are inter-related and that each person�s well-being depends upon the results of collective effort. If each person follows the norms of the group and acts in the interest of the group, the group will be harmonious and prosperous. E.g. Chinese subjects in HK allocated a larger share of a group reward to in-group members than did American subjects.

33. III.2.1 Collectivist Beliefs The collectiveness of Chinese leads them to believe that an effective way to get things done is often through one�s guanxi (interpersonal connections). Chinese tend to believe that out-group members are less likely to be dependable and trustworthy than are members of the in-group. In Chinese culture, it is widely believe that it is more effective to resolve disputes through negotiation and compromise rather than through confrontation. Chinese subjects from HK prefer mediation over adjudication in dispute processing, whereas US subjects prefer both to the same extent.

34. III.2.2 Beliefs Related to Power Distance Social structure for Chinese: hierarchical and exhibits a large power distance. The basic belief is that the ideal way to organize a collective is through a well-defined hierarchy, with explicit responsibilities for each role in the hierarchy. E.g. the typical leadership pattern in Chinese societies tends to be paternalistic and authoritarian.

35. III.3 Environmental BeliefsIII.3.1 Primary & Secondary Control Primary control: in order to attain one�s goal and wishes, one has to attempt to bring about objective changes in the environment. This control is the predominant strategy in the West. Secondary control is prevalent in the East. Because of the emphasis on interdependence and harmony in groups, people should show a stronger tendency to adjust themselves to fit the environment. Chinese believe that secondary control is a more effective way to attain their goals than is primary control.

36. III.3.2 Beliefs about Uncertain Events British subjects tend to adopt a probabilistic view of uncertainty and are able to assess the likelihood of occurrence of uncertain events more accurately. The South-east Asian subject (including HK people) tend to view the world in terms of total certainty or uncertainty, and were less inclined to make a probabilistic judgement of uncertain events.