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School governance is a topic of general interest worldwide in educational research, and in recent years, it has also drawn widespread attention in China. In order to examine the problems faced in the process of promoting the modernization of school governance at Chinese primary and secondary schools, we conducted interviews with different stakeholders such as experts, principals, teachers, and parents, and as a result, we found that the problems currently in urgent need of attention are concentratively reflected in the areas of pluralistic co-governance and accountability, specifically including: A low degree of and few channels for teachers' participation in school governance; shallowing and superficializing of parents' participation in school governance; no establishment of checks and balances and accountability mechanisms in the internal operation of power. The causes producing the problems are complex and multifarious, including both causes in the area of social psychology and causes in the area of school leadership styles. Recommendations addressing the problems and their causes are provided at the end of the paper.

Looks at the concept of creativity, and provides an explanation of its development in humans using a socio-cognitive framework proposed by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Applies this theoretical framework to the development of, and attitude toward, creative thinking in the Chinese culture as contrasted with western cultures. (DSK)

School governance is a topic of general interest worldwide in educational research, and in recent years, it has also drawn widespread attention in China. In order to examine the problems faced in the process of promoting the modernization of school governance at Chinese primary and secondary schools, we conducted interviews with different stakeholders such as experts, principals, teachers, and parents, and as a result, we found that the problems currently in urgent need of attention are concentratively reflected in the areas of pluralistic co-governance and accountability, specifically including: A low degree of and few channels for teachers' participation in school governance; shallowing and superficializing of parents' participation in school governance; no establishment of checks and balances and accountability mechanisms in the internal operation of power. The causes producing the problems are complex and multifarious, including both causes in the area of social psychology and causes in the area of school leadership styles. Recommendations addressing the problems and their causes are provided at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess China’s urban social assistance policy, mainly by examining the findings of in-depth interviews with urban Dibao recipients in Chengdu about their experiences with social assistance, and by comparing what the social assistance offers with the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the author interviewed 15 people from urban Dibao Households in Wuhou District and Qingyang District of Chengdu, China. The interviews were conducted from April to August in 2013, usually in their homes. The small sample naturally limits generalizations, however it can point to directions for future research. Findings – It is found out that urban Dibao which is the core of social assistance policy provides insufficient cash support and other special assistance programs are more of tokenistic which do not offer much help. Besides, due to lack of psychological aid, many recipients show negative and pessimistic attitudes toward life. Originality/value – Regarding the assessment of social assistance policy in China, the international literature has shown little interest. Several Chinese scholars have analyzed urban social assistance system, but they tend to examine or assess from the perspective of policy makers and focus on making policy suggestions. Thus, there is not much information about whether what the social assistance offers could meet the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities. An interesting endeavor would be to explore and assess the urban social assistance policy from the perspective of the recipients, and this is exactly what this paper aims to do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines teachers' stories of children's coping with changing family situations such as divorce or family separation which can induce discontinuities in their lives. Using the case of Hong Kong, a place where ‘East meets West’ in cultures and family relationships, this paper argues for the use of the concept of hybridities in understanding the experiences of children in changing family situations. Teachers' stories show that children in changing family situations are facing new kinds of difficulties from the mixing of modern family forms and traditional family values. Implications to teacher education, policy and practice are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Past studies have mostly focused on investigating actual economic inequality with less work devoted to understanding perceived economic inequality and its antecedents. However, numerous studies have shown that perceived inequality is a strong predictor of psychological, political, and social outcomes and hence is an important outcome in and of itself. This paper aims to identify the socioecological (i.e., actual inequality) and psychological (legitimation and fairness considerations) antecedents of perceived economic inequality. We hypothesized that individuals who legitimized income inequality would perceive less inequality, whereas individuals who experienced unfairness engendered by income inequality would perceive more inequality. We utilized a nationally representative sample in China (N = 33,600 respondents nested within 25 provinces) and conducted multilevel longitudinal analyses to test our hypotheses. In line with our predictions, we found that legitimation of inequality was associated with less perceived inequality six years later, whereas unfairness was associated with more perceived inequality six years later. In addition, we found that in more unequal areas, people perceived less income inequality. These longitudinal effects were robust when controlling for prior years of perceived inequality, economic development, and sociodemographic factors. Findings have implications for system justification and economic inequality theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to improve our understanding of the social psychology of code-switching by investigating societal attitudes towards two types of Chinese-English code-switching, insertions of English words in Chinese sentences and switching to English at clausal boundaries in Chinese. It examines how subjects' evaluation of code-switching is influenced by their general language attitudes and language use associated with network exposure. The subjects were recruited from four different cities in mainland China. They participated in an online perception experiment and completed a socio-biographical questionnaire. Quantitative analyses show that clausal switching was rated as the least likable CS mode, but at the same time was considered as having high status as an indication of high English proficiency. Their evaluation was mainly influenced by their general attitudes towards English language and culture. Network exposure also played a marginal role, affecting their judgement of the speaker's English proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines processes of adaptive governance and authoritarian resilience through the lens of community governance, bringing together hitherto unrelated fields of study. It argues first that adaptation has unintended consequences that can threaten stability but do not necessarily cause regime crisis. Second, it contends that the structural fault-lines of institutionalised categorical inequality, marketisation, and professionalization, along with the pathologies of Leninist authoritarianism, undermine adaptive community governance. The paper draws on qualitative research in two neighbourhoods of Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Chinese indoctrination methods for prisoners of war (POW). In the wars of the last 50 to 100 years, American soldiers who fell into enemy hands experienced a variety of physical and emotional hardships, but the Chinese have made the first major attempt to produce defectors and collaborators among American POWs and to indoctrinate them in an alien political ideology. The article does not propose to consider the Chinese aims in conducting this enterprise, nor does it discuss in any detail how the indoctrination program affected men. Instead, this paper will present a brief account of the specific experiences of the POWs from the time they were captured until the time they were repatriated. To some extent, it will be possible to present a chronological account. It should be pointed out, however, that most of the significant experiences were occurring contemporaneously. Therefore, it has been chosen to organize them into some social psychological categories rather than simply to recount them as they occurred.

Relations between the United States and the emerging giants of China and Brazil have become more intertwined in recent years due to rapidly changing global economic and political forces. Such a shifting landscape requires a greater level of understanding of each other's culture in order to successfully engage in trade and diplomacy. National culture determines our world view and to a great extent how we interact with others, how we view our place in the social order and how we do business. This paper was designed to analyze the cultural dimensions in each country using well-known frameworks from anthropology and social psychology. Considering the business environment in each country, the paper explored the three predominant business approaches, 'relationship marketing', guanxi and jeitinho that have evolved and how these approaches may conflict with one another in the international arena and ways to reach convergence in today's globalized business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role that veterans played in the construction of historical memory narratives in mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan. I argue that veterans, who had long established a ‘language community’ with a particular way to speak about the war, found it difficult to communicate with post-war audiences that did not share that experience. The paper analyses six categories of ‘memory writing’ that veterans used to engage with memory debates: post-war diaries, ‘testimonial literature’, articles and literary works, surveys and oral histories, memoirs, and paratext. This study thus proposes that veterans do not avoid discussion of war, but can only be ‘heard’ by members of their language community, or by a post-war society that is prepared to ‘listen’ to their message with little mediation. This is a direct consequence of their experience of the war, and how they crafted their language community at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is a situated biographical reflection on the author's Hong Kong teaching experience written using a narrative inquiry approach, describing attempts to generate innovative pedagogical practices. The journey explores how autocratic, traditional Chinese cultural expectations in Hong Kong education have nurtured a commonsense belief in “discipline first and then teach”. This teacher/researcher adopted alternative approaches to authority through the use of developmental drama which made teacher image and teacher-student power relationships an object of talk and study. The aim of this paper is to bring together theories and pedagogical models based on the sociology of education, social psychology and drama pedagogy in an effort to change how we teach marginalized students in one distinctive Chinese cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are the relations among nations inevitably conflictual? Neorealism and neoliberalism share the rationalist assumption that states are self-regarding, but debate over whether states pursue relative or absolute gains. Scholars focusing on identity have recently joined the controversy. Wendt (1992) has argued against the realists that conflict is not the inevitable product of anarchy. Drawing on social psychology to defend realism, Mercer (1995) has countered that conflict is `an inescapable feature of … interstate relations'. This paper argues that international identity dynamics do not inexorably lead to competition, let alone conflict. Mercer's pessimism is unwarranted. Drawing on social identity theory (SIT), it argues that intergroup conflict is a highly contingent outcome, and that social psychology provides insights into when the realists are right, and when the liberals are. Utilizing examples from Sino-American relations, the paper also seeks to contribute to the stalemated debate in the China field between optimists and pessimists over the existence of a `China threat'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the Muslim Chinese, the Hui, as a minority ethnic group in their social interaction with the non-Muslim Chinese, the Han, in China. The findings show that the Hui in China remain a marginalized group with little influence on the political and economic affairs in China. It is also confirmed that since Islam is practised as a comprehensive way of life, which is different from the non-Muslim Chinese ways, the Han majority recognize the Hui only as a minority ethnic group. The paper examines three phases of relationships between the Muslim Hui and the non-Muslim Han. First, there is peaceful co-existence between the two groups while the Hui resist the great force of assimilation and acculturation of non-Muslim ways. In the second phase there is intensification of discrimination and persecution of the Hui by the non-Muslim Chinese who perceive them as a threat, and both parties entertain mutual stereotypes, suspicion and hostilities. In the third phase, the Muslim Chinese cannot take the pressure of the intensified prejudice, persecution and discrimination, and so they revolt against the Han. These three kinds of relationships continue to exist between the Muslim Hui and the non-Muslim Han in China depending on the delicate and complex situations of the two groups in various parts of contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the empirical relationship between the presence of inclusive institutions and the pattern of economic growth in a cross-country setting. We find evidence that the presence of inclusive institutions, indicated by political democracy, positively affects consumption share. In turn, the increase of the latter in the preceding year is associated with a significantly higher rate of total factor productivity (TFP) growth. The link from democracy to TFP growth via consumption is stronger for countries of higher levels of income. These findings suggest that institutional inclusiveness may have become increasingly important for economic growth when the level of income rises. We also provide preliminary evidence that consumption may have facilitated productivity growth via the channels of increasing innovations and reducing social conflicts. The findings shed lights on the structural transformations toward a more inclusive and sustainable model of growth in China today. Abbreviations:FE: GMM: Generalized method of moments PWT: TFP: Total factor productivity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, good vertical working relations encourage organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) that benefits organizations. But how does supervisor-subordinate guanxi influence employees' extra-role behaviors in relation to organizational interests? To answer this question, this paper examines a particular structural phenomenon in the context of the Chinese workplace. Guanxi circles (the phenomenon under investigation) are ego-centered guanxi networks with a powerful person at the center. Although a circle leader and his or her group members exchange favors for private goals, they need to actively balance their own interests with the interests of people/groups outside the guanxi circle; so as to maintain a harmonious relationship with the larger network. For this reason, extra-role performance benefiting the larger network is encouraged in the management of a guanxi circle. By studying survey data from China, we demonstrate how a wide variety of circle roles facilitate extra-role performance, and ultimately benefit the organization as a whole. Circle bridges have higher OCB toward organizations (OCB-O) than peripheral members of a circle, who in turn have higher OCB-O than core members of the same circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative learning is based on modern social psychology, cognitive psychology and modern educational technology and so on as the theoretical basis, making full use of the dynamic factors in class and group activities for the basic teaching form. Team members will communicate with each other to finish the tasks assigned by the teacher. The teacher will take assessments, which are a series of teaching activities or strategies to finish the teaching goal. Cooperative learning is one of the new learning styles that the present basic education curriculum advocates. Nowadays, many scholars of China have done research on cooperative learning, but most of their researches only stay in the form of cooperative learning, which haven't made a deep research in the carrying out of cooperative learning in rural middle school. This paper researches the new curriculum and the data at home and abroad. By using questionnaire, interview and observation, taking Xinling Middle School of Enshi as an example, the author did an investigation on the situation of the application of cooperative learning in Xinling Middle School English teaching. The author finds some problems existing in the application of cooperative learning: the teachers lack enough understanding about cooperative learning; the division of groups is not reasonable; the students lack consciousness and skills of cooperative learning, etc. The author also finds some solutions to solve these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common cultural phenomenon in China and the West, alchemy not only embodies the scientific spirit of people before modern times, but also contains certain religious beliefs, and even creates unrealistic secular imaginations. When Catholicism entered China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Chinese also projected this imagination of alchemy onto the missionaries. Behind this imagination actually lays the strong interest of Chinese people in the financial resources of the missionaries. On the one hand, there is the historical influence of traditional Chinese alchemy, and on the other hand, there is the curiosity caused by the lifestyle of missionaries in China. The imagination of alchemy not only reflects a historical aspect of the encounter between China and the West during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also reflects a complex social psychology of mixed curiosity, panic, suspicion, and vigilance in pre-modern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper is based upon 12 months of ethnographic study while living among the Tuva and Kazakh people in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Based on observation, interviews, participation and secondary documents the paper uses Coser''s theory of Social Conflict to suggest a four part model of how tourism engenders different forms of social conflict and fluctuating alliances between stakeholders in an environment where tourism has been introduced by agents external to the indigenous community. The actors are ethnic groupings and members of those groups, governmental officials at local, regional and national level, intermediaries of the tourism industry and private sector entrepreneurs drawn from the majority and minority ethnic groups. Tensions are identified as being based on beliefs, resources and power, and a sequential pattern of primacy is identified consistent with stages of the tourist area life cycle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Organizations in emerging economies such as China have attracted an increasing amount of research attention during the past few decades, and it is time to scrutinize findings from earlier studies. In this paper, we test the psychometric soundness of a widely used indigenous measure of organizational citizenship behavior in the Chinese context developed by Farh, Earley, and Lin ((1997), ‘Impetus for Action: A Cultural Analysis of Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Chinese Society,’ Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 421–444). Using multiple samples from Mainland China, we performed systematic tests of the content validity, discriminant validity, factorial validity and nomological validity of this five-dimension measure. We found that their two culture-specific dimensions, namely (harm to interpersonal) harmony and (personal use of organizational) resources, in fact measure the construct of deviant behavior, and cannot prove the existence of indigenous contents. We discuss our results in light of the ongoing convergence–divergence debate, and provide suggestions to further improve the quality of indigenous research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the later years of the War of Resistance to Japan (1937–1945), United States (US) propaganda activities intensified in both Japanese military-occupied and ‘free’ regions of China. One of the most important organizations behind these activities was the Office of War Information (OWI). This paper examines the OWI, and particularly its Overseas Office, as key institutional actors within a broader US total war effort which touched the lives of civilian populations in East Asia as well as combatants, arguing that: •US propaganda institutions and propagandists played demonstrable roles in representing and shaping the experience of war in China;•these institutions, which included Asians and individuals of Asian descent, simultaneously acted to advance US goals in the wartime ‘Far East’;•while cooperation between US and Chinese governments was sporadic in the area of psychological warfare, conflicts over control often undermined or limited operations;•despite these shortcomings, US propaganda institutions (which included both the OWI and offices within the Department of State) had developed comparatively wide-ranging capabilities by the end of the war, and continued operations into the Civil War of 1945–1949.By 1945 propaganda had become an activity which regularly targeted allied populations as well as enemies. This process was facilitated by the early twentieth-century communications revolution, but was planned and controlled by the new engineers of the post-war order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Chinese Malaysians retain a distinct Chinese identity in a multicultural nation and highly appraise the ethnic-based and cultural importance of the Chinese language. Based on a social psychological perspective, this study employs a survey method with multiple-choice and open-ended questions to examine Chinese identity and the issues of Chinese language from the micro and macro level in two different education systems. By comparing two contrasting educational systems of Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (ICSS) and National Secondary Schools (NSS), this paper with 890 respondents argues that the Chinese identity is constructed through the different degree of learning, using and understanding of Chinese language in the students' respective educational contexts. Results of statistical analysis reveal significant higher score in NSS sample with a more salient Chinese identity despite having a disadvantaged learning environment for the Chinese language. The comparative analysis sought to provide significant justification and discussion of the Chinese identity construction of Chinese secondary school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores determinants of aging well in 1,502 randomly selected Chinese elders in China. In Chinese traditional culture, elders assume a socially integrated and productive social role within the family. This role parallels the active engagement domain of the Rowe and Kahn model of successful aging. However, in their model, health and physical functioning are prominent with less emphasis on psychosocial aspects such as culture. This study tests the strength of the relationship between two variables representative of Chinese aging traditions, productive activity and family relations, and the outcomes of self-rated health and depression. Two hierarchical regression models were tested. Step one entered age, gender, married, financial adequacy, live alone, and reading ability. Step two added the active engagement variables of productive activity and family relations. Each model was significant at both steps with an inverse association for depression (R2 = 19.2%) and a positive association for self-rated health (R2 = 9.9%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the approach of institutional economics to study the interaction between the changing formal rules and the evolving informal constraints, alongside the dynamics leading to industrial evolution, this paper will firstly examine the particular social and economic settings which bring about the informal constraints for the business practice of Macao's casino junket operators, and the feedback from the system which in turn triggered the evolution of the informal constraints since the middle of the 1980s. Extending from our understanding of the custom and practice of this business in the "old Macao", this paper will further discuss the role of the recently promulgated Junket Operator Regulation in the transition of Macao's casino industry from a culturally defined to a more formally regulated business. In this context, impact from the change in the formal rules on the evolving informal constraints, and the dynamics giving rise to the changing structure and performance of the casino industry will also be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a sustainable development approach, community tourism can be implemented in a modernized civil societywhenindividuals confront the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship. China seems to present a series of problems to community tourism. It is in the midst of 'modernising' its norms and values, but has no civil society to counterbalance the power of the state. It enjoys the benefits of a growing economy, but is far from being regulated by the invisible hand of the market. There is intense social opposition, but there are no social movements that might lead towards building a democratic system crucial to implementing community tourism. This paper presents a case study of Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone in Sanya, Hainan Province, China, in order to explore the applicability of community tourism. The findings indicate that tremendous barriers exist to such a democratic approach in the development of the Zone despite glimmers of hope. The paper concludes that various preconditions must be established for implementing community tourism in the specific situation of the Zone. The paper also contributes to the much needed discussion of community tourism in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durkheim and Mauss, in Primitive Classification, concluded that the emotions play a causal role in the history of dual symbolic classification systems, but could not test this intuitive speculation because they saw a classification of the emotions as impossible. In this paper a portion of Plutchik's psychoevolutionary model of the primary emotions are assumed to be valid and are then investigated through analysis of one of their three case studies of primitive classification, that of classification in ancient China, where their emphasis was on the eight "trigrams" or "powers" that they saw arranged in a "divinatory compass" The trigrams are three-line components of the "hexagrams," the six-line figures that are interpreted as master signs in I Ching divination rituals. Using Plutchik's psychoevolutionary classification of the emotions as a basis of comparison, especially his model of the primary emotions as adaptive reactions to the positive and negative experiences of four existential problems — identity, temporality/reproduction, hierarchy, and territoriality — it is found that both trigrams and primary emotions exist as four pairs of opposites. The eight trigrams and eight primary emotions similarly can be seen as adaptive reactions to the four basic problems of life. Through structural analysis, correspondences between the trigrams and the primary emotions are developed, the result being that the primary emotions are structurally isomorphic and very close in first meanings to the primary attributes of the trigrams. Implications of this isomorphism of structure for the development of a social psychology of the emotions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents an effort to distinguish between two types of guanxi prevalent in mainland China: favor-seeking guanxi that is culturally rooted and rent-seeking guanxi that is institutionally defined. Different rules of maneuvering the two types of guanxi are identified in light of Chinese cultural and business ethics. Strategies for entering guanxi in mainland China are also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the double-rating method (DRM) as a way to reduce test takers social desirability response set. This involves the introduction of a pre- assessment task, in which respondents indicate how others would probably answer the test or survey questionnaire presented. Two studies conducted in Hong Kong and Canada evaluate the effectiveness of the DRM Results show that social desirability responses obtained using this method are significantly less frequent than those obtained under a conventional instruction. The pre-assessment task induces test takers to realize that other people will probably respond truthfully, and report some socially undesirable information. The test takers subsequently conform to this frankness in their own self-report. The merits and limitations of this method are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Subjective norms plays an important role in purchasing intentions. • There is an “awareness-behavior gap” whereby low-carbon awareness has a moderating effect on behavior via psychological factors. • Low-carbon subjective knowledge and low-carbon objective knowledge have different influencing mechanism on purchasing intention. • Acceptability of policies has positive impact on adoption of New Energy Vehicles. Abstract This paper investigates the salience of social-psychological factors in explaining why drivers purchase (or fail to purchase) New Energy Vehicles (NEVs)—including hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles—in China. A questionnaire measuring six dimensions (including attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, personal norms, low-carbon awareness and policy) was distributed in Tianjin, where aggressive policy incentives for NEVs exist yet adoption rates remain low. Correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analyses are applied data collected through 811 valid questionnaires. We present three main findings. First, there is an “awareness-behavior gap” whereby low-carbon awareness has a slight moderating effect on purchasing behavior via psychological factors. Second, subjective norms has a stronger influence on intention to purchase New Energy Vehicles than other social-psychological factors. Third, acceptability of government policies has positive significant impact on adoption of New Energy Vehicles, which can provide reference potential template for other countries whose market for New Energy Vehicles is also in an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines determinants of public attitudes toward the siting of two hypothetical projects with similar environmental consequences but different developmental implications, i.e., a waste disposal facility and a large chemical plant. It addresses the ongoing debate whether public opposition is driven by the NIMBY syndrome or rather reflects the rise of rights consciousness among citizens in the empirical context of developing economies, using data from a 2014 questionnaire survey of 2500 residents in four Chinese cities. Statistical results show that self-interest concerns have only mild relevance predicting opposition to waste disposal facilities and no influence in large chemical plants. In contrast, deprivation of participation emerges as the primary reason for opposition to large chemical plants, a project with strong developmental implications. Interestingly, environmental knowledge tends to mitigate public opposition to waste disposal plants. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two purposes: (1) to show how previous work in complex organizations, social movements and political development converges to predict routinization of successful social movement organizations, and (2) to explore the Chinese experiment in organization as a deviant case for the "law" of routinization. First, theories from three substantive areas are shown to predict routinization of social movement organizations. Next, an alternative model of organization, the Maoist model, is presented. Then, recent social history of China is examined to see if the model has been implemented. Lastly, several generalizations about the routinization process are drawn from the Chinese case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) has increased across all regions and age groups. However, little research has examined older adults' use of ICT for different purposes. To address this research gap, the current study investigates the effects of ICT use for four purposes – social, leisure, financial, and medical – on the well-being of older adults. Most importantly, this study explores whether social support from friends may account for the observed positive effects of ICT use for social and leisure purposes. A total of 525 Hong Kong Chinese adults aged 60 and above (Mage = 68.7, SD = 6.27, Range = 60–100 years) completed an interview session to measure their ICT use for various purposes, social support from friends, and well-being indicators, including life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions and cognitive functioning. The results demonstrate that ICT use for all four purposes was associated with more frequent positive emotions and improved cognitive functioning. Moreover, ICT use for leisure and financial purposes was associated with higher levels of life satisfaction and fewer negative emotions. Social support was found to partially account for the effects of ICT use for social and leisure purposes on life satisfaction and positive emotions. These findings suggest that ICT use for all purposes is beneficial to older adults, and that ICT use may improve the emotional well-being of older adults by allowing for greater support from friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychological characteristics underlying Chinese parents' behaviors in using child car seats and to understand their decision-making processes. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), three extended variables of perceived accident severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers were introduced. From the perspective of social psychology, the psychological factors that influence parents' use of child car seats and their interrelationships were explored. A questionnaire was designed to collect data, including information on demographic characteristics, basic components of the TPB, and relevant extension variables. Using on online survey, 585 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation modeling was used to calibrate the data, and multiple group analysis was performed on the demographic variables. The extended TPB can effectively explain and predict parents' behaviors when using children's car seats. The results of the model show that parents' positive attitudes toward child safety seats (CSSs), others' recognition of their own use and perceptual control of the use of CSSs increase their willingness to use CSSs. Parents' willingness to use has a positive impact on the use of CSSs. Additionally, for the three extended variables introduced, perceived benefit significantly promoted parental intention and behavior to use CSS for children; perceived barriers significantly reduced parental use of CSS; and perceived accident severity had no significant effect on parental use of CSS. This study established the validity of the extended TPB model in predicting parents' behaviors in using car seats for their children. In addition, the current findings may provide a theoretical basis for policy development to promote CSS use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status‐legitimacy hypothesis proposes that those who are most disadvantaged by unequal social systems are even more likely than members of more advantaged groups to provide ideological support for the very social system that is responsible for their disadvantages. Li, Yang, Wu, and Kou (2020, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin) sought to expand the generalizability of this hypothesis by testing it in China, addressing inconsistencies surrounding the empirical support for this hypothesis by postulating that the construct of status should be separated into an objective and subjective status marker. They reported that objective socioeconomic status (SES; income and education) negatively predicted system justification, while subjective SES positively predicted system justification. In the present study we attempt to replicate and extend the work of Li et al. in a cross‐cultural comparison of demographic stratified quota online samples in China and the United States. We test the status‐legitimacy hypothesis using objective and subjective SES to predict system justification using cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged regression analyses. We received partial support for Li et al.'s findings. Specifically, subjective SES positively predicted system justification for both societies during cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged longitudinal analyses. However, we failed to replicate Li et al.'s findings surrounding objective SES in China during cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faces are visual stimuli that convey rich social information. Previous experiments found better recognition for faces that were evaluated based on their social traits than on their perceptual features during encoding. Here, we ask whether this social‐encoding benefit in face recognition is also found for categories of faces that we have no previous social experience with, such as other‐race faces. To answer this question, we first explored whether social and perceptual evaluations for other‐race faces are consistent and valid. We then asked whether social evaluations during encoding improve recognition for other‐race faces. Results show that social and perceptual evaluations of own‐ and other‐race faces were valid. We also found high agreement in social and perceptual evaluations across individuals from different races. This indicates that evaluations of other‐race faces are not random but meaningful. Furthermore, we found that social evaluations facilitated face recognition regardless of race, demonstrating a social‐encoding benefit for both own‐ and other‐race faces. Our findings highlight the role of social information in face recognition and show how it can be used to improve recognition of categories of faces that are hard to recognize due to lack of experience with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People intuitively view some social groups (such as Black people, Muslims, and women) as having biological underpinnings and discrete boundaries. Essentialist beliefs about social groups shape how people view themselves and others, leading to a number of negative social consequences. Whereas previous research has demonstrated variations in social essentialism within some Western societies, less is known about how social essentialism manifests in East Asian cultures that have well-documented differences in social values and cognitive styles from Western cultures. The current research investigated cultural variations in social essentialist thinking in the United States and China to reveal how cultural ideologies and social belief systems shape people's basic representations of the social world. Analyses revealed several cultural and social correlates of social essentialism both between and within the cultures and demonstrated the mediating role of collectivistic values in predicting cultural differences in essentialist beliefs about group coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that debt pressure impairs people's subjective well‐being and social functioning, but few studies have examined its moral consequences. To explore the relationship between debt pressure and unethical behaviour intention, we conducted three studies and obtained aggregate‐level (Study 1) and individual‐level evidence (Studies 2 and 3). Study 1 analysed data on quarterly search volumes related to unethical behaviour intention on Baidu and quarterly measures of debt pressure in China, demonstrating that increased debt pressure predicted subsequent greater levels of unethical behaviour intention. Study 2 found that, compared with the control condition, individuals in the debt pressure condition exhibited greater unethical behaviour intention. Study 3 further tested the mediating role of self‐control and showed that individuals under high debt pressure evinced diminished self‐control and, in turn, displayed more unethical behaviour intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How should one understand the construction of a state's identity in the international system—its international identity? In this article, I attempt to provide richer answers. Drawing insights from social psychology, specifically Social Identity Theory and Identity Theory, I provide a micro-account of identity construction to better specify the mechanisms and logics through which international identity is constructed. This framework proposes the following general arguments about international identity formation. First, the construction of international identity is interpreted as a process of role negotiation between the state Self and relevant Other, animated by the mechanisms of self-categorization, alter's casting, and role appraisal. Second, the collective motivations of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-consistency drive state identity change or continuity. As a plausibility probe, I apply the framework to a current analysis of China's construction of an international identity as a "responsible" power in recent years, with a corresponding focus on the United States as the primary Other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces articles on psychological research in Chinese personality and social behavior, presented in the December 1998 issue of the 'Asian Journal of Social Psychology.' Intensive analysis of Confucianism to interpret findings of empirical research on moral reasoning; Analysis of the Chinese cultural tradition.

As modernization continues to advance the development of digital society, social media has become an important part of people’s daily life and an extension and expansion of real social interactions. In this process, social media use and individual social psychology have increasingly become the object of academic attention, among which the relationship between selfie behavior, as an important interaction practice of youth group in social media, and social anxiety needs to be further explored and discussed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current situation of selfie behavior, body image, and social anxiety among young people in China. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Chinese mainland (n = 920) to examine the mediating effects of social comparison and body image on social media selfie behavior and social anxiety, and found that there was a significant negative relationship between youth social media selfie behavior and social anxiety, while the sequence mediating effects of social comparison and body image were significant. The findings of the study provide new ideas and directions for exploring the intervention paths of youth social psychology in the era of image socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, mask wearing has become a global phenomenon. How do masks influence wearers’ behavior in everyday life? We examine the effect of masks on wearers’ deviant behavior in China, where mask wearing is mostly a publichealth issue rather than a political issue. Drawing on behavioral ethics research, we test two competing hypotheses: (a) masks disinhibit wearers’ deviant behavior by increasing their sense of anonymity and (b) masks are a moral symbol that reduces wearers’ deviant behavior by heightening their moral awareness. The latter hypothesis was consistently supported by 10 studies (including direct replications) using mixed methods (e.g., traffic camera recording analysis, observational field studies, experiments, and natural field experiment) and different measures of deviant behavior (e.g., running a red light, bike parking in no-parking zones, cheating for money, and deviant behavior in the library). Our research (n = 68,243) is among the first to uncover the psychological and behavioral consequences of mask wearing beyond its health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]