Chinese Adolescents' Reasoning About Democratic and Authority‐Based Decision Making in Peer, Family, and School Contexts

Abstract

This study explored the judgments and reasoning of Chinese adolescents (13-18 years of age) from 3 regions of mainland China (N = 574) regarding procedures for making decisions involving children in peer, family, and school contexts. Participants evaluated 2 democratic decision-making procedures (majority rule and consensus) and decision making by adult authorities for 2 decisions embedded in each social context. Judgments and reasoning about decision-making procedures varied by social context and by the decision under consideration, and evaluations of procedures became more differentiated with increasing age. The findings reveal that concepts of rights, individual autonomy, and democratic norms (majority rule) are salient aspects of Chinese adolescents' social reasoning and are used to evaluate critically existing social practices.

‘Democracy always comes first’: adolescents’ views on decision-making in everyday life and political democracy

“…This result is in line with previous studies (e.g. Helwig and Kim 1999;Helwig et al 2003), but also yields new insights into adolescents' democratic views. To conclude this article, we would like to discuss five results that do not correspond with earlier findings or instigate further research.…”

“…First, in previous studies, adolescents were asked to choose between several options (e.g. Helwig et al 2003). Our study showed that when young people were asked to formulate their own views on decision-making, they did so in accordance with various models of democracy.…”

“…More generally, scholars have concentrated on the elements of one type of democracy, namely, a majoritarian democracy. In a study of 6-to 11-year-old Canadian children (Helwig and Kim 1999) and a study of 13-to 16-yearold Chinese adolescents (Helwig et al 2003), however, the participants were explicitly asked about which type of decision-making process they would prefer: consensual, majoritarian, or authority based. Most Canadian children stated that majority decision-making with peers and family and at school for field trips is a legitimate way, but most of them preferred consensual decision-making.…”

“…Some studies have focused on decisionmaking in situations familiar to adolescents, but participants in these studies are drawn predominantly from the higher socio-economic milieu, which leaves differences related to education levels or the socio-economic milieu out of the picture (e.g. Helwig and Kim 1999;Helwig et al 2003). Other studies have revealed the significant impact of education on adolescents' democratic views, and have claimed this as a stronger explanation for differences between young people than background characteristics such as gender, age, religiosity, and ethnicity (e.g.…”

Children's Evaluations of Gender-Stereotypic Household Activities in the Family Context

“…This procedure created proportions of responses, which were used in the analyses (see Killen et al, 2002;Wainryb et al, 2001). This data analysis procedure has been used extensively in the research literature as reported by Wainryb et al and other researchers analyzing justification interview data (see Helwig, Arnold, Tan, & Boyd, 2003;Horn, 2003;Nucci & Smetana, 1996;Wainryb et al, 2001). ANOVA-based procedures are robust when used with dichotomous data.…”