Culture, social class, and independence–interdependence: The case of Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Social class demarcates sociocultural environments differing in the relative abundance and scarcity of resources, which in turn differentially afford independent and interdependent psychological processes. The relationships between social class and psychological processes are well documented in Western populations but less so elsewhere. Examining such a relationship is particularly important in China, with its unique historical and sociocultural issues surrounding social class. This research examined the relationship between social class and independence-interdependence among Chinese adolescents (N = 1184). Findings were consistent across a diverse array of psychological processes implicated by independence-interdependence: Participants with well-educated parents experienced more socially disengaging emotions and a higher level of self-esteem, and were more inclined toward dispositional attribution and focused attention, compared to participants with less well-educated parents. These findings highlight the cross-cultural commonality in the relationship between social class and independence-interdependence.

Changes in Chinese Culture as Examined Through Changes in Personal Pronoun Usage

“…For instance, Cai and colleagues (2012) examined whether socioecological factors that have become prevalent in recent decades in China-affluence, urbanization, and single-child households-are predictive of one psychological process sometimes associated with individualism, namely, narcissism (Twenge et al, 2008). This research revealed that all three socioecological factors examined were independently predictive of narcissism-a higher score of narcissism was found among affluent (vs. less affluent) participants, those living in urban (vs. rural) areas, and those without (vs. with) siblings (see also Hamamura et al, 2013). However, these inferences have limitations- Yang (1996) interpreted such a tendency from a qualitative review of Chinese personality research, and Cai and colleagues inferred such a pattern from cross-sectional data obtained among contemporary Chinese participants.…”

Where Is the Culture in Social Class?

“…These theories suggest an interactive hypothesis regarding social class and social cognition: The cognitive tendencies of higher class people exemplify those of a society more so than the cognitive tendencies of lower class people. Comparable social class differences have been further observed in China (Hamamura, Xu, & Du, 2012), and among the Japanese younger adults (Kitayama et al, 2013). Higher class individuals in each culture would be more aligned with the culturally distinct ways of reasoning than lower class individuals.…”

Folk beliefs of cultural changes in China

“…Hamamura et al (2013) reported the effect of parental educational attainment on adolescents' tendency toward independence-interdependence. The effects of the one-child policy have also been examined extensively (e.g., Lee, 1992; Fan et al, 1994; Wang et al, 1998).…”