Effects of beliefs inyuanon coping and psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese

Abstract

The relationship between the belief in yuan and coping mechanisms, as well as an individual's psychological well-being, was explored in this study. Self-report questionnaires were administered to a total of 155 local Hong Kong men and women. Hierarchical regression analyses and factorial analysis of variance were run. No gender differences were found in adaptive or maladaptive coping and psychological well-being amongst the participants. Findings indicated that the belief in yuan contributed to the prediction of psychological well-being after controlling for coping. Significant gender differences have also been found in the level of the belief in yuan. Men and women were found to hold different attitudes towards yuan, which impacted their psychological well-being differently when the effect of coping had been partial out. There was a significant interaction effect between gender and the belief in yuan. Men were found to be firmer believers in yuan and such belief had a positive effect on their psychological well-being while the opposite was found for women. It was suggested that such a relationship is due to men's tendency to employ rationalization as a defence and that yuan provided men with a greater sense of security. On the contrary, the stronger women believed in yuan, the less self-perceived healthy they were, thereby indicating that yuan could be a form of coping strategy employed differently by contemporary men and women. It was hence concluded that although yuan appeared to be a traditional concept, it still continues to play a crucial role in influencing one's psychological well-being.

Sexual destiny and growth beliefs, yuan beliefs, approach sexual motives, and sexual communication in Chinese heterosexual adults

“…Finally, only when the relationship has changed beyond repair will Chinese people choose to end it and attribute this to the relationship not having yuan ( wu yuan , 无缘 ) (Chang & Holt, 1991). In sum, yuan may be an important source of cultural wisdom that can be used as psychological adjustment for handling interpersonal conflicts (Hsu & Hwang, 2016) and maintain harmony and stability in Chinese social relationships (Mann & Cheng, 2012). However, although there may be an overlap between the implicit theories in a romantic relationship and yuan beliefs, few studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between Chinese people’s implicit theories and yuan beliefs.…”

Performing Yuánfèn: An Exploration of Untranslatable Words in the Lacunae Project

“…However, in China, people believe in yuán 缘, an external force that controls and explains interpersonal relationships, combined with individual factors (Chang and Holt 1991;Lam 2012). Many scholars have studied yuánfèn 缘分 from different perspectives: its meaning and functions (Heger 2015), personal relationships (Goodwin and Tang 1996), romantic relationships (Chen 2009), as a defence mechanism (Lam 2012), and the effects of beliefs in yuan on coping and psychological well-being (Lee and Chen 2006;Mann and Cheng 2012). Some commentators believe that yuánfèn 缘分 is only connected to Buddhism; however, the word yuán 缘 that is used today in China is a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism (Hsu and Hwang 2016;Lam 2012;Liang et al 2017).…”