How Can Indigenous Research Contribute to Universal Knowledge? An Illustration with Research on Interpersonal Harmony

Abstract

The indigenous perspective can provide a more complete, in-depth, and accurate account of psychological phenomena for a given culture, but a major issue is that indigenous research tends to be ignored by researchers from other cultures. Chinese researchers who conduct research on indigenous issues may find it hard to publish in major English-language journals. This paper explores how Chinese indigenous research is able to contribute to universal knowledge. Chinese are characterized by a relational and collectivistic orientation, whereas theories in the West tend to have a self-focus, primarily due to its individualistic culture. However, most psychological research conducted in the Chinese context is guided by Western theories, which likely results in incomplete understanding of Chinese behavior. A relational perspective can augment Western theories and facilitate the contribution of Chinese indigenous research to new theory development. To illustrate this possibility, this article summarizes current indigenous research on two harmony motives, and shows how such research can contribute to a compelling refinement and extension of social exchange theory.

A Composition-Based View of Firm Growth

“…Benevolence includes an emphasis on the teaching, training, and guidance of subordinates. Benevolent leadership rooted primarily in Confucianism has been conceptualized as ‘paternalistic leadership’ (Farh & Cheng, 2000) or ‘directive-achieving leadership’ (Leung, 2014). This is a positive form of authoritarian management that is widely accepted by employees in relatively high power-distance cultures.…”

Towards an integrative framework of conflict-handling behaviour: integrating Western and Chinese perspectives

“…We strongly share Leung's argument. Leung et al (2016) identify two broad approaches to globally relevant indigenous research: (1) the distinctive approach that develops 'unique and novel universal theories that are distinct from existing theories', and (2) the integrative approach in which 'indigenous findings and theories are integrated with relevant theories from the West for the development of both locally and globally relevant theories'. Leung et al (2016: 113) contend that the integrative approach is 'much more prevalent than the distinctive approach because Western research has a long tradition, and it is natural to compare and contrast Chinese indigenous research with similar research originating from the West'.…”

Supervisor–employee task conflict and supervisor ostracism: The moderating effect of interpersonal harmony values

“…Chen et al, 2015;Leung et al, 2011;Lim, 2009) to test the moderating effect of HE while controlling the effect of DA and vice versa. As pointed out by Leung et al (2016), HE and DA are two separate constructs. They further described a 2 Â 2 framework that is based on the combinations of high versus low HE and DA.…”

“…They are motivated to resolve the relationship issues in order to deepen the relationship. When facing interpersonal issues, they engage in proactive behaviors such as open discussions or integration of different ideas (Leung et al, 2016). In contrast, DA motivates avoiding behaviors.…”