Self- and Group-Orientations and Adjustment in Urban and Rural Chinese Children

Abstract

This study examined self- and group-orientations and their associations with social and psychological adjustment among children in urban and rural China. We expected that self-orientation would be more strongly associated with adjustment in urban children than in rural children whereas group-orientation would be more strongly associated with adjustment in rural children than in urban children. Data on self- and group-orientations and indexes of adjustment were collected for students in urban and rural elementary schools (N = 990, Mage = 11 years) from multiple sources including teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that self-orientation was positively associated with academic achievement (β = .27, t = 5.20, p < .001) and negatively associated with emotional problems (βs = −.12 to −.20, ts = −2.34 to −3.93, ps = .007 to < .001) in urban children; the associations were weaker or nonsignificant in rural children (βs = −.04 to .12, ts = −.83 to 2.54, ps = .405 to .011). Group-orientation was associated with social standing, academic achievement, and psychological well-being more strongly in rural children (βs = −.35 to .36, ts = −7.32 to 7.63, ps = .048 to < .001) than in urban children (βs = −.19 to .20, ts = −.3.75 to 3.77, ps = .432 to < .001). These results indicate different implications of self- and group-orientations for adjustment in urban and rural children in contemporary China.

Do cultural orientations moderate the relation between Chinese adolescents’ shyness and depressive symptoms? It depends on their academic achievement

“…Drawing from previous research (Chen et al, ; Chen, Wang, & Wang, ; Li & Zhang, ; X. Liu, Fu et al, ), we expected that shyness generally would predict positively, and collectivistic cultural orientation and high academic achievement generally would predict negatively, depressive symptoms in this urban sample. Individualism has been found to relate with some positive outcomes in large, highly urbanized Chinese cities (X. Liu, Fu et al, ), but because our sample was from a midsize city which might be less individualistic compared with the large cities, we did not make specific predictions about the main effect of individualism in this sample. With respect to interactive effects, we expected collectivism and high academic achievement to be protective factors, and individualism to be a risk factor, for shy adolescents.…”

The Benefits of Self-Transcendence: Examining the Role of Values on Mental Health Among Adolescents Across Regions in China

“…Finally, contrary to our hypothesis, there were no significant differences in the values clusters related to depression and loneliness among different regions. On the one hand, although Qingdao is more influenced by Confucian culture—which emphasizes harmonious relationships, advocates humble behavior, and requires adolescents to comply with authority (Chen et al, 2012 )—over the past three decades, with economic and social development, China has dramatically morphed into a highly competitive, market-oriented society (Liu et al, 2018 ). As a result, new social skills such as self-direction, independence, and self-confidence are required for adjustment and success (Liu et al, 2018 ).…”

Acculturation and adjustment among rural migrant children in urban China: A longitudinal study

“…The teacher rating scores were standardised within the class to control for the teacher's response style and to allow for appropriate comparisons. The measure has been used in previous studies of Chinese children (Chen et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2018). The internal reliabilities were 0.92 and 0.93 for social competence, 0.83 and 0.85 for learning problems, and 0.92 and 0.89 for academic performance, at Times 1 and 2, respectively, in the present study.…”

“…Each year in the summer and winter breaks when school is closed, many migrant children stay in the hometown for several weeks or months, which provides opportunities for them to maintain and develop relationships with peers. As means of communication, such as mobile phones, are commonly used in all regions of China today, migrant children in the city may engage in frequent interactions with their rural peers and relatives (Cheung, 2013; Du et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018). As mentioned earlier, after middle school, migrant children have to go back to finish their high school education and participate in the college entrance examination in their hometown where their hukou is.…”

“…We were interested in reciprocal contributions between acculturation and adjustment in the study. Based on the literature (Berry et al., 2006a; Chen et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2018) and the previous discussion, we first expected that accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture would predict later positive adjustment outcomes. Specifically, given that understanding urban values, engaging in activities with local urban peers, and developing social support systems in the city may help migrant children improve their performance in the new environment (Berry et al., 2006a; Shi et al., 2014), we expected that accommodation to urban culture would contribute to adjustment across domains.…”