Effects of beliefs in yuan on 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.