Chinese Cultural Context Research Articles

Antecedents and consequences of corporate social responsibility: a test of multilevel mediating processes

PurposeDrawing on social exchange theory and traditional Chinese leadership theory, this research examines employees' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) using a multilevel mediation model. It also examines the possibility that meaningful work mediates the relationship between perceived CSR and work engagement.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 605 employees of 103 departments across 35 companies in Taiwan. Multilevel path models and hypotheses were tested using Mplus structural-equation modeling software.FindingsThe results show that department-level CSR perceptions were positively related to employee-level work engagement and that CSR was a mediating factor between department managers' moral leadership and employee-level work engagement. Additionally, meaningful work played a cross-level mediating role between CSR perceptions and work engagement.Practical implicationsFor organizational managers, these findings imply that enterprises should practice CSR and guide their employees in its correct interpretation. They also reinforce the idea that department leaders should behave ethically, because this will encourage their employees to develop positive perceptions of the company's CSR implementation and thus to be more engaged in their work. Lastly, incorporating CSR programs into training materials and encouraging employees to actively participate in such programs' development, deployment and evaluation should help make work meaningful for employees and further enhance their engagement with it.Originality/valueThis study explains how a cross-level mechanism connects department-level moral leadership to employee-level work engagement in a Chinese cultural context.

Analysis of the Relationship between Mental Health and Social Support Systems in Old Age

This study selected 200 elderly people in province A to understand how the social support system affects the mental health of the elderly. Data were collected using scales and in-depth interviews and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. The results showed that social support, especially from family and friends, had a significant positive impact on the mental health of the elderly. Relatively contrast, the impact of community support is limited. These findings have important practical and theoretical significance in the Chinese cultural context, and provide a direction to further improve the mental health of the elderly.

An Investigative Study on Impoliteness Pragmatics in Kinship Conversation during Chinese New Year

In recent years, verbal offence and impoliteness in interaction have become a hotspot in pragmatics. In Chinese culture context, this paper discusses the pragmatic analysis mode of chatting discourse in the Chinese New Year and the factors that affect the choice of response modes under the constraints of Chinese seniority from the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics. Through the analysis of questionnaires in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), this paper found that the family conversation during the Spring Festival caused widespread discussion and became a social phenomenon worthy of attention. The younger generation had a negative emotional tendency towards it, and the expression of the questioner was the key influencing factor. Different questioning methods had significant differences.

Chasing the sun: Discovering Chinese therapists’, students’ and educators’ proficiency in the use of dramatic reality

In this clinical commentary, we present insights about introducing drama therapy in China. We highlight how challenging our own cultural assumptions regarding Chinese nationals, namely that they may feel restricted when entering dramatic reality, enabled the possibility of rich, detailed and ludic responses. Relying on our joint knowledge of drama therapy and a Chinese cultural context, with one from the United States and the other born in China, we designed a lecture and drama therapy process for Chinese nationals at a family communication conference in Beijing. We discovered diverse theatrical expression in our encounter with Chinese educators, therapists and students resulting largely from careful cultural preparation and an openness to experience.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Trait Gratitude to Nature Scale.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Trait Gratitude to Nature Scale (TGNS) for Chinese college students. The original English version of the TGNS was translated into Chinese. Subsequently, two samples consisting of 1,131 Chinese university students from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was recruited through online surveys to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the TGNS, including the discrimination, construct validity, criterion validity, reliability and gender invariance. The Chinese version of the TGNS showed good psychometric properties. The item-total correlation coefficients of the scale ranged from 0.813 to 0.909. Exploratory factor analysis using data from Sample 1 (n = 617) demonstrated that the Chinese version of the TGNS has one factor. The confirmatory factor analysis using data from Sample 2 (n = 514) showed that the Chinese version of the TGNS has appropriate construct validity (χ2/df = 4.157, RMSEA = 0.078, TLI = 0.943 and CFI = 0.967). The significant correlation between the Chinese version of the TGNS and all the other criterion scale scores (p < 0.001) indicated that the Chinese version of the TGNS displays good criterion validity. The test-retest reliability was 0.914, using the sub-sample of Sample 2 (n = 127). The results of gender invariance test indicated that the Chinese version of the TGNS has entire equivalence between the two genders. The Chinese version of the TGNS has satisfactory psychometric properties in the Chinese cultural context and can be used as s a reliable and valid instrument to assess trait gratitude to nature.

The discursive legitimation of corporate ecological identity in Chinese sustainability discourse

Abstract Ecological identity involves all aspects of how individuals or collectives identify themselves with nature. This paper aims to examine the discursive construction of corporate ecological identities in corporate sustainability reports in China and evaluate how these identities are legitimated through the lens of ecolinguistic discourse analysis. Our data was drawn from a collection of English-language sustainability reports of Huawei Technologies Corporation (2016–2020). The findings suggest a mix of ecological identities across all texts, among which stewarding nature dominates and it relates to the belief that humans are obligated to steward nature for the sake of sustainability. These ecological identities are discursively legitimized in terms of defining characteristics, social roles, and community memberships. Innovativeness, leadership and ethicalness are legitimated as the corporation’s dominant characteristics which serve as moral identity standards, allowing further legitimation of the social roles and community memberships that the corporation claims. In the case of social roles, green manufacturing depends on green technologies, and both of them point to the instrumentality and rightness of technology in advancing sustainability. These construals uncover the ecological sustainability in the Chinese cultural context, that is, achieving the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. In legitimizing community memberships, hierarchical relationships between the corporation and other participants are revealed.

The Social Factors of Emotion Regulation Strategies: Social Comparison and Psychological Intervention Research

This research paper delves into the complex interplay between social factors, specifically social comparison, and psychological interventions in the realm of emotion regulation. Emotion regulation is a critical component of psychological well-being, and understanding how individuals employ social comparison strategies within the context of psychological interventions are of paramount importance. The paper investigates the effects of various forms of social comparison on emotional responses and the outcomes of psychological interventions, with a particular focus on the Chinese cultural context. It also explores the integration of social comparison principles into psychological intervention approaches and discusses the challenges, gaps, and future directions in this evolving research field.

Measurement invariance and latent mean differences of the morbid curiosity scale (MCS) across the United States and China

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research focusing on morbid curiosity. However, the development of measurement tools has been slow, with only two scales available. Compared to the unidimensional scale of Curiosity About Morbid Events (CAME) proposed by Zuckerman and Little (1986), the recently developed four-factor Morbid Curiosity Scale (MCS) by Scrivner (2021) demonstrates a stable factor structure and good reliability and validity. As the time since the development of this scale is relatively short, its measurement properties have not been widely evaluated. Therefore, this study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to validate the factor structure of the MCS in the Chinese cultural context, and the results supported the four-factor structure of the MCS. Additionally, we established partial scalar invariance of the MCS between Chinese (N = 663) and American (N = 330) cultures, and further analyzed cultural differences in morbid curiosity using latent mean comparison. The results revealed that Chinese individuals had a lower motivation for understanding the minds of dangerous people. This study validated the four-factor Morbid Curiosity Scale across different cultures for the first time, promoting the generalizability of the four-factor MCS and suggesting its potential for use in a wide range of cultural backgrounds. These findings contribute to enriching cross-cultural research on morbid curiosity and its associated psychological factors.

Facial Expression Stereotypes of Male and Female Adults and Children: Do Facial Expression Stereotypes of Adults Apply to Children?

This study explored the facial expression stereotypes of adult men and women within the Chinese cultural context and investigated whether adult participants had facial expression stereotypes of children aged 6 and 10years old. Three experiments were conducted with 156 adult Chinese university student participants. Experiment 1 explored whether adult participants had facial expression stereotypes of adult men and women. In Experiment 1a, the participants imagined a happy or angry adult face and stated the gender of the imagined face. In Experiment 1b, the participants were asked to quickly judge the gender of happy or angry adult faces, and their response time was recorded. Experiments 2 and 3 explored whether adults apply the stereotypes of adult men and women to 10-year-old and 6-year-old children. Experiment 1 revealed that the participants associated angry facial expressions with men and happy facial expressions with women. Experiment 2 showed that the participants associated angry facial expressions with 10-year-old boys and happy expressions with 10-year-old girls. Finally, Experiment 3 revealed that the participants associated happy facial expressions with 6-year-old girls but did not associate angry facial expressions with 6-year-old boys. These results showed that, within the Chinese cultural context, adults had gender-based facial expression stereotypes of adults and 10-year-old children; however, the adult participants did not have gender-based facial expression stereotypes of 6-year-old male children. This study has important implications for future research, as adults' perceptions of children is an important aspect in the study of social cognition in children.

The Impact of Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior on Employees’ Proactive Behavior: A Cognitive and Affective Integration Perspective

With the increasing complexity of the external organizational environment, employees’ proactive behavior has become a critical factor for organizational success. However, there is limited research exploring the mechanisms behind employees’ proactive behavior from the perspective of family supportive supervisor behavior, which satisfies employees’ work–family balance. Based on the Cognitive–Affective Personality System theory and in the context of escalating work–family conflict and the Chinese cultural context, which emphasizes reciprocity, this study collected survey data from 535 employees in two stages. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior. The results show that family supportive supervisor behavior has a positive impact on employees’ proactive behavior; perceived insider status and affective commitment partially mediate the impact of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior; and perceived insider status and affective commitment play chain-mediating roles in the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior. This study innovatively reveals the “black box” of the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior from the internal perspective of individual cognition–emotion. This expands the research on the consequences of family supportive supervisor behavior in the work field and provides inspiration for enterprises on how to motivate employees’ proactive behavior.

Driving systemic reform and enhancing professional capital: the transformative roles of excellent retired principals

PurposeThis study examines the deployment of excellent retired principals (ERPs) as system leaders to facilitate systemic professional capital building in Taipei City, Taiwan. It explores the unique approach of the Taipei City government and contributions of ERPs in driving educational reforms.Design/methodology/approachThis study combines the perspectives of system leadership and professional capital, and analyzes the roles and practices of ERPs in promoting professional capital in Taipei's local education system. It draws on qualitative data gathered through interviews and document analyses.FindingsThe findings reveal that the Taipei City government adopted a systemic approach by appointing designated retired principals as system leaders. The findings are categorized into three themes. ERPs serve as systemic capacity-builders, enhancing leadership across the local education system; ERPs act as collaborators and bridge-builders, fostering joint work and a collective sense of professional responsibility; and ERPs function as facilitators and advisors, cultivating decisional capital by providing informed decision-making support based on their experiences and wisdom. These roles challenge the notion of late-career decline, highlight the ongoing contributions of ERPs to the education system, and extend professional capital beyond teacher development, influencing system-wide collective capacity-building, collective responsibility, and policy enactments.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understanding how exceptional retired principals can drive systemic reform and build systemic professional capital. It expands previous research by highlighting the unique Chinese cultural context in Taipei City and continued contributions of retired principals to the education system.

The healthy context paradox of bullying victimization and academic adjustment among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model.

Few empirical studies have specifically examined the underlying mechanisms of the "healthy context paradox" in Chinese cultural context. By constructing a moderated mediation model, the present study investigated the relationship between bullying victimization and academic adjustment, as well as the mediating effects of subjective well-being and the moderating role of classroom-level victimization. A sample of 631 adolescents (Mage = 13.75, SD = 0.74, 318 boys) were recruited from four schools in Hubei, Southern China. Results show that: (1) classroom-level victimization moderates the relationship between bullying victimization and academic adjustment. (2) Classroom-level victimization moderates the association through subjective well-being. This study confirms the healthy context paradox of bullying victimization and first reveals the mechanism of the mediating role of subjective well-being. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to the health context paradox is crucial for developing targeted intervention strategies for individuals who experience ongoing bullying.

Translation, adaptation, and initial evaluation of a guided self-help intervention to reduce psychological distress among nurses during COVID-19 in China.

This study aimed to reduce the unprecedented and intense psychological distress that nurses were forced to experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Chinese version of the World Health Organization's Self-Help Plus (SH+) intervention guide was adapted and tested among nurses. The objective of this study was to translate and adapt the SH+ guideline into the Chinese version and to test its feasibility in reducing psychological distress among nurses during COVID-19. A staged approach comprising translation, adaptations, initial evaluation by pilot implementation, and a qualitative process evaluation was conducted in two hospitals in Xi'an, China. The translation of the Chinese version was authorized by the World Health Organization. We adapted SH+ for use among clinical nurses working during the pandemic in China through a qualitative process evaluation, which was guided by the descriptive phenomenological study design. The outcomes of the pilot included psychological distress, psychological flexibility, depressive and anxiety symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and subjective psychological wellbeing, which were assessed using the Kessler 6 symptom checklist, the Comprehensive Assessment of ACT Process (CompACT), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), and the Index of Wellbeing (IWB), respectively. The SH+ materials, including audio-recorded sessions and an accompanying illustrated manual, were translated into Chinese and adapted in line with feedback from the nurses. An uncontrolled pilot study (n = 28) for 5 weeks showed a statistically significant reduction of psychological distress (mean difference in Kessler 6 score, -2.74; 95% CI [-3.71, -1.78]; p < 0.001). We also found improvements in psychological flexibility (mean difference in CompACT score, 6.89; 95% CI [-12.35, -4.47]; p < 0.001), subjective psychological wellbeing (mean difference in IWB score, 0.86; 95% CI [0.07, 1.65]; p < 0.05), and depressive symptoms (mean difference in PHQ-9 score, -1.52; 95% CI [-2.78, -0.26]; p < 0.05). The process evaluation showed that nurses found the SH+ program very useful but difficult to adhere to. We found that the translated Chinese version of SH+ was applicable and feasible in the Chinese cultural context. There was a potential effect of adapted SH + in reducing nurses' psychological distress during COVID-19 and suggested the value of exploring strategies to increase adherence to the program.

Teaching as Learning: Etymological Investigation, Canonical Analysis, and Experiential Reflection in the Chinese Cultural Context

Purpose This study re-examines the relationship between jiao (lit. teaching) and xue (lit. learning)—the foundational education concepts in the traditional Chinese cultural context—to enlighten our contemporary understandings of education and educational research. Design/Approach/Methods This study first lays its foundation on an etymological investigation. It then integrates two mutually connected approaches— the classics and the self as method—to present a comprehensive analysis. Finally, it critically reviews the methodology used in this study. Findings The interdependency of xue and jiao has an etymological foundation, supported by canonical doctrines and verified by individualized experiences. The interpretation of xue as xiao (to imitate) describes the origin and process of education in which the junior imitated and followed the elder, while the extended interpretation of xue as jue (to awaken) stresses the effects and functions of education. In the classical Chinese context, greater significance was placed on xue—the keyword concurrently connoting the meaning of teaching and learning in the modern sense. It is misleading to narrowly render the originally meaningful word group xuexi as learning in modern English. Originality/Value This study consults sources in multiple languages and integrates both the classics and the self as method. Based on this, the etymological investigation, canonical analysis, and experiential reflection are collated to provide a rich and deep discussion. By focusing on the core characteristics and the concepts they imply, this study also touches on the key characteristics of the hieroglyphic system and the unique way of thinking it represents.

The influence of competitive personality on rationalized knowledge hiding among Chinese employees

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between competitive personality (CMP) and rationalized knowledge hiding (KH) and to explore the mediating effects of knowledge-based psychological ownership (KPO) and organization-based PO (OPO) by developing a mediating framework. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the ordinary employees of listed companies in China (2022) via a Web-based survey. The total number of valid samples was 337. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the reliability and validity of the constructs, and structural equation modeling was used to verify the direct and mediating effects. Findings The findings revealed a positive relationship between CMP and rationalized KH (RKH). KPO plays a positive mediating role between CMP and RKH, whereas OPO plays a negative mediating role between CMP and RKH. Research limitations/implications First, although the questionnaire collection is split into two sessions to reduce common method variation, there is inevitably some risk, as the questionnaires are all reported by the same respondent. Second, this study examined the effects of CMP on RKH based on the Chinese cultural context, but the applicability of this finding to cross-cultural contexts warrants further study. In the future, researchers can conduct cross-cultural comparisons to determine the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications This study helps managers to better identify the RKH behaviors that exist in organizations, understand the reasons and processes behind employees’ KH and facilitate more effective knowledge management by managers. Originality/value This study uses CMP as an important indicator of employees’ RKH behavior, enriches the research related to the antecedent variables of RKH and reveals the influence mechanism between CMP and RKH from the perspective of PO, and the findings can help researchers and managers understand the process and antecedents of RKH so that timely interventions can be implemented.

Predicament Faced by Regionalism Product Design Based on Chinese Cultural Context

This article introduces how regionalism has emerged in the context of economic globalization, and how this trend has spread to the field of product design. And based on the Chinese market, a case study was conducted on regionalized design, discussing how they behave in terms of regionalism and why they receive different evaluations from society. In the end, the article discusses the main challenges faced by the localization of regionalist design in China, what are they, and how they are formed.

Mind Attribution to Gods and Christians in the Chinese Cultural Context

AbstractDrawing on the distinction in mind perception between agency and experience, this research examined whether and how culture‐based religion affects mind attribution to gods and Christians in a religious priming paradigm. When attributing mind to gods in Study 1, participants in the religious priming condition attributed more agency to gods than those in the neutral condition. When attributing mind to human religious targets in Study 2, religious participants in the religious priming condition attributed more experience to a Christian target than those in the neutral condition, while atheist participants in the religious priming condition attributed less experience to a Christian target than those in the neutral condition. In addition, religious participants in the religious priming condition attributed more experience to an atheist target than those in the neutral condition. Taken together, mind attribution to religious targets varied on agency and experience, and showed its own cultural features in China.

Adaptation and Validation of the Readiness for Practice Instrument for Senior Undergraduate Nursing Students in China

Background. The high turnover rate of new nurses is significantly impacted by the transition issue. Practice readiness has been identified as a key factor in ensuring a smooth transition, but there is currently a lack of specific instruments available in China to measure it. Aims. To translate and adapt the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey and validate its psychometric properties in senior nursing students in the Chinese cultural context. Methods. The descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The English version of the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey was translated into Chinese according to Brislin’s translation guidelines. A total of 590 senior nursing students from three nursing schools in China were surveyed with the Chinese version of the Readiness for Practice Instrument. Data analyses were performed to assess the reliability and validity of the instrument. The STROBE guidelines were used as the reporting method. Results. The validated Chinese version of the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey contained 18 items in the same four dimensions as the original English version. The internal consistency was satisfactory, with Cronbach’s α and composite reliability values for all four dimensions above 0.70. The final confirmatory factor analysis model also demonstrated good fit indices, with the average variance extracted values for all dimensions above 0.50. Conclusion. The validated Chinese version of the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey is a reliable and effective instrument for measuring the readiness for practice among senior nursing students in China. Implications for Nursing Management. This study presents a valuable contribution to adapting an effective and reliable tool to assess readiness for practice among Chinese senior undergraduate nursing students. This will enable the development of specific strategies based on cultural context to optimize the readiness for practice for senior nursing students and smooth the transition of new nurses in China.

Is social work a dangerous profession in China? An analysis of client violence towards social workers in central China

Abstract Client violence is a persistent problem that seriously disturbs the physical and mental health of social workers worldwide; however, there is very limited discussion around this issue in China. This mixed-methods study included 602 social workers from three provinces in central China. The quantitative results (N = 602) revealed an overall level of violence of 48.17 per cent, with verbal violence being the most common. Significant differences were found in client violence by gender, work experience and field of work. The qualitative results (N = 20) revealed that client violence is closely related to the institution, culture and work patterns in the field. The results of this study can be combined with the Chinese social background and cultural context to discuss the reasons for lower levels of client violence in China compared to other countries.

CNAMD Corpus: A Chinese Natural Audiovisual Multimodal Database of Conversations for Social Interactive Agents

Impressive progress has been made in developing companion Socially Interactive Agents (SIAs) that provide companionship and reduce loneliness. However, recent works focus on analyzing multimodal feedback in Answer part but ignore Question part. Furthermore, research on SIAs is primarily based on English, which poses a challenge for Chinese SIAs because of cultural differences between English and Chinese. Therefore, we introduce a Chinese Natural Audiovisual Multimodal Database (CNAMD) corpus, the first and largest freely available Chinese multimodal database for multi-person interaction, containing 48 hours of videos and annotations across eight modalities. Using CNAMD, we analyze the characteristics of vocal-verbal, audio, behavioral, and multimodal combinations during questioning, test the performance of six baselines on three tasks, and propose improvements for processing daily Chinese data. The present findings will help designers consider Chinese customs and language when designing Chinese SIAs, making them more suitable for the Chinese cultural context and users.