Taiwanese Counterparts Research Articles

Perceived Interpersonal Distances: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Young Taiwanese and Young Southeast Asians during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Prior research on interpersonal distance (IPD) has predominantly concentrated on specific nationalities or population groups within their respective regions. There is a dearth of studies investigating IPD differences among individuals of distinct nationalities coexisting in the same geographical location. This study aimed to examine the variances in IPD between 100 young Taiwanese participants (comprising 50 males and 50 females) and 100 Southeast Asian individuals (including 50 males and 50 females). This study also considered factors affecting IPD, including target genders and mask-wearing conditions. The results of the four-way ANOVA indicate that target gender and mask-wearing conditions had a significant impact on IPD (p < 0.001). While there were no significant main effects for region and participant gender, there was a noteworthy interactive effect between these two variables on IPD. In general, Southeast Asian participants exhibited lower sensitivity to changes in IPD in response to the independent variables in comparison to their Taiwanese counterparts; in certain instances, their IPD did not notably increase when confronted with targets not wearing masks. While prior research typically indicated that women tend to maintain larger IPD than men, the current study observed this gender difference only among young Taiwanese participants. However, such a gender gap was absent among young individuals from Southeast Asia.

Short traditional and long simplified: The paradox of contemporary traditional Taiwanese characters that consist of fewer strokes than their equivalent simplified forms

Traditional Chinese characters are usually written with at least as many strokes as simplified characters, but there are Chinese characters with fewer strokes in their Taiwanese traditional forms than in their Mainland Chinese simplified forms. This study lists these characters and gives the reasons for the differences between their traditional and simplified forms. These reasons will lead to the conclusion that there are motivations for orthographic choices in Mainland China and Taiwan that extend beyond the desire for standardization or simplification. These motivations have been explicitly expressed in texts dictating the rules for standard character forms, but are little known and rarely discussed. This study brings these motivations to the forefront and shows the effects they have had on orthographic policy, in particular where differing motivations between Mainland China and Taiwan have caused Taiwanese traditional characters to consist of fewer strokes than their simplified equivalents. The root cause underlying the different choices made by the Mainland Chinese script authorities and their Taiwanese counterparts post-1949 is a difference in ideology. In Mainland China, the script was a tool to be employed in such a way as to achieve a practical goal, namely mass literacy. Since achieving this goal was thought to require or at least be facilitated by simplifying the script, that course of action was taken. In Taiwan, however, the goal of script policy is to preserve the traditional way of writing characters. In practice, this means that unlike simplified characters, Taiwanese traditional characters are preferably made to structurally conform to their seal script forms in the Shuoˉwén Jieˇzì, leaving certain Taiwanese traditional characters with lower stroke counts than their equivalent simplified forms. Thus, Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese character forms are different because the Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese script authorities ultimately want different things from their scripts.

Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education: A Survey in Indonesia and Taiwan

The study measures the attitudes of preschool teachers towards inclusive education in Taiwan and Indonesia with the Scale of Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion (SPTAI). A total of 637 participants (Indonesian = 233 and Taiwan = 404) participated in the survey. SPATI, developed in the study, was composed of 18 items, designated in a five-point Likert Scale with a response spanning from “strongly disagree (1)” to “strongly agree (5)”. Four factors were extracted from SPTAI via exploratory factor analysis which explained 62.56% of the variance. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale was .93 and coefficients for the four factors were .83, .84, .82, and .70, respectively. Overall, the average scores of SPATI in Indonesia and Taiwan were 3.65 and 3.20, which exceeded the mid-point of 3.0; and the difference between the two countries was statistically significant (t = 10.98, p &lt; .001). Results indicated that the preschool teachers in Indonesia stood between “neutral” and “somewhat agree” with leaning towards the latter. The “Taiwan preschool teachers upheld positive attitudes of inclusive education but yet their stance was more “neutral”. Significantly, Indonesian teachers were even more favourable to inclusive education than their Taiwanese counterparts. Several reasons that might explain the difference between these two countries are discussed in the study.

Elements of standard operating procedures and flexibility issues in emergency management: A Japan-Taiwan comparison

Planning and flexibility are necessary elements of emergency management. However, balancing these two elements is not easy and requires empirical information to improve the means of maximizing the effectiveness of both elements. Defining standard operating procedures (SOPs) is a key tool for planning emergency responses. The determinants of elaborate SOPs and the benefits and side effects of exercising them were surveyed among Japanese and Taiwanese municipal governments, which are primarily responsible for dealing with natural and manmade hazards. Japanese municipalities can define a large part of SOPs themselves and are loosely linked to the upper-level government structure during emergency responses. Their Taiwanese counterparts use a nationally standardized template of SOPs and act as a part of a nationally unified emergency management system. The experiences of different types of emergency events have increased the elaboration levels within the basic set of SOPs among Japanese municipalities, validating the use of SOPs to adopt the multi-hazard approach. The additional time-related set of SOPs was typically used by municipalities that experienced floods or landslides. The benefits of using SOPs were widely recognized at both study sites. Although SOPs did not hamper optimal emergency responses in most situations, among the surveyed emergency management officials in Japan (41%) and Taiwan (61%), there was concern over the negative effect of defining detailed SOPs on the flexibility of contingent responses.

Minority stress, resilience, and health in Italian and Taiwanese LGB+ people: A cross-cultural comparison

The present study, using a moderated mediational model, explored levels of distal/proximal stressors, rumination, resilience, and health in a group of Italian and Taiwanese LGB+ people. The study also examined the role of internalized sexual stigma (ISS) and rumination as mediators between discrimination and health, and resilience as a moderator of the relationship between discrimination and ISS, rumination, and health, respectively. An online survey was administered to 508 LGB+ participants (270 Italian and 238 Taiwanese) whose age ranged from 18 to 70 years (M = 37.93, SD = 13.53). The moderated mediation model was tested through a series of path analyses stratified by group nationality. Italian participants reported higher discrimination and resilience, but lower ISS, rumination, and health problems compared to their Taiwanese counterparts. The only common path between groups was the direct effect of discrimination on health problems. The mediating role of ISS and rumination in the relationship between discrimination and health, as well as the moderating role of resilience, were partly significant only for the Italian group. Conclusions: The findings suggest that mediators and moderators used to evaluate the effects of minority stress on health may differ between groups; further culturally sensitive research in the field of LGB+ health is needed.

Market power, competition and earnings management: accrual-based activities

Purpose This study aims to understand the impact of market power and competition on earnings management, particularly discretionary accruals, in the Chinese and Taiwanese tourism industries. China and Taiwan differ not only in their political and social systems but also in their economic systems. The research aims to provide managers and investors with stock selection strategy in the decision-making process. Design/methodology/approach Accounting data consisted of 60 publicly traded travel companies in China and Taiwan from 2000 to 2014. Methodology included correlation matrix for the variables, univariate and multivariate regression and competition analysis. Findings Based on empirical results, the authors found a significant negative correlation between market power and discretionary accruals and market concentration (or lower market competition) and discretionary accruals in both the Chinese or Taiwanese markets. Although the Chinese travel companies enjoyed higher market power and market concentration, they engaged in less earnings manipulation than their Taiwanese counterparts as a result of the Chinese Government regulation. Research limitations/implications Based on listed travel companies, generalization of the research results to entire tourism industry is limited. This study compares the travel companies’ practices of smoothing out earnings between China and Taiwan, thus helping managers and investors in making their financing, investment decisions. Originality/value This research contributes to the earnings management literature by examining a specific industry of tourism. This paper is original in two ways. The authors linked market power and market competition with earnings management simultaneously and then compared the Chinese and Taiwanese tourism industries in manipulating earnings.

A COMPARISON OF AMERICAN-BORN CHINESE AND TAIWANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN APPROACHES TO STUDYING

Purpose:The purpose of this study was designed to bracket both population’s culturally-related study skills in an attempt to know their similarities and dissimilarities.&#x0D; Methodology:The current study used a quasi-experimental quantitative researchto examine 62 American-born Chinese and 79 Taiwanese college students by using the Approaches to Studying Inventory to compare their learning study approaches.&#x0D; Results:Data analysis revealed three significant results: (a) American-born Chinesestudentsexpressed more interesting in ideas in deep approach and syllabus-boundness in surface approach than Taiwanese students. (b) Taiwanese students showed more in seeking meaning in deep approaches and time management in strategic approach than American-born Chinese students (c) American-born Chinese students displayed grater extrinsic motivation than their Taiwanese counterparts whereas Taiwanese students were more intrinsically motivated academically than American-Born Chinese students.&#x0D; Implications:Results suggest that American-born Chinese students’ learning approaches were influenced by their learning and social contexts. Further studies could be conducted to identify the learning approaches in various generations of American-born Chinese to differentiate learning and social context influences.

Perceived parental psychological control and behavioral control among emerging adults: A cross-cultural study between the U.S. and Taiwan

The purpose of the current study was to examine the cultural differences between the U.S. and Taiwan in the structures and levels of parental psychological and behavioral control, and the association between the two among emerging adults. Using data from the U.S. (Asian American N = 164) and from Taiwan (N = 156), we found the association between psychological control and behavioral control was not significant in the U.S. but positive in Taiwan for both maternal and paternal control. In addition, compared to the U.S. students, Taiwanese students perceived a higher level of personal attack from mother and a higher level of invalidating feeling from father than the U.S. sample, whereas the U.S. sample reported higher levels of perceived guilt induction and behavioral control from both mother and father than did their Taiwanese counterparts. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of culture in studies on parental control.

Environmental Literacy on Ecotourism: A Study on Student Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavioral Intentions in China and Taiwan

This study aims to gain further insights to Chinese and Taiwanese university students’ environmental literacy on ecotourism. A structural equation model is developed and validated in an effort to explore the differences between Chinese and Taiwanese university students in terms of their environmental knowledge, environmental attitude, and behavioral intentions. The results showed that the ecotourism perception of Chinese and Taiwanese university students affect their behavioral intentions. Chinese university students exhibited a higher correlation between ecotourism knowledge and behavioral intentions than their Taiwanese counterparts. The findings also revealed differences between the Chinese and Taiwanese students in their perception of ecotourism, and this disparity was particularly evident with regards to how ecotourism should be governed. A moderate difference in ecotourism behavioral intentions was also identified, in which Taiwanese university students were less likely to engage in self-empowerment or private empowerment, to be more educated in the field of ecotourism than their Chinese counterparts.

A comparative study of academic dishonesty among university students in Mainland China and Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic dishonesty (AD) experience of students from Mainland China and Taiwan. Specifically, we investigated students’ current self-reported personal AD, their perception of peers’ AD, the climate of academic integrity and their awareness of AD’s seriousness. Furthermore, we sought to explore the relationship between AD behavior and several variables. In total, 605 students from Mainland China (n = 368) and Taiwan (n = 237) were recruited to participate in the study. All the participants perceived that they were less involved in AD than their peers, and students from both areas ranked the gravity of AD offenses similarly. However, Chinese students generally reported higher rates of improper credit attribution, fraudulence, and falsification than their Taiwanese counterparts. Finally, two regression models revealed gender, perception of peer AD, and awareness of AD’s seriousness were significant variables in terms of predicting self-reported personal AD, and there existed interactions between the students’ perception of peer AD and gender. Witnessing peers’ misconduct influenced males more than females in terms of engaging in AD for both Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese students.

Evaluating and comparing Singaporean and Taiwanese eighth graders’ conceptions of science assessment

Background: Researchers have indicated that assessment practices and methods should support learners’ construction of meaningful understanding of knowledge. Understanding students’ conceptions of assessment will enable us to construct more realistic, valid and fair assessments. Learners’ conceptualization of assessment would be imperative to serve as an essential reference to evaluate their learning progress.Purpose: This study evaluated and compared the Singaporean and Taiwanese middle school students’ conceptions of science assessment. Within-country gender comparisons were also explored.Sample: 424 Taiwanese and 333 Singaporean eighth graders were invited for a cross-country comparison.Design and methods: The participants completed a questionnaire named Conceptions of Science Assessment.Results: The findings showed that the summative assessment dominates in the Taiwanese classrooms, while formative and summative assessment are usually perceived in Singaporean classrooms. The Singaporean students had a greater tendency than their Taiwanese counterparts to perceive the purpose of assessment as a way of reproducing knowledge, and the formative assessment as improving learning, problem-solving, and critical judgment. No gender differences were found among either the Singaporean or the Taiwanese students.Conclusions: Educators in both countries should provide learners with more opportunities to experience process-oriented science assessment activities and de-emphasize the usage of examination-oriented practices to achieve the sophistication of conceptions.

A study of apparel consumer behaviour in China and Taiwan

ABSTRACTTo better understand consumer behaviour and preferences for apparel shopping in Asia, we collected data through questionnaire surveys in China and Taiwan on three topics: online and offline shopping behaviours; product evaluative criteria; and fashion information sources. The study showed that women in both China and Taiwan shopped more frequently than men. Chinese consumers shopped more frequently online than did their Taiwanese counterparts. Both Chinese and Taiwanese consumers cited ‘fit’ and ‘comfort’ as the two most important evaluative criteria for clothing, while ‘brand name’ and ‘country of origin’ were the least important cues. Both Chinese and Taiwanese participants cited ‘friends’ as their most important fashion information source, with ‘siblings’ and ‘parents’ being the two least important sources.

Productivity Catch‐up Between Chinese and Taiwanese Electronics Firms

AbstractThis paper aims to depict the patterns of China's productivity catch‐up with Taiwan in the electronics industry over the period 2001–2007. Specifically, we investigate the roles that ownership structure and innovation efforts play in the dynamics of the productivity gap. The firm‐level evidence suggests that the labour productivity gap between Chinese and Taiwanese electronics firms has narrowed during the past decade. Second, the narrowing of the labour productivity gap has occurred in foreign‐owned enterprises rather than in local firms. Examining the determinants of productivity catch‐up show that R&amp;D significantly contributes to Chinese electronics firms' catching up with their Taiwanese counterparts.

Perspective of Medical Care Providers on Elite Athletes’ Pre-participation Examination and Periodic Health Evaluation

In 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published a consensus statement on elite athletes’ Preparticipation Examination (PPE) and Periodic Health Evaluation (PHE). However, these criteria have not been standardized. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine whether significant differences exist in the PPE & PHE scales between German and Taiwanese medical care providers (MCPs); (2) to determine whether any significant differences exist among MCP cohorts’ usages of or attitudes towards psychosocial factors during an athlete’s injury and rehabilitation-related treatment and (3) to investigate the correlations between the scales employed. Among eighty-six MCPs, 52 from Taiwan (21 female, 31 male, age = 36.9 ± 10.3 yrs) and 34 from Germany (20 female, 14 male, age = 36.3 ± 8.2 yrs) were participated. The inclusion criteria is that participant status should be a current or retired MCP for national team athletes of Olympic sports. Four parts were derived from the 1st hypothesis. Part 1: Significant differences was noticed between German and Taiwanese cohorts’ PPE & PHE scales, Importance and Psychosocial Factor Scale results. Part 2: Significant differences on scores for the PPE & PHE Giving Scale and its 3 subscales were found between MCPs’ positions. Part 3: Medical education/ training showed no influencing effect on the outcome of 3 PPE & PHE-related scales. Part 4: German cohorts participated in regional international championships over twice as often as their Taiwanese counterparts. The results of the 2nd hypothesis showed that the Psychosocial Factor Scale portrayed significant differences in MCPs’ nationalities, but this was not related to their experience levels, medical education/training or medical care position. The results of the 3rd hypothesis showed that the Psychosocial Factor Scale was significantly correlated with the PPE & PHE Importance Scale. This study concludes that medical education/training background is not a determining factor in the promotion of PPE & PHE-related core values. German cohorts’ professional positions specifically reflected the IOC consensus statement-based PPE & PHE job assignments. Sports medicine doctors are mainly responsible. Overall, the national medical care environment could be a factor to influence cognitive outcomes of PPE & PHE and psychosocial related establishments. Life experience (age) seems to be more important than the degree of competition participation experience.

Insularity and imperialism: the borders of the world in the Japanese and Taiwanese kokugo readers during the Taishō era

This article compares and discusses the third series of kokugo tokuhon (national language readers) used in Japan between 1918 and 1932, and the first series of kokumin tokuhon (national readers), used in Taiwan between 1913 and 1923. The study points out that the materials introducing the world (including geography and history lessons, adaptations of foreign literary texts, episodes from the life of great men of science, etc) are considerably more numerous in the Japanese readers than in their Taiwanese counterparts. Following the two different processes of (intended) national identity formation via a detailed analysis of the materials and illustrations in the two sets of textbooks, the article also sheds light on the way the Taiwanese tokuhon attempt to replicate successful methods of earlier Japanese textbooks, while at the same time anticipating some of the trends visible in subsequent readers from Japan proper.

Why do we multitask with media? Predictors of media multitasking among Internet users in the United States and Taiwan

The study explored how media and audience factors, such as country of residence, media ownership, polychronicity, or the preference to do multiple things at the same time, predict media multitasking behaviors and if different motivations to multitask mediate the effects of these factors. The study is based on a cross-cultural survey (N=1972) that included respondents from the United States and Taiwan. The findings indicated that media ownership, polychronicity, and four motivations (control, entertainment, connection, and addiction) positively predicted media multitasking behaviors. The four motivations were also found to mediate the effect of media ownership. American respondents were higher polychronics and heavier multitaskers than their Taiwanese counterparts. In the Taiwanese sample, polychronicity and motivations increased the effects of media ownership on media multitasking. In the American sample, polychronicity contributed little to the effect of media ownership, and the mediating role of motivations decreased with the increase in the level of polychronicity.

Perceptions of Democracy and Trust in the Criminal Justice System

For more than 50 years, research has been accumulating on how regime differences impact Mainland China and Taiwan in terms of socioeconomic transformation, the development of politics and constitutions, and diverse issues of foreign policy. Much less is known, however, about differences in public confidence in the criminal justice system. To address the obvious gap, this study utilized second-wave data collected by the Asian Barometer cross-national survey. Findings demonstrated that Chinese citizens reflect higher levels of trust in criminal justice institutions than their Taiwanese counterparts and public perceptions of the degree of democracy had a positive effect on public attitudes. Citizens who acknowledge more satisfaction with institutional performance also tend to have more trust in the criminal justice system.

Homogenous Mothers-in-law, Different Daughters-in-law: In-law Relationship Comparison between Vietnamese and Taiwanese Daughters-in-law

The purpose of this study is to compare the mother-/daughter-in-law relationship of Taiwanese daughters-in-law and Vietnamese daughters-in-law. For this research, 266 Vietnamese and 509 Taiwanese daughters-in-law were selected as the subjects. The results indicated that, when compared with their Taiwanese counterparts, Vietnamese daughters-in-law felt they had a significantly more positive relationship, due to the support and companionship of their mothers-in-law. On the other hand, Vietnamese daughters-in-law also recognized that their mothers-in-law had a more dominant role. In addition, daughters-in-law of families with a household income less than NTD 30,000 (around USD 1,000) and an educational level of middle school or less felt that their mothers-in-law were more dominate. The findings also showed that mothers-/daughters-in-law who never lived together had a less positive or negative relationship. However, contrary to expectations, when excluding factors such as the educational level of the daughter-in-law, family income and proximity valuables, the ethnicity of the daughter-in-law still made a significant difference in the support, companionship, and dominance of the relationship.

The Moral Judgment Relationship Between Leaders and Followers: A Comparative Study Across the Taiwan Strait

Ethics is central to leadership because of the impact leaders have on establishing organizational values and engaging followers to accomplish mutual goals. The ethical concerns of leaders may influence ethical decision-making of their followers. This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between leaders and followers on moral judgment, and make a comparison between China and Taiwan on the leader–follower moral judgment relationship. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey on purchasing professionals in China and Taiwan. The development of moral judgment was measured using the defining issues test. Research findings indicate that followers exhibit higher level of moral judgment while their leaders have higher level of moral judgment. A positive moral judgment relationship exists between leaders and followers. The comparative study between China and Taiwan reveals that Chinese purchasing professionals are more easily influenced by their workplace leaders than their Taiwanese counterparts. Power distance would strengthen the leader–follower moral judgment relationship. The present research makes contributions toward the ethics literature by providing empirical insight into the relationship between leader moral judgment and follower moral judgment. This paper also suggests implications and opportunities for future research.

The rise of Taiwan in the TFT-LCD industry

Purpose– This study aims to refocus the analysis of global political economies using concepts from studies on Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) to track Taiwan’s rise in the Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) industry. Taiwanese electronics firms began to outpace their competitors from Japan in TFT-LCD industry’s competition from about the year 2000.Design/methodology/approach– Drawing on depth interviews and analysis of secondary source material, newspaper and magazine.Findings– A time factor that helps determine advantage and/or disadvantage of high-tech industry in Japan and Taiwan. Stable organizational structure and less talent mobility in the Japanese TFT-LCD firms may well have been an advantage initially in the transformation process from US firms’ experimental technologies to tacit mass production technologies, but proved to be a disadvantage in the subsequent competition with more mobile talent in Taiwanese firms eager to standardize mass production techniques. Japanese firms’ rigid organizational structure could not keep pace to the market-oriented technology strategy in the global TFT-LCD industry, lost competitive advantage in a rapid pace.Social implications– VoC literature should be focused to highlight two insights. The first is the premise of institutional forms specific to national models of capitalism. Patterns of technology transfer appear critical in the innovation process, and differ markedly between Taiwan and Japan. Second, the VoC literature suggests comparative institutional advantage.Originality/value– Through the comparative analyses between Taiwanese capitalism model and Japanese counterparts, we can understand the reason and process of the rise of Taiwan in global TFT-LCD market.