Yw. Ying et Xl. Zhang, PERSONALITY STRUCTURE OF YOUNG CHINESE ADULTS - A CONTRAST OF RESIDENTS IN TAIWAN AND RURAL AND URBAN CHINA, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 41(4), 1995, pp. 284-291
This investigation compares and contrasts the personality make-up of y
oung Chinese adults in Taiwan, urban and rural China. Utilizing the Ca
lifornia Psychological Inventory, we assessed their degree of internal
ity, norm-abiding tendency, and self-actualization. Given the presence
of greater Western influence, opportunities and tolerance for deviati
on in Taiwan versus the PRC, and in urban versus rural China, it was h
ypothesized that Taiwan respondents would show the greatest deviation
from traditional Chinese traits (ie. score most externally-oriented, l
east norm-abiding and most actualized), followed by urban Chinese, wit
h rural Chinese remaining the most traditional. We found the three gro
ups to differ in the expected direction on norm-abiding tendency, refl
ective of differential exposure to and tolerance for deviation from pr
evailing norms in the three settings. The Taiwan sample scored more ac
tualized than the PRC samples, reflective of the presence of greater o
pportunities in Taiwan. The three groups did not differ on internality
, but all showed increasing externality, approximating the level repor
ted by young European American adults.