Kuang-Hui Yeh

Filial belief and parent—child conflict

This study examines the relation between filial belief and the frequency, origins, and solutions to parent-child conflict using an indigenous Chinese perspective. The Dual Filial Piety model is employed to categorize the four types of filial belief: nonfilial, authoritarian, reciprocal, and absolute. Questionnaires were completed by 773 junior and senior high school students from around Taiwan for the study. Results provided support for the indigenous Chinese notion that a childs filial beliefs relate to the level of parent-child conflict. The results go beyond this common conception to highlight that filial beliefs may have a particular role in decreasing self-centred but not inappropriate conflict between parents and children, and that reciprocal filial beliefs may have a more important role in decreasing conflict than authoritarian filial beliefs. Clear differences were identified in the reported origins of conflict (Demands Conflict with Desire. Unreasonable Behaviour, Demand Exceeds Ability, Role Conflict, Interparental Dispute. Immoral Demands) and solutions to conflict (self-sacrifice, compromise, refraining, ego-centred, escape) among the four filial types. Parent demands conflicting with the childs desire was the greatest source of conflict for each of the four filial types. Nonfilial types reported significantly more conflict than absolute types for four of the six origins of conflict examined. Low incidence of conflict may explain why the filial types did not differ for the remaining two origins. Overall, the four filial types reported self-sacrifice as their least used solution to parent-child conflict, and nonfilials reported significantly less use of this solution than the other three filial types. Absolutes and reciprocals reported significantly more use of refraining than the other two filial types. Results of this study provide the first empirical support for the Dual Filial Piety model and constitute a foundation for continued indigenous research on parent-child relations in Chinese culture. It is expected that an indigenous theory of parent-child relations incorporating the Dual Filial Piety model can eventually be integrated into a global psychology.

Filial piety in contemporary Chinese societies: A comparative study of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China

This study investigates the functions and implications of contemporary filial piety in three Chinese societies, namely, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, using large-scale cross-national datasets from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey. Despite the shared Confucian cultural values among these three societies, they have sharply differed in their paths toward modernization and in the development of their sociopolitical structures over the last century. The authors propose that the implications and influences of filial piety tend to be more similar in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but may be different in China because of profound differences in its sociopolitical system. Using the dual filial piety model as the baseline for comparative analyses, the results show that dual filial piety can be found in all three societies, although there are some componential alterations in China. The study also goes beyond the common practice of treating filial piety within the confines of caring for family elders by considering its functional utility to influence an individual’s sociopsychological outcomes. The regression results support the significance of dual filial piety and its close association with various aspects of daily life in contemporary Chinese societies.

A cross-cultural comparison of the coexistence and domain superiority of individuating and relating autonomy

The consensus definition of autonomy in the psychological literature emphasizes self-governance through free volition, not separation or independence from others. Since the concept of self may differ cross-culturally, several researchers have tried to incorporate types of self into the notion of autonomy; however, only the dual model of autonomy has been able to do this while retaining an emphasis on volition. The dual model describes two distinct forms of autonomy-individuating and relating-each with superior function in a specific domain of individual functioning. Individuating autonomy represents a volitional capacity to act against social constraints and offers a route to achieve an independent self-identity by expressing individualistic attributes and distinctions. Relating autonomy represents a volitional capacity to act by emphasizing the harmony of self-in-relation-to-others, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and self-transcendence. These two forms of autonomy have been shown to coexist at the individual level in a Taiwanese sample. This study takes the next step, with a cross-cultural test of the coexistence and domain superiority hypotheses of individuating and relating autonomy. Participants included 306 college students from Taiwan and 183 college students from the United States. Structural equation modelling by multigroup analyses confirmed the cross-cultural equivalence of the two-factor individuating autonomy and relating autonomy measurement model. Across both samples the two forms of autonomy were shown to be mutually inclusive and not exclusive or independent. The domain-superior function of each form of autonomy was also confirmed cross-culturally; each form of autonomy has a dominant, but not necessarily exclusive, domain of functioning. Specifically, individuating autonomy was more associated with intrapersonal than interpersonal domain dependent variables, while relating autonomy was more associated with interpersonal than intrapersonal domain dependent variables. Limitations of the study and considerations for future research are discussed.

How parenting and filial piety influence happiness, parent–child relationships and quality of family life in Taiwanese adult children

This study explored how parenting shapes Taiwanese young adults’ filial piety, which in turn affects their life outcomes. The study utilized data from 2007 and 2011 collected from 1186 young adults, 316 fathers, and 870 mothers; the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The main findings were the following: (1) reciprocal filial piety mediates the influence of supportive parenting on young adults’ happiness and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships; (2) reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety mediate the effect of supportive parenting on the quality of family life; (3) supportive maternal parenting has a positive influence on mother–adult child relationships through facilitation of both reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety; and (4) supportive parenting as reported by parents is less strongly associated with young adults’ filial piety and other indicators, including happiness, parent–child relationships, and the quality of family life, compared to supportive parenting as reported by young adults.

Conflict With Mothers-in-Law and Taiwanese Women’s Marital Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Husband Support:

This study applies social support theory to the question of whether four types of husband behavior (taking the wife’s side, problem solving, ignoring conflict, and taking the mother’s side) moderate the association between conflict with the mother-in-law and a Taiwanese woman’s marital satisfaction. Data were collected from 125 married Taiwanese women. The results of hierarchical regression analyses indicate a significant negative main effect of conflict with the mother-in-law on the wife’s marital satisfaction. This main effect is moderated by two types of husband behavior. When wives reported that their husbands frequently took their side or used problem-solving strategies to the conflict, conflict is not significantly related to the wives’ marital satisfaction. The conflict and the two types of husband behavior accounted for 32% to 38% of the variance in wives’ marital satisfaction.

Parent-child conflict and psychological maladjustment: a mediational analysis with reciprocal filial belief and perceived threat.

Empirical research has shown that parent-child conflict is positively related to poor adjustment in adolescents; however, the underlying processes have not been adequately examined. To explore the possible mediating pathways, reciprocal filial belief and perceived threat were chosen to represent two likely mechanisms accounting for how parent-child conflict harms adolescents perceptions of their relationship with their parents and their self-perceptions within their cognitive-appraisal framework. The former operates by attenuating childrens affection towards their parents and the latter by lowering their self-perceptions. This study also distinguishes internalizing from externalizing problems in order to examine whether lower reciprocal filial belief more strongly mediates the relation between conflict with parents and adolescents externalizing problems and whether perceived threat more strongly mediates the relation between conflict with parents and adolescents internalizing problems. Hypotheses are as follows: (1) the more parent-child conflict adolescents report, the less reciprocal filial belief they recognize, which, in turn, leads to more maladjustments, especially externalizing ones; (2) the more parent-child conflicts adolescents report, the more threat they perceive, which, in turn, leads to more maladjustments, especially internalizing ones. Participants consisted of 603 Taiwanese adolescents (226 males and 377 females) aged 15 to 19 (average age = 16.95; SD = 0.78). Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed the hypotheses. However, the three direct effects of conflict on internalizing problems, aggression, and deviant behaviour were still significant. In addition, a greater effect of the paternal than the maternal role on the link between conflict and attenuated reciprocal filial belief, and between perceived threat and internalizing problems, was identified. Implications for understanding the mediation processes responsible for all indirect effects, even the subsidiary ones, and the greater impact of conflict with the father than with the mother are discussed. Limitations of the study and considerations for future research are also addressed. La recherche empirique a indiqué que le conflit parent-enfant est positivement lié à une faible adaptation chez les adolescents; cependant, les processus sous-jacents nont pas été adéquatement examinés. Pour explorer les trajectoires de médiation possibles, la croyance filiale réciproque et la menace perçue ont été sélectionnées afin de représenter deux méchanismes plausiblement responsables de comment le conflit parent-enfant nuit aux peceptions des adolescents de leur relation avec les parents ainsi que de leurs auto-perceptions dans le cadre de leur évaluation cognitive. Le premier fonctionne en atténuant laffection des enfants envers leurs parents et le dernier fonctionne en diminuant leurs auto-perceptions. Cette étude distingue aussi les problèmes internalisés de ceux qui sont externalisés dans le but dexaminer si la plus faible croyance de filiation réciproque médie fortement la relation entre le conflit avec les parents et les problèmes externalisés des adolescents et si la menace perçue médie plus fortement la relation entre le conflit avec les parents et les problèmes internalisés des adolescents. Les hypothèses sont les suivantes: (1) plus il y a de conflit parent-enfant rapporté par les adolescents, moins il y aura de croyance filiale réciproque reconnue par les adolescents qui, en revanche, mènera à plus de mésadaptation surtout externalisée. Léchantillon incluait 603 participants (226 mâles et 377 femelles) âgés entre 15 et 19 ans (âge moyen = 16.95; SD = 0.78). Une analyse de modélisation par équation structurelle a confirmé les hypotheses. Cependant, les trois effets directs du conflit sur les problèmes internalisés, sur lagression et sur le comportement déviant étaient toujours significatifs. De plus, nous avons observé un plus grand effet du rôle paternel plus que maternel sur le lien entre le conflit et la croyance filiale réciproque atténuée ainsi quentre la menace perçue et les problèmes internalisés. Les implications pour la compréhension des processus de médiation responsables pour tous les effets indirects, même ceux qui sont accessoires, et le plus grand impact du conflit avec le père plus quavec la mère sont discutés. Les limites de létude et les considérations pour la recherche future sont aussi abordées. La investigación empírica ha demostrado que el conflicto entre padres e hijos está positivamente relacionado con pobre ajuste en adolescentes; no obstante, el proceso subyacente no ha sido examinado adecuadamente. Para explorar posibles caminos, se eligieron la creencia filial recíproca y la amenaza percibida con el objetivo de representar dos posibles mecanismos explicativos de cómo el conflicto padres-hijos daña la percepción de los adolescentes de su relación con los padres y su auto-percepción dentro de su marco de valoración cognitiva. El primero actúa atenuando el afecto de los hijos hacia los padres y el último bajando su auto-percepción. Este estudio también distingue los problemas interiorizados de los exteriorizados para examinar si la baja creencia filial recíproca es un mediador más fuerte de la relación entre el conflicto con los padres y los problemas exteriorizados de los adolescentes y si la amenaza percibida es un mediador más fuerte de la relación entre el conflicto con los padres y los problemas interiorizados de los adolescentes. Se han planteado las siguientes hipótesis: (1) cuanto más conflicto entre padres e hijos refieran los adolescentes, menor será el reconocimiento de la creencia filial recíproca, lo cual llevará a inadaptación, sobre todo, exteriorizada; (2) cuanto más conflicto entre padres e hijos refieran los adolescentes, mayor será la amenaza percibida, lo cual llevará a mayor inadaptación, sobre todo interiorizada. La muestra consistió de 603 adolescentes taiwaneses (226 chicos y 377 chicas) entre 15 y 19 años de edad (media edad = 16.95; DT = 0.78). Los análisis de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales confirmaron las hipótesis. Sin embargo, los tres efectos directos de los conflictos en la internalización de los problemas, agresión y comportamiento anormal seguían siendo significativos. Además, se identificó un efecto mayor del rol paternal en comparación con el rol maternal en la relación entre conflicto y la creencia filial reciproca atenuada y entre la amenaza percibida y la internalización de los problemas. Se discuten las implicaciones para la comprensión del proceso mediador responsable de todos los efectos indirectos, incluso los subsidiarios, y el mayor impacto del conflicto con los padres que con las madres. Igualmente, se discuten las limitaciones del estudio y las consideraciones para la investigación futura.

Relationship Harmony, Dialectical Coping, and Nonattachment Chinese Indigenous Well-Being and Mental Health

Our study aims to examine the salutary effects and interactions of three Chinese indigenous well-being (CIWB) constructs, namely relationship harmony (advocated by Confucianism), dialectical coping (derived from Taoism), and nonattachment (based on Buddhism) on mental health. Participants were 262 Taiwanese college students. Results revealed that the three CIWB constructs showed distinct associations with mental health. Relationship harmony was related negatively to psychological distress and positively to meaning in life and happiness. Dialectical coping predicted higher levels of positive affect and meaning in life, whereas nonattachment was the only and strongest protective factor against negative affect and psychological distress. Overall, nonattachment demonstrated the most adaptive effects on mental health. Additionally, moderation effects between dialectical coping and nonattachment on self-esteem, psychological distress, and happiness were observed. These findings underscore the importance of simultaneously investigating CIWB constructs to capture their unique and interactive contribution to psychological adjustment. Practical and research implications are discussed.

Relationalism: the essence and evolving process of Chinese interactive relationships

Chinese social lives focus on relationships, whereas Western social lives focus on individuals. Networks of relationships are important to Chinese in their lives and their behaviors. Several scholars have used relationalism to describe the behavioral patterns of Chinese interaction, claiming that the interacting patterns of Chinese people depend on the closeness of the relationship, and that different degrees of closeness correspond to different rules of interaction. Based on the Confucian ideas of ren, yi, li, and yu, I have reexamined the perspectives on relationalism provided by recent scholars exploring Chinese interpersonal interaction. I clarified the difference, confusion, and insufficiency of past scholars’ viewpoints on relationalism, and proposed a new framework, including three essential components (obligatory, authentic, and selfish affective components) for, and the possible evolving process of, Chinese interpersonal interaction. This new framework elucidates how relationalism operates in modern Chinese interpersonal interactions. The evolving core of a given interacting relationship depends on various combinations of obligatory, authentic, and selfish affective components that have distinctive features and corresponding rules for interaction. They are the essence for judging and adjusting subsequent interaction in the relationship.

What Do You Want in a Marriage? Examining Marriage Ideals in Taiwan and the United States

Four studies investigated ideal standards for one’s marital partner and relationship held by Taiwan Chinese and European Americans. We first generated a list of attributes that tapped lay representations of marriage ideals based on free responses from Chinese and European Americans, and we uncovered attributes describing extended family that were overlooked in Western research (Study 1). We found similar ideal knowledge structures across the two cultural groups; importantly, Chinese prioritized ideals denoting financial resources and extended family to a greater extent than did European Americans (Study 2). These cultural differences were explained by interdependent self-construal (Study 3). Finally, the agreement between ideals and perceptions of current partner/relationship was related to positive relationship outcomes in both cultural groups (Study 4). Our research highlights both cultural similarities and differences in the content, structure, endorsement, and evaluative functions of ideals in Chinese and Western cultural contexts.

Conceptualizing trust: a holistic Chinese view to bridge divergences and dichotomies

This research study seeks to understand and describe how people in a Chinese society define trust in daily life. Employing a qualitative phenomenological method, data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 14 adult Chinese individuals in northern Taiwan. This research pinpoints prior misconceptions of trust, examines competing approaches to trust that have led to diverse definitions, adopts a holistic Chinese view of trust that bridges prior divergent views, mediates the agency-structure and trust-distrust dichotomies, and focuses on trust strategies applicable to different situations. The findings reveal that trust is a dyadic relationship in which how the trustee demonstrates his or her trustworthiness to gain trust and how the trustor decides to trust are likely to be affected not only by personal choices based on prior knowledge and experiences but also the external social and cultural norms of the society. The findings advance the existing knowledge of trust conceptualization and extend its applicability to broader Chinese societies. They have implications for strategies for relationship and trust-building for Westerners as they engage in global socio-economic discourse with Chinese.