Rosina C. Chia

Chinese implicit leadership theory.

Abstract In a 1st attempt to identify an implicit theory of leadership among Chinese people, the authors developed the Chinese Implicit Leadership Scale (CILS) in Study 1. In Study 2, they administered the CILS to 622 Chinese participants from 5 occupation groups, to explore differences in perceptions of leadership. Factor analysis yielded 4 factors of leadership: Personal Morality, Goal Efficiency, Interpersonal Competence, and Versatility. Social groups differing in age, gender, education level, and occupation rated these factors. Results showed no significant gender differences, and the underlying cause for social group differences was education level. All groups gave the highest ratings to Interpersonal Competence, reflecting the enormous importance of this factor, which is consistent with Chinese collectivist values.

ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN IN TAIWAN AND CHINA

The goals of this article are to review published data from both English and Chinese sources on current attitudes toward women in Taiwan and China and to discuss issues in cross-cultural research that may affect the discovery and reporting of effects. Chinese women in both countries, when compared to men, had more liberal attitudes toward women, but women in China had more traditionally oriented attitudes than women in Taiwan. Yangs (1986) modernization theory was used to explain these results. There was also some overlap of gender roles in both cultures, with some traditional masculine (or feminine) roles played by the other gender. We propose that modernization may lead not only to greater gender equality but also to changes in the nature of gender roles, leading to greater gender-role overlap, in which it is advantageous for both men and women to have less distinctive gender-role characteristics. Finally, issues of construct validation, response sets, and alternative approaches to scale development are addressed, and suggestions for future research are offered.

Cultural Differences in Gender Role Attitudes between Chinese and American Students.

A total of 665 Chinese college students in Taiwan and Caucasian college students in eastern North Carolina were administered several sex role attitude scales developed by Spence et al. (1978, 1980). The scales were translated into Chinese for Chinese subjects. Results indicated cultural differences in attitudes toward Marital Roles, Expressivity, Social Interaction, and Preference for males. In both cultures, females were found to be significantly more liberal, as shown in Attitudes Toward Women, Marital Roles, and Social Interaction. These results are consistent with previous research. Cultural differences were also as expected, with Chinese holding more conservative views.

Effects of Attractiveness and Gender on the Perception of Achievement-Related Variables

The present study was an examination of the effects of physical attractiveness and gender on perceptions of academic success, achievement-related traits, intelligence, initiative, and attributions of ability and effort in relation to academic success. It was hypothesized that attractive persons and men would be rated more favorably along these dimensions than would unattractive persons and women. The participants were 144 U.S. undergraduates who observed photographs of attractive and unattractive men and women and then rated the persons in the photographs on the aforementioned dimensions. Physical attractiveness had a differential effect on the dimensions within achievement. Also, being perceived as physically attractive created positive impressions of achievement-related traits for men but negative impressions for women.

Effects of Physical Attractiveness, Sex, and Type of Crime on Mock Juror Decisions A Replication with Chinese Students

A study previously conducted with American college students was replicated with Chinese college students. The Chinese subjects read a description of either a burglary or a swindle where the defendant was either male or female, physically attractive or unattractive, and Chinese or American. A biographical sketch and a photograph of the defendant were attached to the description of the crime. Subjects were asked to indicate the length of sentence appropriate for the crime, rate the seriousness of the crime, and rate the defendant on 12 personal characteristics. Results indicated that (a) female subjects gave longer sentences for the crime of burglary but only when the defendant was American; (b) attractiveness was associated with lenient sentencing for American burglars but with stringent sentencing for American swindlers; (c) Chinese women gave more lenient sentences to female defendants than to male defendants; (d) American defendants, regardless of the crime, were rated more than favorably than Chinese defendants; (e) attractive defendants were rated more favorably on 6 of the 12 personal characteristics; and (f) the swindler was rated more favorably than the burglar on 7 of the 12 personal characteristics.

Relationship of Modernization and Marriage Role Attitude Among Chinese College Students

Abstract Data were collected from 220 male and 158 female students enrolled in four national universities in Taiwan, Republic of China. Major instruments included a Chinese scale measuring the degree of traditionality-modernity and a translated Jacobson Marriage-Role Scale measuring whether one holds a male-dominant attitude role in a marriage in which the husband makes the major decisions or a more equalitarian attitude where decision making is shared by both husband and wife. Both scales and a questionnaire measuring demographic data were administered during regular psychology class sessions in spring, 1984. Results indicated (a) a significant sex difference on both scales, with women holding a more modern value and a more equalitarian attitude toward marriage-role; (b) a factor structure of marriage-role attitude different for Chinese men and women; and (c) a significant relationship between traditionality-modernity and marriage-role attitude, with the more modern individual holding the more equalitari...

Nonverbal Communication among American and Chinese Students

The present study assessed nonverbal communication in a sample of Chinese and American elementary students. Participants were 412 children ranging in age from 7 years to 11 years (Grades 2 through 4), 241 from mainland China and 171 from the USA. Perception of nonverbal communication was assessed by use of the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy which assesses receptive nonverbal communication through facial expression, posture, gestures, and paralanguage (tone of voice). Only facial expression, posture, and gestures were examined, and significant differences between the two groups on gestures and postures were found but not on facial expressions. Teachers were also asked to rate their students using the Social Perception Behavior Rating Scale. Surprisingly, the teachers rated Chinese boys as having more difficulty with social behaviors and lower social perception than Chinese girls or American boys and girls.

A Multinational Course on Global Climate Change

A novel multinational course on global climate change was developed by East Carolina University in collaboration with five international universities and the U.S. Department of State. This course was developed to help foster the global conversation needed for developing successful solutions to some of the challenges posed to society by climate change. Using web conferencing technology, students from East Carolina University, Faculdade Jaguariuna in Brazil, Shadong University in China, University of Jammu in India, Universidad Regiomontana in Mexico, and Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia met 2 or 3 times per week in the Global Classroom to learn about climate change science, mitigation and adaptation strategies, and domestic and international climate policy issues. In addition to learning about climate change, students worked in teams composed of members from each country to create locally implementable strategies for climate change mitigation and/or adaptation. Toward this end, students learned ...