Measuring Personality and Values Across Cultures: Imported Versus Indigenous Measures

Cross-cultural studies of personality have shown cultural similarities and differences in the manifestation of personality traits. In interpreting cultural differences in personality traits, we should consider not only the experiences of people in different cultures, but also the measures adopted and the cultural orientations of researchers themselves. In this chapter, we discuss the considerations in adapting an instrument from one culture to another culture. We illustrate the alternative approach of developing an indigenous personality measure in the Chinese culture

Psychological symptoms among Chinese in urban Hong Kong

Clinical observations on Chinese mental patients suggested that somatization was a common mode of symptom presentation. One explanation attributed to the phenomenon was that Chinese tend to suppress or deny their feelings. The present study took the data on the 22-item Langner Scale collected as part of the Hong Kong Biosocial Survey and reanalyzed the responses of 3925 Chinese subjects in terms of Crandell and Dohrenwend's subscales. Results showed that among these urban Chinese, report of psychological symptoms on the Langner Scale was higher than that of psychophysiological, physiological and ambiguous symptoms. Significant differences in subscale scores were found among five subject variables: age, sex, education, socioeconomic status and total number of reported symptoms. Within each subgroup of the subject variables, scores on the psychological subscale was significantly higher than scores on the other three subscales. These findings disputed the contention that Chinese in general tend to deny their emotions. Somatization among Chinese mental patients in medical settings and report of psychological symptoms by Chinese may not be mutually exclusive phenomena. A more meaningful examination of the somatization concept should include investigation of the conceptualization of mental illness among Chinese, the channels chosen for help and symptom presentation in different settings.

什么是“中国人”的个性 ?——《中国人个性测量表CPAI-2》的分组差异

The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) is an indigenously developed personality measure, which covers both universal and culture-specific personality dimensions. We argue that a combined emic-etic approach reflects the broader psychological reality and is a useful approach to advance our understanding of psychology cross-culturally. We examine subgroup differences in the CPAI-2 normative sample to illustrate variations and continuity of personality characteristics within the same culture. Sex and age differences on mean scores of the CPAI-2 scales are consistent with expected variations associated socialization and developmental stages. There is no consistent pattern of variations across Hong Kong and different geographical regions within Mainland China.Within-culture and cross-cultural differences illustrate the continuity of individual differences in personality, and the dialectics of emic and etic constructs

Indigenous measures of personality assessment in Asian countries: A review

This article reviews attempts to develop multidimensional personality measures in Asia and their applications in clinical assessment. Indigenous personality assessment measures in India, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan are examined. These early attempts have not yielded a comprehensive personality measure that integrates a theoretical framework and an empirical program of validation. The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) is cited as an example to illustrate the process of developing an indigenous measure that meets the testing standards of established assessment instruments. On the basis of the research findings from the CPAI, the authors discuss the relevance of indigenous measures in clinical assessment in native cultures as well as in informing mainstream personality assessment.This article reviews attempts to develop multidimensional personality measures in Asia and their applications in clinical assessment. Indigenous personality assessment measures in India, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan are examined. These early attempts have not yielded a comprehensive personality measure that integrates a theoretical framework and an empirical program of validation. The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) is cited as an example to illustrate the process of developing an indigenous measure that meets the testing standards of established assessment instruments. On the basis of the research findings from the CPAI, the authors discuss the relevance of indigenous measures in clinical assessment in native cultures as well as in informing mainstream personality assessment

Women at the Top: powerful leaders tell us how to combine work and family

xiv,292hal.;23c

Contributions of Resilience to Mental Health in Chinese Secondary School Students at Different Disaster Stress Levels

A key feature of positive education is its focus on factors that can help students flourish. In the current study, we examined the role of resilience in promoting optimal mental health of Chinese secondary school students who suffered the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, China. In the earthquake central region, 518 participants recruited in November 2008 about 6 months and 473 participants recruited 1 year after the earthquake, were assumed to have the highest and mid-level disaster stress levels, respectively. 602 participants from areas unaffected by the earthquake in December 2008 were assumed to have the lowest stress level. Participants&#39; mental health and resilience were assessed by the clinical scales of the Cross-cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory for Adolescents and the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents, respectively. Higher stress level participants reported significantly lower resilience and higher mental health problems. Negative correlations between resilience and mental health problems were confirmed across the three groups. Only supportive power resilience showed significant predictions on mental health problems in the two earthquake groups. The implications on mental health counseling and positive education in Chinese secondary school students were discussed.</p

Comparative stigma of HIV/AIDS, SARS, and tuberculosis in Hong Kong

This study compares public stigma towards three types of infectious diseases— human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and tuberculosis (TB)—tests an attribution model of stigma, and explores the relationships between stigma and public attitudes towards government policies in Hong Kong. Using a population-based telephone survey, 3011 Hong Kong Chinese adults were randomly assigned to one of the three disease conditions and were interviewed about their attitudes and beliefs towards the assigned disease. Findings showed that public stigma was the highest towards HIV/AIDS, followed by TB and SARS. Using multi-sample model structural equation modeling, we found that the attributions of controllability, personal responsibility, and blame were applicable in explaining stigma across three disease types. Knowledge about the disease had no significant effect on stigma. Participants with less stigmatizing views had significantly more favorable attitudes towards government policies related to the diseases. The study is an important attempt in understanding the attributional mechanisms of stigma towards infectious diseases. Implications for stigma reduction and promotion of public awareness and disease prevention are discussed

RELEVANCE OF OPENNESS AS A PERSONALITY DIMENSION IN CHINESE CULTURE Aspects of its Cultural Relevance

The Openness factor was missing from the original Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI). We&nbsp;used a combined emic&ndash;etic approach to generate six culturally relevant Openness scales. In Study 1, the&nbsp;Openness scales were added to the revised CPAI and standardized using a representative sample of 1,911&nbsp;adults in China and Hong Kong. Factor analysis showed that the Openness scales merged with the original factors of the CPAI. In Study 2, 1,094 Chinese college students took the CPAI-2 and NEO-FFI. Joint factor&nbsp;analyses showed that four of the CPAI-2 Openness scales loaded with the Openness factor of the NEO-FFI.&nbsp;Implications on the meaning of Openness as a personality factor in Chinese culture were discussed

Comparative stigma of HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Tuberculosis in Hong Kong

This study compares public stigma towards three types of infectious diseases-- human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and tuberculosis (TB)--tests an attribution model of stigma, and explores the relationships between stigma and public attitudes towards government policies in Hong Kong. Using a population-based telephone survey, 3011 Hong Kong Chinese adults were randomly assigned to one of the three disease conditions and were interviewed about their attitudes and beliefs towards the assigned disease. Findings showed that public stigma was the highest towards HIV/AIDS, followed by TB and SARS. Using multi-sample model structural equation modeling, we found that the attributions of controllability, personal responsibility, and blame were applicable in explaining stigma across three disease types. Knowledge about the disease had no significant effect on stigma. Participants with less stigmatizing views had significantly more favorable attitudes towards government policies related to the diseases. The study is an important attempt in understanding the attributional mechanisms of stigma towards infectious diseases. Implications for stigma reduction and promotion of public awareness and disease prevention are discussed.Attribution HIV/AIDS SARS Tuberculosis Hong Kong Stigma