Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model
Comparative studies of cultural-cognitive systems in China have stressed differences between northern and southern regions, with less attention paid to inter-regional commonality. This study proposes an implicit biculturalism model to rectify the diversity bias. The model posits that Chinese in both...
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| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.731722/full |
| _version_ | 1811255120219865088 |
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| author | Wenli Liu Zhaobin Dai Shiwei Yang Sik Hong Ng Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Shenli Peng |
| author_facet | Wenli Liu Zhaobin Dai Shiwei Yang Sik Hong Ng Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Shenli Peng |
| author_sort | Wenli Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Comparative studies of cultural-cognitive systems in China have stressed differences between northern and southern regions, with less attention paid to inter-regional commonality. This study proposes an implicit biculturalism model to rectify the diversity bias. The model posits that Chinese in both regions have internalized the same two cultural-cognitive systems but have organized them differently. For northerners, the individualist/analytical system (indicated by field-independence) is more dominant and chronically accessible than the collectivist/holistic system (indicated by field-dependence); for southerners the hierarchical order is reversed. The more dominant system would normally manifest in everyday life as the default situation, but the less dominant system could be activated through cultural priming. Both field-independent northerners (N = 46) and field-dependent southerners (N = 46) were assigned randomly into individualistic and collectivistic priming conditions and then tested with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT). The results indicated field-independent northern Chinese changed their EFT performance to be field-dependent under collectivism priming, and field-dependent southern Chinese changed their EFT performance in the field-independent direction, albeit to a less extent, under individualism priming. Generally, these results supported the implicit biculturalism model, which provides a more nuanced understanding of the question of “Who are the Chinese in Chinese psychology?” |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:19:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-799323dda45145c89868c78b2c1e953c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:19:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-799323dda45145c89868c78b2c1e953c2022-12-22T03:23:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-05-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.731722731722Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism ModelWenli Liu0Zhaobin Dai1Shiwei Yang2Sik Hong Ng3Xiaocui Zhang4Xiaocui Zhang5Xiaocui Zhang6Shenli Peng7College of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, ChinaCollege of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaMedical Psychological Center, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, ChinaMedical Psychological Institute of Central South University, Changsha, ChinaNational Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Changsha, ChinaCollege of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, ChinaComparative studies of cultural-cognitive systems in China have stressed differences between northern and southern regions, with less attention paid to inter-regional commonality. This study proposes an implicit biculturalism model to rectify the diversity bias. The model posits that Chinese in both regions have internalized the same two cultural-cognitive systems but have organized them differently. For northerners, the individualist/analytical system (indicated by field-independence) is more dominant and chronically accessible than the collectivist/holistic system (indicated by field-dependence); for southerners the hierarchical order is reversed. The more dominant system would normally manifest in everyday life as the default situation, but the less dominant system could be activated through cultural priming. Both field-independent northerners (N = 46) and field-dependent southerners (N = 46) were assigned randomly into individualistic and collectivistic priming conditions and then tested with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT). The results indicated field-independent northern Chinese changed their EFT performance to be field-dependent under collectivism priming, and field-dependent southern Chinese changed their EFT performance in the field-independent direction, albeit to a less extent, under individualism priming. Generally, these results supported the implicit biculturalism model, which provides a more nuanced understanding of the question of “Who are the Chinese in Chinese psychology?”https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.731722/fullimplicit biculturalismculture primingculture mixingindividualist/analytical cultural-cognitive systemcollectivist/holistic cultural-cognitive system |
| spellingShingle | Wenli Liu Zhaobin Dai Shiwei Yang Sik Hong Ng Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Xiaocui Zhang Shenli Peng Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model Frontiers in Psychology implicit biculturalism culture priming culture mixing individualist/analytical cultural-cognitive system collectivist/holistic cultural-cognitive system |
| title | Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model |
| title_full | Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model |
| title_fullStr | Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model |
| title_short | Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model |
| title_sort | chinese regional differences and commonality in field independence and field dependence an implicit biculturalism model |
| topic | implicit biculturalism culture priming culture mixing individualist/analytical cultural-cognitive system collectivist/holistic cultural-cognitive system |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.731722/full |
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