IJCAP-201402

ISSN 1937-9188

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IACMSP International Association of Chinese Medical Specialists & Psychologists

New York, USA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHINESE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY. 2014, 6 (2) ISSN 1937-9188

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IJCAP INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHINESE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

Volume 6, Number 2, Serial No.10, December 30, 2014

(Semiyearly)

Editor in Chief: DENG Mingyu, M.D., Ph.D.

Directory 【Science Papers】

Rice, Psychology, and Innovation……………………………………………………Joseph Henrich (3)

A Study on the Relationships among Psychological Control, Adolescent Depression and Antisocial Behavior in Taiwan ……………Yi-Chan Tu, Hung-Chang Lee, Ho-Yuan Chen, et al. (7)

A Structural Equation Model (SEM) of Self-Compassion, Self Esteem, Perceived Partner Behaviours and Romantic Relationship Satisfaction……………………… WY Chui, MT Leung (20)

Large-Scale Psychological Differences within China Explained by Rice Versus Wheat Agriculture …………………………………………………… T. Talhelm, X. Zhang, S. Oishi, et al (35)

The Relations between Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout of the 1980s’ Generation…………………………………………………………………Yuanyuan Luo, Heyi Song (47)

Evaluation Study of Kai’s Sandplay Recording………………………………………Kai ZhiZhong (55)


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【Abstracts】

Family Relationships and Communication Before and After Suicide A Mixed Methods Approach …………………………………………………………… Chye Hong Liew, Michael Kral (63)

Hearing, Listening and Understanding: A study of aboriginal mental in Taiwan ………………………………………………………………Wan-Leng Hsu, Siang-Hua Tey (64)

A Correlated Study about Mental Health Status and Coping Style for Junior High School Students from Tibetan in Shanghai……………………………………Chang XD, Shi JH, Ma DY (65)

Psychological Contract in Indonesian State-Owned Enterprise………………………………………………………RH Haslan, J. Richards, HM Ramos (66)

Teachers’ Voting Behavior…………………………………FI. Yeban, ML Aggarao, B. Domingcil (67)

A Study of the Relationships among Social Support, Leisure Constraint and Mental Health of Employed Married Women …………………………………………… Shu-Fen Lin, Chih-Jiun Lin (68)

An Empirical Study on Influence of Work Stress of Employees on Their Health ……………………………………………………………………Wei Xiangqian, Ma Hongyu (69)

The correlation among explanatory style, depression, and mental health in Taiwan adolescents ………………………………………………… Yu-shu Wang and Sheng-Fa Chuang (70)

Health-related quality of life and mental health of Chinese primary care patients with lower urinary tract symptoms…………………………………………………………………Pui-hang Choi (71)

Follow-up Study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Rescue Soldiers Exposed to The Wenchuan 2008 Earthquake in China…………ZHang Hua, Wang Yali, Huang Yonglan, et al. (72)

Research on Relationship of Social Support, Employment Appraisal and University Students’ Anxiety………………………………………………………………Yu Binbin and Chen Shaozheng (73)

Board of Editors (Second) ………………………………………………………………………… (74)


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Rice, Psychology, and Innovation People in wheat-cultivating areas of China are more individualistic and

analytical than those in rice-cultivating areas.

Joseph Henrich

Departments of Psychology and Economics, University of British Columbia,

Vancouver, Canada V6T 1N5

By the late 18th century, the earliest tremors of the industrial revolution were beginning to shake England. Fueled by a stream of innovations related to textiles, transportation, and steel manufacturing, this eruption of economic growth would soon engulf northern Europe, spread to Britain’s former colonies, and eventually transform the globe. For the first time, humanity would be sprung from the Malthusian trap. The question of why this revolution first emerged in northern Europe remains one of history’s great questions. If you stood overlooking the globe in 1000 CE, the most obvious candidates for igniting this engine were perhaps in China or the Middle East, but certainly not in Europe. Addressing this question, researchers have pointed to differences in geography, institutions, religions, and even genes (1, 2). On page 603 of this issue, Talhelm et al. (3) take an important step forward by fingering psychological differences in analytical thinking and individualism as an explanation for differences in innovation, and then linking these differences to culturally transmitted institutions, and ultimately to environmental differences that influence the feasibility of rice agriculture.

Decades of experimental research show that, compared to most populations in the world, people from societies that are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) (4) are psychologically unusual, being both highly individualistic and analytically minded. High levels of individualism mean that people see themselves as independent from others and as characterized by a set of largely positive attributes. They willingly invest in new relationships even outside their kin, tribal, or religious groups. By contrast, in most other societies, people are enmeshed in dense, enduring networks of kith and kin on which they depend for cooperation, security, and personal identity. In such collectivistic societies, property is often corporately owned by kinship units such as clans; inherited relationships are enduring and people invest heavily in them, often at the expense of outsiders, strangers, or abstract principles (4).

Psychologically, growing up in an individualistic social world biases one toward the use of analytical reasoning, whereas exposure to more collectivistic environments favors holistic approaches. Thinking analytically means breaking things down into their constituent parts and assigning properties to those parts. Similarities are judged according to rule-based categories, and current trends are expected to continue. Holistic thinking, by contrast, focuses on


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relationships between objects or people anchored in their concrete contexts. Similarity is judged overall, not on the basis of logical rules. Trends are expected to be cyclical.

Various lines of evidence suggest that greater individualism and more analytical thinking are linked to innovation, novelty, and creativity (5). But why would northern Europe have had greater individualism and more analytical thinking in the first place? China, for example, was technologically advanced, institutionally complex, and relatively educated by the end of the first millennium. Why would Europe have been more individualist and analytically oriented than China?

Measuring analytical thinking and individualism. To investigate the individualism and analytical thinking in participants from different agricultural regions in China, Talhelm et al. used three tests. They measured analytical thinking with a series of triads. Participants were given a target object, such as a rabbit, and asked which of two other objects it goes with. Analytic thinkers tend to match on categories, so rabbits and dogs go together. Holistic thinkers tend to match on relationships, so rabbits eat carrots. The authors also measured individualism in two ways. First, they asked participants to draw a sociogram, with labeled circles representing themselves and their friends. In this test, individualism is measured implicitly by how much bigger the “self” circle is relative to the average “friends” circle. Second, they assessed the nepotism (in-group loyalty) of participants by asking them about hypothetical scenarios in which they could reward or punish friends and strangers for helpful or harmful action.

Talhelm et al. hypothesized that different combinations of environments and technologies influence the cultural evolution of different forms of social organization. Under some techno-environmental conditions, only intensely cooperative social groups can endure, prosper, and spread. Although potentially applicable to many situations, including territorial defense and whale hunting, Talhelm et al. focus on the different labor requirements of paddy rice and wheat cultivation. By demanding intense cooperation, paddy rice cultivation fosters and reinforces the social norms that govern patrilineal clans. Growing up in strong clans creates a particular kind of


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collectivistic psychology. In contrast, wheat cultivation permits independent nuclear households and fosters more individualistic psychologies.

To test these ideas, Talhelm et al. used standard psychological tools (see the figure) to measure analytical thinking and individualism among university students sampled from Chinese provinces that vary in wheat versus rice cultivation. Focusing on China removes many of the confounding variables such as religion, heritage, and government that would bedevil any direct comparison between Europe and East Asia. The prediction is straightforward: Han Chinese from provinces cultivating relatively more wheat should tend to be more individualistic and analytically oriented. Sure enough, participants from provinces more dependent on paddy rice cultivation were less analytically minded. The effects were big: The average number of analytical matches increased by about 56% in going from all-rice to no-rice cultivation. The results hold both nationwide and for the counties in the central provinces along the rice-wheat (north-south) border, where other differences are minimized.

Participants from rice-growing provinces were also less individualistic, drawing themselves roughly the same size as their friends, whereas those from wheat provinces drew themselves 1.5 mm larger. (This moves them only part of the way toward WEIRD people: Americans draw themselves 6 mm bigger than they draw others, and Europeans draw themselves 3.5 mm bigger) (6). People from rice provinces were also more likely to reward their friends and less likely to punish them, showing the in-group favoritism characteristic of collectivistic populations.

So, patterns of crop cultivation appear linked to psychological differences, but can these patterns really explain differences in innovation? Talhelm et al. provide some evidence for this by showing that less dependence on rice is associated with more successful patents for new inventions. This doesn’t nail it, but is consistent with the broader idea and will no doubt drive much future inquiry. For example, these insights may help explain why the embers of an 11th century industrial revolution in China were smothered as northern invasions and climate change drove people into the southern rice paddy regions, where clans had an ecological edge, and by the emergence of state level political and legal institutions that reinforced the power of clans (7).

Cultural evolution arises from a rich interplay of ecology, social learning, institutions, and psychology. Environmental factors favor some types of family structures or forms of social organization over others. Honed and refined over generations, these institutions create the conditions to which children adapt developmentally, shaping their psychologies and brains. Long after their ecological causes have become irrelevant, these cultural psychologies and institutions continue to influence rates of innovation, the formation of new institutions, and the success of immigrants in new lands. As such, wheat farming may contribute to explaining the origins of WEIRD psychology and the industrial revolution.

[References]

1. G. Clark, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2007).

2. J. Mokyr, The Lever of Riches (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1990).


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3. T. Talhelm et al., Science 344, 603 (2014).

4. J. Henrich, S. J. Heine, A. Norenzayan, Behav. Brain Sci. 33, 61 (2010).

5. Y. Gorodnichenko, G. Roland, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 (suppl. 4), 21316 (2011).

6. S. Kitayama, H. Park, A. T. Sevincer, M. Karasawa, A. K. Uskul, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 97, 236 (2009).

7. A. Greif, G. Tabellini, Am. Econ. Rev. 100, 135 (2010).


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A Study on the Relationships among Psychological Control, Adolescent Depression and Antisocial

Behavior in Taiwan

Yi-Chan Tu 1, Hung-Chang Lee 2, Ho-Yuan Chen 3 and Tsai-Feng Kao 4

1 Associate Professor, Natioanl Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourims, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2 Associate Professor, Taiwan Shoufu University, Tainan, Taiwan

3 Assistant Professor, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung Li, Taiwan

4 PhD candidate, National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan

[Abstract] We extended prior research by examining the effects of parental psychological control and adolescent depression on antisocial behavior, as well as the possible mediation effect of adolescent depression in those processes. To do so, we examined 377 senior high school students (mean age=15.30 years) from four major cities in Taiwan. Adolescent reported on perceived parental psychological control and depression on antisocial behavior. The results of hierarchical regression analyses are concluded as follows. (1) Gender and parents education level can significant predict antisocial behavior. (2) Maternal psychological control can significant predict antisocial behavior. (3) Adolescent depression directly influenced the antisocial behavior and the mediation effect of adolescent depression between psychological control and antisocial behavior was statistically significant. These results suggested that adolescent depression plays a more significant role vis-a-vis adolescent depression than the parental psychological control on Taiwan adolescent antisocial behavior. These results were discussed in terms of their implications for research and practice.

Introduction

Adolescence is characterized by many changes that are related to adolescents’ perceptions of themselves and their family life (White & Renk, 2012).An overview of adolescence reveals that during this stage of development young people are “in an active, purposeful ‘flight’ away from attachment relationships with parents” (Allen & Land, 1999, p. 319). If parental control is not diminished it results in increased conflict between adolescents and parents, such as the breaking of rules and antisocial behavior (Allen & Land, 1999). Developmental psychologists have examined antisocial behavior from many perspectives, including the academic experience, and peer relation and socio economic status (Gaik, Abdullah, Elias, & Uli, 2010). Parenting is generally known as an important risk factor linked with antisocial behavior. As children move into


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adolescence, monitoring becomes an important aspect of parenting. Patterson (1985) found that an inadequate parents monitoring seems to be important in the emergence and maintenance of antisocial behavior in children from middle childhood through adolescence.

There are two broad dimensions of behavior disorders; internalizing and externalizing behavior. Internalizing behavior is directed inward and involves behavioral deficits, such as isolation, withdrawal and depression. On the other part, externalizing behaviors are in the form such as disturbing others, verbal and physical aggression, and acts of violence. In fact, psychologists have been studying many different aspects of child development and how they relate to the formation of externalizing behavior problems (Gaik, Abdullah, Elias, & Uli, 2010). Many adolescents experience adjustment problems including externalizing and internalizing problems. Antisocial behavior is an externalizing behavior that refers to persistent violations of behavior patterns that are deemed socially appropriate, it is disruptive to individuals, family and friends, and society (Lue, Wu, & Yen, 2010).

Although the association between antisocial behavior and depression has been widely supported, the direction and temporal order of this relationship are not fully understood in adolescence. (Boots, Wareham, & Weir, 2011). Despite widespread recognition of the occurrence of depression and antisocial behavior in adolescents, the specifics of the relationship between them have not been clarified (Lue, Wu, & Yen, 2010).Specifically, Wiesner and Kim (2006) have argued that the need for further inquiry into the developmental origins of affective problems and delinquency, as few studies to date have sought to explore this relationship over time with gender sensitivity.

Most research to date on antisocial behavior and depression either has been retrospective, concentrated exclusively on boys, or has used referred, at-risk, incarcerated samples (Capaldi, 1992). The present study addresses a significant gap in the literature by using a school-based, no forensic sample of adolescent boys and girls. Thus, this paper focuses on the role of family relations, especially parental psychological control and adolescent depression, as determining factors in the development of antisocial behavior among adolescents.

1. Literature review

1.1. Psychological control

Parental control has been regarded as an important dimension of parenting. In the early work on parenting, control versus autonomy was commonly used to describe parenting attributes (Becker, 1964; Schaefer, 1965). Psychological control is described as the excessive enforcement of power used to control thinking and feeling processes which, in turn, impedes the person’s emotional and psychological development (Barber, 1996). High levels of psychological control have typically been linked to internalization and expression of anxiety, depression, loneliness, emotional dysfunction, and confusion (Barber, 1996).Psychological control has been linked to externalization of problems such as antisocial behavior (Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2005).

The role of parenting in children’s relationship is very important in predicting antisocial behavior (Gaik, Abdullah, Elias, & Uli, 2010). Roman, Human and Hiss (2012) found that a


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positive relationship between parental psychological control and the antisocial behavior of young adults, maternal psychological control, compared to paternal psychological control, was a stronger predictor of antisocial behavior. In addition, Mothers are more likely than are fathers to control their children psychologically (Dobkin, Tremblay, & Sacchitelle, 1997), resulting in the children having higher levels of depression (Bendikas, 2010). A Taiwanese study has found that inept parenting, including strict discipline, poor supervision, and non-directive parenting practices, were all associated positively with depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior (Wu, Kao, Yen, &Lee, 2007). Tu, Lee and Chan (2012) reported that parental psychological control (paternal and maternal) directly influenced the adolescent depression in Taiwan.

A review of the literature shows that the number of studies examining parental control in the Western context is comparatively much higher than that conducted in the Chinese culture (Shek, 2007b).Although in previous studies psychologically controlling parenting has been linked to various externalized behaviors in children (Latouf, 2008), in the present study we examined the nature of the relationship between psychologically controlling parenting and the antisocial behavior of adolescents.

2.2. Adolescent depression

According to the 2001 WHO World Health Report , the worldwide prevalence of depression is 3%, which equates to a total of 120,000,000 sufferers of depression (World Health Organization, 2001) .Depression is the most prevalent internalizing problem among adolescents (Lewinsohn, Hops, & Roberts, 1993). It is estimated that by 2020, depression will be the second cause of the Disability-Adjusted Life-Year (DALY) behind heart disease (Eisenberg, 1997). A national survey of physical and mental health in Taiwan conducted in 1999 found that 30.5% of 3487 adolescents aged 12-18years old had experienced depressive symptoms as their most frequent response to stressful life events (Department of Statistics, Ministry of Interior, Taiwan , 1999). Some research findings have also shown associations between psychological control and adolescent internalizing and mood problems (Shek, 2007a).

The youth who internalize distress often report problems that may discourage social interaction or intimacy with others, decreasing the vulnerability for risky behavior in the context of depression (Kincaid, Jones, Cuellar, Gonzalez, 2011); these include the desire to be alone, unwillingness to get involved with others, fearfulness and worthlessness (e.g., Achenbach, 1991).However, some research finding paternal psychological control was not correlated with depression ( Bean, Barber & Crane, 2006 ).

2.3. Antisocial behavior

Antisocial behavior is defined as external behavioral traits with regard to not obeying rules and laws (Baumrind, 2005). These behaviors include assault, vandalism, setting fires, theft, crime and other delinquent acts which conform to social norms (Gaik, Abdullah, Elias, & Uli, 2010).Studies showed that antisocial behavior in adolescence is associated with poor parenting (Wilson, 1987). More recent investigations have confirmed these results, showing that low levels of monitoring are associated more frequent involvement in externalizing and criminal behavior (Barnes, Hoffman, Welte, Farrell, & Dintcheff, 2006); and internalizing problems (Barber, Olsen,


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& Shagle, 1994). Parental monitoring of women and negotiation over the use of free time is generally stronger than for men and acts as a strong deterrent against antisocial behavior even in the long term (Borawski, Iervers-Landis, Lovegreen, & Trapal, 2003). The results show that male, and low level of parental monitoring predict a higher involvement in antisocial behavior (Bacchini, Miranda, & Affuso, 2011).

In a Taiwanese study of 1109 seventh-grade students, 47.2% reported that they had engaged in deviant behavior in the past year (Kao, Wu, & Lue, 1998). Although there is substantial evidence that boys are significantly more likely to display antisocial behaviors than girls (Zoccolillo, 1993).Wiesner and Kim (2006) reported that girls were more likely to exhibit comorbid depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors than were boys (49.5% vs. 25.3%, respectively). Not all the literature supports this theory, however. Maughan, Rowe, Messer, Goodman, and Meltzer (2004) reported that the relationship between conduct problems and depression remained significant for boys but not for girls after controlling for other disorders.

Furthermore, Ingoldsby, Kohl, McMahon, and Lengua (2006) discovered that roughly twice as many boys as girls exhibited co-occurring deviant behaviors and depressive symptoms in the fifth and seventh grades. Ritakallio et al. (2008) found that depression was more predictive of future antisocial behavior than vice versa, this was true only among a sample of girls. In addition, other scholars have argued that there is no predictive relationship between depressive symptoms and behavioral problems for either gender (Ingoldsby et al., 2006).

This study investigates the factors associated with antisocial behavior in a society in transition-Taiwan. The primary aim is to examine how parental psychological control and adolescent depression contributes to the development of antisocial behavior. Furthermore, the current study examines whether depression mediate the relation between parental psychological control and antisocial behavior in adolescent. Thus, the hypotheses were as following, Hypothesis 1: There would be a significant gender and parental education level differences in antisocial behavior are reported in this paper. Hypothesis 2: Psychological control and depression each made independent contributions to antisocial behavior in adolescent. Hypothesis 3: Adolescent depression could be a moderating variable between psychological control and antisocial behavior.

3. Method

3.1. Participants

A total of 377 adolescents (i.e., 134 boys, 239 girls, and 4 adolescents who did not endorse their sex) were participants in this study. An examination of the gender of the sample indicated that boys made up 35.9% of the sample. This sample of adolescents was recruited through five senior high school students from major cities in Taiwan (one city in the northern, two in the southern, one in the western and one in the eastern part of Taiwan) to increase representativeness in social class and in a broad range of attitudes. Participants were not compensated in any way. The demographic characteristics of the participants were as follows (see Table 1). Students who participated in this study ranged from age 15 to 17 years old (M = 15.30, SD = 0.92) and from grade ten through twelve (M =10.40, SD = 0.65). Data was collected


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from 395 of those adolescents who were present during data collection times. The final sample consisted of 377 participants who provided valid data for the three questionnaires used in the mediation analyses.

3.2. Measures

3.2.1. Demographics

A demographics sheet requested basic demographic information about participants (e.g., sex, age, grade) and their parents (e.g., education level).

3.2.2. Psychological control

Parental psychological control was measured using The Chinese Paternal Psychological Control Scale (CPPCS) and Chinese Maternal Psychological Control Scale(CMPCS; Shek, 2007a). This measure consists of 10 questions. Participants were asked to respond to questions about their mothers and fathers on separate questionnaires (e.g. “My mother/father will avoid looking at me when I have disappointed her/him”) using a five-point Likert-type scale to indicate the degree to which each statement describes that parent. These items assess the basic features of psychological control, including invalidating personal feelings and experiences (Items 1 and 2), constraining verbal expression, personal attack, love withdrawal, and excessive control. The items in the scales were rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). To reflect the correspondence between the item score and the intensity of psychological control (i.e., 1_lowest psychological control and 5_highest psychological control), the items were recorded. In a previous report that the CPPCS and CMPCS were internally consistent in different samples (Shek, 2006). In short, there are research findings supporting the reliability and validity of the CPPCS and CMPCS based on Chinese adolescents.

3.2.3. Adolescent depression

The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1992) is the most widely used child and adolescent 7 to 17 years of age self-report measure of depression. The psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, validity, and normative data) of the CDI have been the most extensively studied of instruments used to study depression in children and adolescents. The CDI is a 27-item self-report questionnaire that is used extensively for distinguishing children and adolescents with and without depressive disorders. These items were aver-aged to construct a scale. Responses are scored on a 3-point scale, with 2 representing the severe form of a depressive symptom and 0 representing the absence of that symptom. For the current sample, the coefficient alpha values of the scores of the full scale were .92 for participants.

3.2.4. Antisocial Behavior

The Antisocial Behavioral Scale (ABS) from the Delinquent subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist-Youth Self-Report (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1987) was chosen to measure participants’ self-reported levels of antisocial behavioral. The ABS is a six-item scale (e.g. ‘‘I hang around with kids who get in trouble’’) often used in antisocial behavioral research with adolescents. Response categories ranged from 0 = not true to 2 = very true or often true. Higher


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scores indicated higher levels of antisocial behavior. The ABS has adequate reliability and high concurrent validity in previous studies (Barber, Stolz & Olsen, 2005). Most important is its common use in previous work that we hoped to validate and refine here.

3.3. Procedure

Participants were recruited from the middle school in Taiwan. The first author went to the classes and provided instruction for the purpose of the survey. They agreed and completed the three inventories in groups. Each participant was asked to review and sign an assent form that briefly described the study. Student participants were given 15-min to complete the questionnaire packet. Members of the research team were available to answer questions during this time. No personally identifying information was solicited on the survey answer sheet. Following completion of their questionnaire packets, student participants received a debriefing form providing more information concerning the purpose of the study. No special incentive was offered to participants. It is common for instructors in Taiwan to agree to such requests and for students to agree to complete surveys without special incentives.

4. Results

4.1. T-test statistics

Independent samples t-test were used to determine if any significant differences existed between male and female participants for the measures used in this study, to examine the first hypothesis. Means and standard deviations, and results of t-test with gender as the independent variable are provided in Table 1 so that participants’ responses could be put into context. Gender differences were found to be significant in antisocial behavior, t(371)=4.60, p<.001. For the differences in specific scales of antisocial behavioral scale, male participants in this sample were significantly higher in antisocial behavior. Mean score for men in antisocial behavioral scale were 8.88 and 7.25 for women. Gender effect was found in the antisocial behavior. In general, these scores suggested that female participants in Taiwan have generally positive perceptions of their antisocial behavior. Male and female participants did not differ significantly on any of the other measures in this study, however. As a result, data for male and female participants were examined collectively for the remainder of the analyses.

Table 1. Means and standard deviations: overall and by adolescent gender


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4.2. Correlation analyses

Correlation analyses examined the relationships among participants’ self-reported antisocial behavior, their perceptions of their parents’ psychological control and depression to examine the second hypothesis.. Based on the Table 2, participants’ perceptions of paternal psychological control and maternal psychological control were revealed strong positive correlation to their depression and antisocial behavior (p=.000 < .01). These findings suggested that adolescents who perceive their parents to be psychological control report higher levels of depression and antisocial behavior.

Table 2. Correlation matrix of PPC, MPC, AD and AB Scores

4.3. Results of hierarchical regression analyses

Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the third hypothesis, which predicted a significant relation among psychological control, depression and antisocial behavior (see Table 3). Consistent with the proposed model, variables were entered in the following order: socio-demographic variables associated with the outcome variable were entered in Block 1; Paternal psychological control and maternal psychological control were entered in Block 2 primarily to examine the role of psychological control over and above the established role of psychological control strategies; To examine the main effect of adolescent depression, the primary variable of interest, adolescent depression was entered in the final block. Hierarchical regression models were conducted for antisocial behavior.

From Table 3, socio-demographic variables f could explain 9.0% variance of antisocial behavior before inputting psychological control. The overall test of multiple linear regression F=8.720 (p<.001) achieved the significance, showing the outstanding effects of socio-demographic variables on antisocial behavior. The regression coefficient of gender (β=-0.25, p<.001) and maternal education level (β=-0.17; p<.01) achieved the significance and were negative; Gender and maternal education level therefore appeared notably negative effects on antisocial behavior.

After inputting psychological control into the regression model, the overall variance explained increased 5.5% and F=9.836 (p<.001) reached the significance. Overall speaking, both socio- demographic variables and psychological control revealed remarkably positive effects on antisocial behavior. The variance explained was 14.5%, increasing obviously. Before inputting psychological control, paternal education level did not present significantly positive


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effects on socio-demographic variables. However, gender, paternal education level, and maternal education level appeared remarkably effects on antisocial behavior (β=-.23, p<.001; β=.13, p<.05; β=-.16, p<.01) with the moderating effect of psychological control, and the effect strength increased. After inputting the adolescent depression between socio-demographic variables and psychological control, the overall variance explained was increased and F=13.112 (p<.001) reached the significance, showing the outstanding effects on antisocial behavior. With the moderating effects between socio-demographic variables and psychological control, gender, paternal education level, maternal education level, maternal psychological control, and adolescent depression(β=-.27, p<.001; β=.12, p<.05; β=-.14, p<.01; β=.11, p<.05; β=.26, p<.001) revealed notably effects on Instructional antisocial behavior. H3 therefore was agreed.

Table 3. Moderating effects of socio-demographic variables, psychological control and adolescent depression on antisocial behavior

5. Discussion

We examined the interrelationship of parental psychological control, adolescent depression and antisocial behavior in Taiwan. Understanding the relationships between these variables is important, as adolescents who exhibit antisocial behavior are at heightened risk for a number of negative outcomes (e.g., assault, vandalism, setting fires, theft, crime; Gaik, Abdullah, Elias, & Uli, 2010). Therefore, prevention and interventions targeting adolescents who are at high risk for the development of such behaviors is of the utmost importance for the well being of both the adolescents themselves, their families, and the community at large.

The first hypothesis of our research was that there would be a significant gender and parental education level differences in antisocial behavior are reported in this paper. This hypothesis was largely confirmed. Our findings are consistent with a large literature showing that men are more likely than women to be involved in antisocial behavior. Several studies have found that males perform more aggressive behaviors than females (Compton , Snyder, Schrepferman, Bank ,& Shortt, 2003; Zoccolillo,1993). We had similar findings, male participants in this study were significantly higher in antisocial behavior. Family variables are important and


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consistent for early forms of antisocial behavior and for later delinquency. Although many studies prove that poor monitoring, poor supervision, and harsh discipline are the cause of the child’s antisocial behavior; family demographic variables such parental education also related to the antisocial behavior (Elliott et al., 1985). When comparing paternal and maternal educational level, the results of this study suggest that mother’s educational level in this sample were significantly higher in antisocial behavior. Overall, gender and maternal education level therefore appeared notably negative effects on antisocial behavior.

The second hypothesis, that psychological control and depression each made independent contributions to antisocial behavior in adolescent, was partially confirmed. When comparing mothers and fathers the results of this study suggest that mothers are perceived as significantly more psychologically controlling than fathers. Furthermore, maternal psychological control was the stronger predictor of antisocial behavior. This result extends previous research (Barber, 1996, 2001; Bendikas, 2010) and provides a starting point for re-examining and improving parenting adolescents in Taiwan. A possible explanation for this finding could be that mothers are often care for, provide for, and protect their children. In this situation, mothers could be perceived as controlling (Roman, Human, & Hiss, 2012). Results gained in this study support previous findings that psychologically controlling parenting and antisocial behavior are significantly and positively correlated. These results corroborate previous reports that psychological control may be a significant predictor of youth problem behavior (Barber, 1996; Barber et al., 2005).

The third hypothesis, that adolescent depression could be a moderating variable between psychological control and antisocial behavior, has been also confirmed. Adolescent depression moderates the relationship between psychological control and antisocial behavior. Our study shows that adolescent depression was uniquely associated with antisocial behavior. The link between psychological control and antisocial behavior was mediated by adolescent depression. In response to antisocial behavior, adolescents may be more likely to respond with decreases in depression symptoms. Several studies have revealed that depression and antisocial behavior associate in adolescence (Ritakallio, et al., 2010). The prevalence of co-occurring depressive disorders and problem behavior among adolescents is well established in the literature (Pliszka, Sherman, Barrow, & Irick, 2000). Depression disorders have been identified as significant correlates of antisocial behavior among youth (Pliszka, et al., 2000). Nebbitt and Lombe (2008) indicated that gender and depression were significant correlates of antisocial behavior of African American adolescents. Similarly, antisocial behavior was associated with depression in both sexes (Ritakallio, et al., 2010).

6. Conclusion

We examined the interrelationship of parental psychological control, adolescent depression and antisocial behavior in Taiwan. Understanding the relationships among these variables is important, as adolescents who exhibit antisocial behavior are at heightened risk for a number of negative outcomes. Therefore, prevention and interventions targeting adolescents who are at high risk for the development of such behaviors is of the utmost importance for the well being of both the adolescents themselves, their families, and the community at large.


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Adolescence is a critical period for the development of externalizing disorders, even for persons who have never displayed problem behavior during childhood (Moffitt, 1993). In this study, we sought to establish the relationship among parental psychologically controlling practice, depression and the antisocial behavior of adolescents in a sample of Taiwan senior high school students. Our results contribute to the very limited literature regarding parenting in the phase of adolescents in Taiwan. Furthermore, comprehensive clinical assessment and treatment of antisocial adolescents should be considered. The convergence of traditional Chinese culture and modern western values in the 20th century in Taiwan had a significant effect on family structures and processes (Shen, 2005).The results of this study could provide important information for therapists and counselors. Specifically for this sample of adolescents, if they are engaging in antisocial behavior, both adolescents and their parents should receive assistance through intervention.

7. Limitations and Implications

Research about adolescents with antisocial behavior is an important means of developing strategies to prevent the problem of adolescent tendency to commit crime, delinquency, or criminal behavior (Lue, Wu, & Yen, 2010). A major limitation of the current study is the lack of diagnostic interviews and lack of additional information (e.g. parents, teachers) as psychological control, depression and antisocial behavior were measured by self-report scales. Some limitations emerged in this study. Participants were restricted to a sample of senior high school students in Taiwan, which means that the results may not be generalizable to other populations. The cross-sectional design of this study provides a certain perspective of the relationships between parental psychological control, depression and the antisocial behavior of adolescents, limits its ability to establish causal inference. Further research could be focused on longitudinal designs or repeated measures of these variables. Furthermore, the accuracy of the data is limited by the accuracy to which respondents recall and self-reported their feelings and behaviors. It should be noted that other predictors (not included in this analysis) such as social support and daily hassles may also influence antisocial behavior.

Despite these limitations this study may make important contributions to understanding relations between parental psychological control, depression, and antisocial behavior of adolescents in a culture different from the mainstream research held in America. Although a certain discrepancy with the existing literature was uncovered, these findings are important because they help focus more specific attention on the parental psychological control, depression, and antisocial behavior of adolescents in Taiwanese families.

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A Structural Equation Model (SEM) of Self-Compassion, Self Esteem, Perceived Partner

Behaviours and Romantic Relationship Satisfaction

Wing-Yip Chui and Man-Tak Leung

Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University

[Abstract] Self-compassion was found to be positively predictive of romantic relationship in the U.S. Nevertheless, the mechanism of how self-compassion affects and the perceived romantic relationship in Chinese culture is yet to be established. Structural equation modelling (SEM) allows the authors to establish relationships among various variables and constructs directly. The current study (N = 345 Chinese adults), the researchers examined the relationship among self-compassion, self-uncompassion, self-esteem, partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC), partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) and romantic relationship satisfaction. Self-compassion would have significant and positive contributions to self-esteem, PPBSC and romantic relationship satisfaction. Self-uncompassion would have significant and negative contributions to self-esteem, and romantic relationship satisfaction whereas it would have a significant and positive contribution to PNBSC. Self-esteem would have significant and positive contributions PPBSC and romantic relationship satisfaction while it would have a significant and negative contribution to PNBSC. PPBSC would have a significant and positive contribution to relationship satisfaction yet PNBSC would have a significant and negative contribution to relationship satisfaction. The model provides a room for reforming the conventional couple therapy which usually and concurrently works with both parties. Based on the current study, Romantic relationship satisfaction could be enhanced by cultivating one’s self-compassion, self-esteem and perception of partner behaviours.

[Key words] Self-compassion, Relationship Satisfaction, Self-esteem, Perceived Partner Behaviours, Structural Equation Modelling.

1. Conceptual Overview

1.1. Cultural Differences in Relationship Satisfaction

Researches illustrated cultural differences between Chinese and Westerners' love attitudes and behaviours (Luo, 2008). Chinese people fulfill their romantic relationship needs differently from what their Western counterpart do (Wan, Luk, Lai, 2000). When compared to Western cultures, Chinese people tend to focus on less passionate elements in romantic relationship (Kline, Horton, & Zhang, 2008). Chinese are also more likely to take commitment more serious


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and to involve that in a romantic relationship (Gao, 2001). When compared to the American counterpart, Hong Kong Chinese experienced a stronger linkage between “partner support and romantic attachment avoidance” (Ho et al., 2010). Furthermore, Hong Kong Chinese and Anglo-Australian demonstrated different romantic coping strategies (Leung, Moore, Karnilowicz, Lung, 2011). Emotional suppression is conceptualized to be a maladaptive coping strategies in Western culture (Cheng, Cheung, Bond, & Leung, 2005). Nonetheless, Chen and colleagues found that emotional suppression could not predict the psychological well-being of the Chinese individuals. In general, the aforementioned researches implies that cultural differences are present in the elements of romantic relationships across Chinese and Western cultures.

1.2 Self-Esteem

According to James (1910), one's self-esteem is a derivative of one's perceived competence in one's valued area. As stated by Cooley (1902), an individual's self-esteem involves the individual's reflected self-perceptions of others i.e. one's self-esteem entails the self-worth from the “looking glass self”. An individual's self-esteem was also viewed as others' evaluation of the individual's self-worth (Baumeister, 1993). Nonetheless, recent researchers found that there were two domains under the in construct of self-esteem: (i) “contingent self-esteem” (Neff, 2003; Rosenberg, 1965), and (ii) “true self-esteem” (Neff, 2003; Kernis, 2003).

According to Neff and Rosenberg, contingent self-esteem is one's self-evaluation about competence in one's valued life domains. It is similar to James' and Cooley's definitions of self-esteem. Contingent self-esteem is relatively unstable that depends on one's capacity of successful coping with stressful life events on situation-to-situation basis (Neff, 2003).

On the contrary, as espoused by Neff and Kernis, true self-esteem is relatively stable and independent of one's actions and competence of coping. Deci and Ryan (1995) evinced that true self-esteem would be conceptualized similar to the unconditional positive regards (Rogers, 1961) and self-compassion (Neff, 2007; Neff, & Vonk, 2009). “True self-esteem” is a concept grounded on the self-determination theory (SDT; Deci, & Ryan, 2000). Ryan and Deci espoused three basic human needs for optimal psychological well-being: (i) competence, (ii) autonomy, and (iii) relatedness. So far as SDT, competence refers to an individual's successful interaction with the environment (Guay et al., 2003). Moreover, an individual would experience a sense of optimal functioning given that the individual achieved accomplishments with autonomy. By SDT, autonomy is conceptualized as an individual's endeavour to experience volitional initiation, sustainment, evaluation and modification of the individual's behaviours. Ryan and Deci defined relatedness as one's need to communicate with others. An individual experience a healthy self-esteem by whatever the aforementioned three basic human needs are satisfied (Moller, Friedman, & Deci, 2006). For the sake of specificity, the term “self-esteem” refers to the “contingent self-esteem” here and after.

1.3 Self-Compassion

Neff (2003) defined that self-compassion is a construct of three intercorrelated components demonstrated by humans whenever in psychological distress. Every single component is a construct with both positive and negative portions. The subcontructs are: (i) self-kindness, (ii)


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common humanity, and (iii) mindfulness. The composite of the positive portions of the construct is termed as “self-compassion” while the composite of negative portions of the construct is named as “self-uncompassion” here and after.

1.4 Self-kindness

This is concenptualized as the extent to which one could experience forgiveness, empathy and warmth in all aspects of one's life (Gilbert, & Irons, 2005, Neff, 2003). Selfkindness is deemed as unconditional in nature regardless of stressful events and failures. The opposition to self-kindness is self-judgement (Neff, 2003) which comprises self-criticism, self-hatred and hostility towards self. A self-judgemental individual tends to disapprove their thought feelings, thoughts, behaviours and even self-worth (Brown, 1998). Whelton and Greenberg (2005) viewed that self-judgement is ruthless that may trigger secondary psychological distress. The secondary negative affect is possibly more distressful than the actual triggers (Germer, 2009).

1.5 Common humanity

This concept stemmed from Buddhism (Brown, 1998). According to Brown, common humanity refers to the shared desires for intimate and subtle connections among humans. Neff stated that common humanity integrates self-acceptance of being a human with limits and self-forgiveness as being imperfect. In contrast to common humanity, that is isolation. A self-isolated individual tends to confine failures and inadequacy to himself/herself exclusively. The self-isolated individual has a conviction that only the individual himself/herself tussles with failures and inadequacy alone.

1.6. Mindfulness

Mindfulness is one’s moment-by-moment awareness from a non-judgemental, friendly and receptive stance (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Mindfulness facilitates one's awareness to experience the here-and-now moment (Neff, & Vonk, 2009) so as to reduce maladaptive rumination. Mindful awareness could reduce an individual's avoidance to experiencing negative feelings (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Neff stated two contrasting alternatives to mindfulness: overidentification and avoidance.

An individual displays overidentification by recurrently ruminating the individual's failures and inadequacy. Hence, the individual is inhibited from experiencing the here-andnow moment in depth (Gilbert, & Procter, 2006) which would result in a cognitive distortion of catastrophization (Neff, Hsieh, Dejitterat, 2005). An avoidant individual tends to avoid distressful thoughts, feelings and experiences (Neff, 2003). Similar to “experiential avoidance” of acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT) (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999), the immediate relief brought about by avoidance would be rendered to a more intense negative feeling in the long run (Germer, 2009).

1.7. Partner Behaviour as Social Context (PBSC)

Ducat and Zimmer-Gembeck (2012) developed a construct measuring partners' behaviours as a social context. The construct is grounded on the self-determination theory (STD). Deci and


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Ryan defined “social context” as an individual's ongoing interactions with others. “Proximal social contexts” refer to immediate significant others while “distal social contexts” refer to cultural and societal influences. PBSC comprises three behavioural constructs with positive and negative dimensions respectively (Ducat and Zimmer-Gembeck, 2012). In the current study, the positive dimensions are termed as “partner positive behavior as social context (PPBSC)” which comprised: (i) “warmth” (expression of “affection, love, nurturance and enjoyment”), (ii) “autonomy support” (Encouragement for “genuine opinions” and support for “freedom of expression”), and (iii) “structure”(“consistent responding, predictability, and unambiguous behaviour”). On the other hand, the negative dimensions are entitled as “partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) which is constituted of: (i) “rejection” (expression of “aversion, hostility and ignoring”), (ii) “coercion” (“controlling, intrusive and demanding” behaviours), and (iii) “chaos” (“inconsistent and unpredictable” behaviours).

2. Hypotheses

The theoretical model comprises three main components. First, as found by Neff, selfcompassion was hypothesized to have a significant and positive contribution to romantic relationship satisfaction while self-uncompassion would exert a significant and negative influence on romantic relationship satisfaction. Neff and Vonk (2009) found that selfcompassion could be positively associated with self-esteem. In addition, according to Sciangula's and Morry's (2009) study, individuals with relatively high self-esteem would be more likely to perceive their partners' positive behaviours, so as other their relationships. Second, self-esteem would be hypothesized to have a significant and positive contribution to romantic relationship satisfaction whereas self-esteem would have a significant and negative contribution to romantic relationship satisfaction. Third, the author extend the conceptualization beyond Neff’s (2013) finding that direct effect of self-compassion on the perceived partner behaviours and identifies the mediating role of partner positive behavior as social context (PPBSC) as well as partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) between self-compassion and couple relationship. In other words, PPBSC was hypothesized to exert a significant and positive influence on romantic relationship satisfaction while PNBSC was hypothesized to have a significant and negative influence on romantic relationship.

3. Methods

Participants (N = 345) were recruited under the criteria of being (i) Chinese, (ii) heterosexual, (iii) 18-64 years old, and (iv) those who have been in a couple relationship for at least three months at that point (Sciangula, & Morry, 2009) since three months would be a sufficient period of mutual understanding between partners.

The sample (N = 345) was composed of 56.5% females and 43.5% males, with a mean age of 30.63 years (SD = 8.52, range = 18-64). All of them identified with themselves as Chinese and heterosexuals. The mean duration of the couple relationship was 5.79 years (SD = 6.40, range = .25 to 48). 61.2% of the samples reported that they were in dating relationships, 31.9% reported that they were married, and 7% reported that they cohabited with their romantic partners at the point of research.


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3.1. Instrumentations

i. Relationship satisfaction indicator

Relationship satisfaction was measured by Hendrick’s (1988) 7-item relationship

assessment scale (RAS, α= .86 in the current study) using 5-point Likert-type scale.

ii. Self-esteem indicator

Self-esteem was measured by Rosenberg (1965) 10-item self-esteem scale (RSE, α= .89 in the current research) using 4-point Likert-type scale.

iii. Self-kindness, mindfulness, common humanity, self-judgement, over-identification and isolation indicators

They were all measured by Neff’s 26-item Self-Compassion Scale (SCS, α= .90 in the current study, with item 20 & 22 deleted) using 5-point Likert-type scale. The internal consistencies of all the aforementioned indicators and factors were displayed in Table 1.

iv. Autonomy support, warmth, structure, chaos, rejection and coercion indicators

They were all measured by by the Partner Behaviour as Social Context Scale (PBSCS, α= .93 in the current study) which was developed by Ducat and Zimmer-Gembeck (2012). The PBSC is a 30-item inventory using a 6-point Likert-type scale. The internal consistencies of all the aforementioned indicators and factors were displayed in Table 1.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Rationale for Analyses

The analyses were composed of three phases. First, the sub-scales of indicators were summed. In the second step, the relationships among the indicators and the factors were evaluated by confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) by means of maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. There were two first-order measurement models: (i) self-esteem and (ii) relationship satisfaction. In addition, there was two second-order measurement models: (i) self-compassion and self-uncompassion, and (ii) partner positive and negative behaviour as social context (PPBSC and PNBSC). According to Marsh, Byrne, and Yeung (1999), the second step would be conducive to investigating and ameliorating the potential measurement problems. The final step was validation of the integrated structural model.

In SEM, there is an assumption of normality regarding the data since violation of normality would lead to a biased results Nevertheless, the problem of skewness and kurtosis would not become a major concern provided that the sample size were larger than 200 (Tabachnick, & Fidel, 2001). Prior to the CFAs, multivariate and univariate data screening had been conducted


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involving the investigating outliers, skewness and kurtosis. All of the data were retained because the examinations of skewness and kurtosis demonstrated no outliers.

Table 1. The internal consistencies of scales measuring the indicators and factors.

The CFAs and structural equation modelling were conducted with LISREL 8.51 by means of maximum likelihood estimation (Byrne, 1998). Item-parcels were adopted in this study (West, Finch, & Curran, 1995) because of its important advantages to reduce the noises of items. The goodness of fit of the models were assessed by the conventional chi-square (χ2) test, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI, Byrne, 1998), the comparative fit index (CFI; Bentler, 1990), and the root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA; Browne, & Cudeck, 1993).

Step 1: Preliminary Analyses Correlations


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Table 2 demonstrates the zero-order Pearson correlations amongst all the investigated variables. The correlations illustrates that self-kindness, mindfulness, common humanities, self-esteem, perceived partners' autonomy support warmth as well as structure could be significantly and positively associated with couple relationship satisfaction. On the other hand, self-judgement, over-identification, isolation and perceived partners' chaos, rejection together with coercion could be negatively related to the perceived couple relationship. The size of the aforementioned correlations demonstrates a pattern consistent with the hypotheses.

Step 2: Measurement Models

There were two first-order single factors models: (i) relationship satisfaction, and (ii) self-esteem and two second-order models with six factors respectively: (i) self-compassion and self-uncompassion, (ii) PPBSC and PNBSC. As for both the Self-compassion Scale and the Partner Behaviour as Social Context, each subscale (observed variables) comprises 4 to 5 items. Parcelling was adopted so as to examine fewer parameters, to improve model fit, and reduce noises in investigating the structural models (Bandalos, 2002; Little, Cunnigham, Shahar, Widaman, 2002). In addition, then internal consistencies and high eigenvalues reflect the unidimensionality of SCS and PBSC. Unidimensionality is a prerequisite for item parcelling (Bandalos, 2002). The eigenvalues of the subcales of SCS and PBSC are listed in the table 3.

All the measurement models were evaluated by using maximum likelihood estimation. Table 4 indicates major goodness-of-fit indices, such as Chi-square(χ 2) degree of freedom (df), goodness-of-fit index (GFI), the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA).


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Table 3. The eigenvalues of the subscales of SCS and PBSCS

Table 4. The goodness-of-fit indexes of all the measurement models.

Step 3: Structural Model

The model for self-compassion, self-uncompassion, self-esteem, PPBSC, PNBSC and couple relationship satisfaction demonstrates a predictive process: (i) from self-compassion to self-esteem; (ii) from self-compassion to PPBSC;(iii) from self-uncompassion to self-esteem; (iv) from self-uncompassion to PNBSC; (v) from self-esteem to PPBSC; (vi) from selfesteem to PNBSC; (vii) from self-esteem to relationship satisfaction; (viii) from PPBSC to relationship satisfaction, and (ix) from PNBSC to relationship satisfaction. In total, we investigated 9 direct structural paths in the current structural model. Four sets of indirect effects were under concern: (i) self-compassion·self-esteem·PPBSC· relationship satisfaction, (ii) self-uncompassion, self-esteem·PNBSC· relationship satisfaction, (iii) self-compassion·PPBSC, relationship satisfaction, (iv) self-uncompassion·self-esteem·PNBSC·relationship satisfaction.

The model demonstrated sufficient fit: X2 (66, N = 345) = 160.81, p < .01, GFI = .94, CFI = .96, RMSEA = .065. To sum up, the indices suggested that the hypothesized model could


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adequately describe the antecedent and outcome relationships among, self-compassion, self-uncompassion, self-esteem, partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC), partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) and couple relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, the model also illustrate the predictive impacts of self-compassion, selfuncompassion, self-esteem PPBSC and PNBSC on relationship satisfaction. Figure 1 demonstrates the relationships among self-compassion, self-uncompassion, self-esteem, PPBSC, PNBSC and relationship satisfaction.

The standardized parameters estimates of all indicators loaded sufficiently (λ> .04) on their corresponding factors. Consistent with our hypotheses, self-compassion would have a significant and positive contribution to self-esteem (γ= .35, p < .001) while selfuncompassion would have a

significant and negative contribution to self-esteem (γ= -.46, p < .001). Self-compassion would have a significant and positive contribution to partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC; γ= .19, p < .01) whereas self-uncompassion would have a significant and positive

influence on partner negative behaviours as social context (PNBSC; γ= .17, p < .05). Self-

esteem would have a significant and positive impact on PPBSC (β= .15, p < .05) but have a

significant and negative influence on PNBSC (β= -.24, p < .01). Self-esteem would have non-significant direct contribution to relationship satisfaction. PPBSC would have a significant and positive contribution to relationship satisfaction (β= .71, p < .001) whereas PNBSC would have a

significant and negative contribution to relationship satisfaction (β= -.15, p < .05).

The intercovariance coefficient ( φ = .-61, p <. 001) of self-compassion and selfuncompassion revealed that self-compassion and self-uncompassion were on the opposite directions on the same dimension in the identical construct i.e. self-compassion and selfuncompassion negatively covaried with each other. The intercovariace coefficient (ψ= -.59, p< .001) of partner positive behabviour as social context (PPBSC) and partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) indicated that the aforementioned factors covaried negatively with each other.

4.2. Indirect effects: Suggestion of mediators

The standardized indirect effects of the exogenous variables on the endogenous variables are illustrated in table 5.

According to the results illustrated in table 5, self-compassion had a significant and positive indirect contribution to relationship satisfaction (.18, p < .001) whereas selfuncompassion had a significant and negative indirect contribution to relationship satisfaction (-.08, p < .01). On one hand, via self-esteem, self-compassion had a significant and positive contribution to partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC) (.05, p < .05). On the other hand, via self-esteem, self-uncompassion had a significant and positive contribution to partner negative behaviour as


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social context (PNBSC) (.11, p < .05). With the aforementioned significant direct and indirect effect of the exogenous variables on the endogenous variables, it was suggested that self-esteem would serve as a mediator between self-compassion, self-uncompassion, PPBSC and PNBSC.

Table 5. Standardized Indirect Effects of the Exogenous Variable on the Endogenous Variables.

Figure 1. Structural equationmodel


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Self-esteem would have a significant and positive indirect contribution to relationship satisfaction (.14, p < .05). In addition, it was suggested that partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC) and partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC) would play as mediators between self-compassion, self-uncompassion, self-esteem as well as romantic relationship satisfaction.

4.3. Error variance

The structural model indicated a significant error covariance between the indicator “warmth” and “coercion” (θε= .07, p< .05) which reflected the positive covariance of the indicator “warmth” and “coercion”. The significant and positive error covariance might contribute to the double loading of the indicator “coercion” on the factor “partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC)” (λ= .49, p < .001) and the factor “partner negative behaviour as social context” (PNBSC) (λ = .93, p < .001) either.

4.4. General Discussion

The purpose of the study was to examine a hypothesized model in which coupled individuals' self-compassion and self-uncompassion could influence self-esteem, perceived partner behaviour as social context and in turn the couple relationship satisfaction. The current validated structural model was consistent with the Neff’s (2013) finding that selfcompassionate individuals would tend to perceive their partners as well as the relationship more positive. Nevertheless, this study discovered that global self-esteem could serve as a mediator between self-compassion and perceived partner behaviour. Furthermore, self-esteem could function as a mediator among self-compassion, self-uncompassion, partner positive behaviour as social context (PPBSC) and partner negative behaviour as social context (PNBSC). The current study result was inconsistent with Neff’s finding that self-esteem could not predict couple relationship satisfaction. The result of this study on self-esteem reflected a phenomenon stipulated by “the expression-based authenticity doubts model” (Lemay, & Clark, 2008). The model indicated that the individuals with lower self-esteem or “reflected appraisals of vulnerability” would be prone to “authenticity doubts” i.e. they would tend to “believe that their partners would express more positive regards than he or she truly feels and conceals”. In a nutshell, the individuals with lower self-esteems would be more sceptical about their partners’ positive regards but more likely to personalize their partners’ negative regards. The expression-based authenticity doubts model echoes the structural model of the current study i.e. self-esteem could have a significant and positive contribution to PPBSC while self-esteem could have a significant and negative contribution to PNBSC. Although the expression-based authenticity doubt model demonstrated a circular path between reflected appraisal of vulnerability, authenticity doubts and relationship satisfaction, the structural model of the current study revealed two precursors for self-esteem and perceived self-vulnerability, namely self-compassion and self-uncompassion. Suggested by the model of the current study, more self-compassionate individuals would tend to have higher self-esteems while less self-compassionate individuals would be likely to have lower self-esteems. Self-compassionate and self-uncompassionate individuals would undergo different mechanisms of perceiving their partners' behaviours which would influence how they perceive their couple relationships as mentioned above.


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Owing to the higher level of perceived common humanity, self-compassionate individuals would be more receptive to their partners’ caring and warm expressions. They would tend to accept their own and their partners’ limitations. In addition, self-compassionate people would be inclined to adopt a here-and-now attitude because of their higher mindfulness levels, a moment-to-moment awareness. Hence, self-compassionate individuals would tend to cherish the every positive moment with their partners but not to ruminate their partners’ transgressions. On the contrary, self-uncompassionate individuals would tend to be self-critical, to internalize the relationship failures and to dwell on the negative emotions and thoughts associated with the partners as well as the relationships. According to Raes (2010), the individuals with depleted self-compassion would be prone to ruminating their negative emotions so that they may be over-reactive in resolving conflicts with their partners (Neff, 2013). On the other hand, self-compassionate individuals would appear to compromise upon relationship conflicts because of their intentions for the welfares of both parties (Yarnell, & Neff, 2013).

It came to the authors’ attentions that the indicator “coercion” loaded on both the factor “partner positive behaviour as social context” (PPBSC) and “partner negative behaviour as social context” (PNBSC). Based on the structural model, the error covariance of “warmth”, which was loaded on “PPBSC”, might have contributed to the “coercion’s” loading on the “PNBSC”.

Partners unavoidably pin expectations upon each other. As the intimate relationship develops, the individuals would construct expectation towards their partners’ behaviours and the nature of the intimate relationships (Fincham, 2003). Weiner’s (1992, 2002, 2005) attribution theory illustrates that individuals expectation upon their partners would be partially determined by their cognitive attributions. The items of the indicator “coercion” reflected not only the participants’ partners’ irrational demands, but also their rational expectations towards the participants. The participants might have attributed the rational expectations to the expression of love and care. Hence, the error covariance between the indicator “coercion” and “warmth was found to be significantly positive. Nevertheless, because of the higher factor loading of the indicator “coercion” on the factor “PPBSC” (λ= .93, p < .001) than that on “PNBSC” (λ= .49, p < .001), the authors suggested that the behaviours described by the items of the subscale “coercion” were perceived as more negative than positive in terms of the partner behaviour as social context.

5. Limitations

Several limitations should be taken into account when evaluating the current study. First, the data collected in the current study were on the basis of self-report which was void of observations of behaviours. The sampling size (N = 345) suggested that the potential biased errors were present and generalization to other samples might be limited. The current study was fundamentally a cross-sectional survey in Chinese culture. The research design was not a longitudinal study investigating the causal effects among the variables. Hence, the causal relationships among the currently studied variables might not be valid. Further interpretations must be made carefully and modestly in the current study.

6. Implications


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Therapists could integrate the current model into their clinical work to raise relationship satisfaction by fostering one's self-compassion by means of the interventions on self-compassion. With increased self-compassion, not only relationship quality, but also general psychological well-being could be fostered (Neff, 2011). Compassion focused therapy (Gilbert, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010; as cited in Ashworth, Gracey, & Gilbert, 2011), which is an comprehensive therapy integrating social and neurophysiological approaches and the attachment theory, appears promising in promoting psychological well-being. CFT is conducive to affect regulation via three distinctive systems (Depue, & Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005; Ashworth, Gracey, & Gilbert, 2011). Given that the current structural model had been validated, some personal psychotherapy comprising self-compassion element, namely: a) acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999), b) dialectic behavioural therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993), and c) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT, Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002), could be extended to couple therapy by working on the single party only. That would reform the format of the conventional couple therapy which could be reduced from the conventionally dyadic level to the individual level.

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Large-Scale Psychological Differences within China Explained by Rice Versus Wheat Agriculture

T. Talhelm,1 X. Zhang,2,3 S. Oishi,1 C. Shimin,4 D. Duan,2 X. Lan,5 and S. Kitayama5

1 Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.

2 Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

3 State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

4 Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.

5 Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

[Abstract] Cross-cultural psychologists have mostly contrasted East Asia with the West. However, this study shows that there are major psychological differences within China. We propose that a history of farming rice makes cultures more interdependent, whereas farming wheat makes cultures more independent, and these agricultural legacies continue to affect people in the modern world. We tested 1162 Han Chinese participants in six sites and found that rice-growing southern China is more interdependent and holistic-thinking than the wheat-growing north. To control for confounds like climate, we tested people from neighboring counties along the rice-wheat border and found differences that were just as large. We also find that modernization and pathogen prevalence theories do not fit the data.

Over the past 20 years, psychologists have cataloged a long list of differences between East and West (1–3). Western culture is more individualistic and analytic-thinking, whereas East Asian culture is more interdependent and holistic-thinking. Analytic thought uses abstract categories and formal reasoning, such as logical laws of noncontradiction—if A is true, then “not A” is false. Holistic thought is more intuitive and sometimes even embraces contradiction— both A and “not A” can be true.

Even though psychology has cataloged a long list of East-West differences, it still lacks an accepted explanation of what causes these differences. Building on subsistence style theory (1, 4), we offer the rice theory of culture and compare it with the modernization hypothesis (5) and the more recent pathogen prevalence theory (6).

The modernization hypothesis argues that, as societies become wealthier, more educated, and capitalistic, they become more individualistic and analytical. World Values Surveys (7) and studies on indigenous Mayans’ transition to a market economy (5) have given some support to


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the modernization hypothesis. But this theory has difficulty explaining why Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong are persistently collectivistic despite per-capita gross domestic products (GDPs) higher than that of the European Union.

The pathogen prevalence theory argues that a high prevalence of communicable diseases in some countries made it more dangerous to deal with strangers, making those cultures more insular and collectivistic (6). Studies have found that historical pathogen prevalence correlates with collectivism and lower openness to experience (6). However, pathogens are strongly correlated with heat (8). Because rice grows in hot areas, pathogens may be confounded with rice—a possibility that prior research did not control for.

1. The Rice Theory

The rice theory is an extension of subsistence style theory, which argues that some forms of subsistence (such as farming) require more functional interdependence than other forms (such as herding). At the same time, ecology narrows the types of subsistence that are possible. For example, paddy rice requires a significant amount of water. Over time, societies that have to cooperate intensely become more interdependent, whereas societies that do not have to depend on each other as much become more individualistic.

In the past, most subsistence research has compared herders and farmers, arguing that the independence and mobility of herding make herding cultures individualistic and that the stability and high labor demands of farming make farming cultures collectivistic (1). We argue that subsistence theory is incomplete because it lumps all farming together. Two of the most common subsistence crops—rice and wheat—are very different, and we argue that they lead to different cultures.

The two biggest differences between farming rice and wheat are irrigation and labor. Because rice paddies need standing water, people in rice regions build elaborate irrigation systems that require farmers to cooperate. In irrigation networks, one family’s water use can affect their neighbors, so rice farmers have to coordinate their water use. Irrigation networks also require many hours each year to build, dredge, and drain—a burden that often falls on villages, not isolated individuals.

Paddy rice also requires an extraordinary amount of work. Agricultural anthropologists visiting pre-modern China observed the number of hours farmers worked and found that growing paddy rice required at least twice the number of hours as wheat (9). The difference in man-hours was not a difference only noticeable to scientists. Medieval Chinese people grew both wheat and rice, and they were aware of the huge labor difference between the two. A Chinese farming guide in the 1600s advised people, “If one is short of labor power, it is best to grow wheat” [quoted in (10)]. A Chinese anthropologist in the 1930s concluded that a husband and wife would not be able to farm a large enough plot of rice to support the family if they relied on only their own labor (11). Strict self-reliance might have meant starvation.

To deal with the massive labor requirements, farmers in rice villages from India to Malaysia and Japan form cooperative labor exchanges (12). Farmers also coordinate their planting dates


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so that different families harvest at different times, allowing them to help in each others’ fields (12). These labor exchanges are most common during transplanting and harvesting, which need to be done in a short window of time, creating an urgent need for labor. In economic terms, paddy rice makes cooperation more valuable. This encourages rice farmers to cooperate intensely, form tight relationships based on reciprocity, and avoid behaviors that create conflict.

Fig. 1. Percent of cultivated land devoted to rice paddies in 1996. Three major herding provinces are not shaded: Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. Along the rice-wheat border (highlighted), people from the rice counties thought more holistically than their neighbors in wheat counties.

In comparison, wheat is easier to grow. Wheat does not need to be irrigated, so wheat farmers can rely on rainfall, which they do not coordinate with their neighbors. Planting and harvesting wheat certainly takes work, but only half as much as rice (9). The lighter burden means farmers can look after their own plots without relying as much on their neighbors.


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Table 1. Holistic thought hierarchical linear models for rice (28 provinces, 1019 participants), GDP per capita (28 provinces, 1019 participants), and pathogens (21 provinces, 725 participants). See supplementary materials for detailed information on site effects and regressions with GDP, rice, and pathogens in a single model. Gender is coded as 0 = male and 1 = female.

Table 2. Implicit individualism and loyalty/nepotism hierarchical linear models for rice, GDP per capita, and pathogens. Implicit individualism N equals 28 provinces, 515 participants for rice and GDP. N equals 21 provinces and 452 participants for pathogens. Loyalty/nepotism N equals 27 provinces, 166 participants for rice and GDP. N equals 21 provinces and 146 participants for pathogens.

Table 3. Divorce and invention regression models for rice, GDP per capita, and pathogens. Divorces are calculated as divorces per marriage, with 27 provinces for rice and per-capita GDP models and 21 provinces for pathogens. Inventions are the log number of successful patents per capita. Inventions N equals 27 provinces for rice and GDP; N equals 21 for pathogens.

One point of clarification about the rice theory is that it applies to rice regions, not just the people farming rice. It is a safe bet that none of our thousand participants have actually farmed rice or wheat for a living. Instead, the theory is that cultures that farm rice and wheat over thousands of years pass on rice or wheat cultures, even after most people put down their plows. Simply put, you do not need to farm rice yourself to inherit rice culture.


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We propose that the rice theory can partly explain East-West differences. Prior subsistence theory cannot fully explain East-West differences because it focuses on herding versus farming (1), which is not the main East-West difference. Several Western regions herd, such as parts of Scotland and Switzerland, but the bulk of Europe historically farmed wheat (and similarly grown crops, such as barley). Instead, rice-wheat is the main East-West difference, and psychologists have not studied it.

The easiest way to test whether rice and wheat lead to different cultures is to show that rice areas (East Asia) are interdependent and that wheat areas (the West) are independent. But that logic is obviously flawed. We cannot just compare East and West because they differ on many factors besides rice and wheat—religion, politics, and technology, to name a few. A more convincing test case would be a country that has a shared history, government, language, and religion, but farms rice in some areas and wheat in other areas.

2. China as a Natural Test Case

Han China is a fitting natural test case because it has traditionally grown both rice and wheat but is more ethnically and politically unified than, say, Europe or sub-Saharan Africa. China is over 90% Han Chinese, and the same dynasties have ruled over the wheat and rice cores for most of the past few thousands of years, which controls for some of the major variables that confound East-West comparisons.

Within China, the Yangtze River splits the wheat-growing north from the rice-growing south (Fig. 1). For generations, northern China has grown wheat, and southern China has grown rice. Of course, two regions can never be 100% equivalent. There are differences such as climate and spoken dialect between north and south. To rule out these smaller differences, we report additional analyses that compare people from neighboring counties along the rice-wheat border.

3. Three Predictions

The three theories make different predictions about which parts of China should be the most interdependent. First, the modernization hypothesis predicts that the least-developed provinces should be the most interdependent. Development has been uneven in China partly because in the late 1970s Deng Xiaoping made several areas along the southeast coast “special economic zones” open to foreign trade. This policy has given southeastern provinces like Guangdong a GDP per capita about 3.5 times that of interior provinces like Guizhou (13). That is roughly the ratio difference between the United States and Kazakhstan. Thus, modernization would predict the highest collectivism in China’s least-developed interior provinces.

Second, pathogen prevalence theory predicts a gradual rise in interdependence from north to south because pathogens rise gradually along with temperatures (8). Among Chinese provinces, overall pathogen rates and latitude are correlated: r (20) = –0.49, P = 0.02 (14). Furthermore, pathogen theory would predict the highest interdependence in the southwest, which has the highest rates of infectious disease death.

Third, the rice theory predicts the highest interdependence in the south and east. Unlike pathogens, rice is not the highest in the southernmost provinces. Instead, rice is concentrated in


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the east around Shanghai, which has flat floodplains ideal for growing rice. The rice theory also predicts a sharp divide along the rice-wheat border, which is different from the gradual rise of pathogens with climate.

To measure the prevalence of rice farming, we used statistical yearbook data on the percentage of cultivated land in each province devoted to rice paddies (13). Because some rice is grown with less labor on dry land (without paddies), we used statistics on rice paddies, rather than rice output. Because we wanted to assess the crop that different regions farmed traditionally, rather than figures affected by recent advances in irrigation and mechanization, we used rice statistics from 1996, the earliest available on the Bureau of Statistics Web site.

To test the modernization hypothesis, we collected GDP per capita for each province from the same year. To measure precontemporary disease prevalence, we used the earliest study we could find with disease rates in different provinces, from 1976 (15). Because the 1976 study did not cover 10 provinces, we also collected recent statistics (13). This increased the sample by four provinces. Both sources gave similar pictures: higher disease in the south and the highest in the southwest.

Fig. 2. Cultural thought style by percentage of cultivated area devoted to rice paddies. Each circle represents a province. Circle size represents divorce and controls for effect of GDP. To illustrate cultural differences along the rice-wheat border, circles represent the rice and wheat border counties.

3. Samples

We tested 1162 Han Chinese students from six sites: Beijing (north), Fujian (southeast), Guangdong (south), Yunnan (southwest), Sichuan (west central), and Liaoning (northeast). We used three measures: a measure of cultural thought, implicit individualism, and loyalty/nepotism


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(described below). We chose these tasks because they are not self-report scales, avoiding the documented problems with use of self-report scales to measure cultural differences (16).

Results from these different sites show that rice-wheat differences held regardless of testing site (14). For all tasks, we analyzed only ethnic Han Chinese and excluded Han participants from the provinces of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. These areas are historically herding areas and have different ethnicities, cultures, languages, and religions that would confound our comparisons of rice and wheat.

We tested the hypotheses with multilevel models because participants (level 1) were nested within provinces (level 2).We report correlations as an effect size at the province level that can be compared across variables. We calculated this by comparing the province-level variance of the models with and without the key predictor (Tables 1 to 3 report regression output).

Our main dependent variable was a common measure of cultural thought, the triad task (17). The triad task shows participants lists of three items, such as train, bus, and tracks. Participants decide which two items should be paired together. Two of the items can be paired because they belong to the same abstract category (train and bus belong to the category vehicles), and two because they share a functional relationship (trains run on tracks). People from Western and individualistic cultures choose more abstract (analytic) pairings, whereas East Asians and people from other collectivistic cultures choose more relational (holistic) pairings (1, 17).We report scores as a percentage of holistic choices, where 100% is completely holistic and 0% is completely analytic.

We first tested the modernization hypothesis by testing whether people from provinces with lower GDP per capita thought more holistically. People from richer provinces actually thought more holistically: g(25) = 0.52, P = 0.03, r = 0.46. (g represents province-level HLM regression coefficients.)

We then tested the pathogen prevalence theory by testing whether provinces with higher rates of disease thought more holistically. Provinces with higher disease rates actually thought less holistically: g(18) = –0.22, P = 0.04, r = –0.44. The large-scale disease study from 1976 included statistics for 31 counties across China (15), which let us test the pathogen theory more precisely. Thus, we tested whether the 198 people in our sample who came from these 31 counties had different thought styles based on the historical disease prevalence in their county. Even with this finer precision, pathogen prevalence predicted thought style marginally in the wrong direction: g(28) = –0.43, P = 0.08, r = –0.33.

The rice theory was the onlymodel that fit the data (Fig. 2). People from provinces with a higher percentage of farmland devoted to rice paddies thought more holistically: g(25) = 0.56, P = 0.007, r = 0.51. [Controlling for GDP per capita made little difference (table S1).]

Northern and southern China also differ in several factors other than rice, such as climate, dialect, and contact with herding cultures. Therefore, we analyzed differences among neighboring counties along in the five central provinces along the rice-wheat border (Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu). Differences between neighboring counties are less likely to be due to climate or other third variables.


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We gathered the rice cultivation statistics for each county in these provinces and split counties into rice and wheat counties. We defined rice counties as more than 50% of farmland devoted to rice paddies. Figure 1 depicts an example of the county split in the province of Anhui. The rice-wheat difference between neighboring counties can be stark. For example, in Anhui, Bozhou county farms only 2% rice, whereas neighboring Huainan county farms 67%. We tested for differences in cultural thought style, which had the largest sample, including 224 participants from the rice-wheat border.

Table 4. Instrumental variable regressions. Instrumental variable regressions help test whether reverse causality is a problem in the data set—whether regions that were already more collectivistic chose to grow rice. In the topmost regression, “rice suitability” is a z score of the environmental suitability of each province for growing wetland rice based on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Agro-ecological Zones database (27). In the five other regressions, “rice suitability” is the predicted rice from the topmost regression with rice suitability. Dash entries indicate not applicable.

People from the rice side of the border thought more holistically than people from the wheat side of the border: B(21) = 0.54, P < 0.001 (table S5). To compare the border effect size with the effect size for rice and wheat in all of China, we compared effect of a categorical rice wheat variable. The effect sizes were similar (rice-wheat border, B = 0.53; all China, B= 0.43). (For group comparisons, wheat provinces are defined throughout as <50% farmland devoted to rice paddies; rice provinces as >50%.)

To test whether the findings generalize beyond thought style, we tested subsamples on two measures previously used for East-West cultural differences. The first was the sociogram task


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(n=515), which has participants draw a diagram of their social network, with circles to represent the self and friends (18). Researchers measure how large participants draw the self versus how large they draw their friends to get an implicit measure of individualism (or self-inflation). A prior study found that Americans draw themselves about 6mm bigger than they draw others, Europeans draw themselves 3.5 mm bigger, and Japanese draw themselves slightly smaller(18).

People from rice provinces were more likely than people from wheat provinces to draw themselves smaller than they drew their friends: g(24) =–0.20, P = 0.03, r = –0.17 (fig. S2). On average, people from wheat provinces self-inflated 1.5 mm (closer to Europeans), and people from rice provinces self-inflated –0.03 mm (similar to Japanese).

Pathogen prevalence did not predict self inflation on the sociogram task: g(17) = 0.003, P = 0.95, r = 0. GDP per capita also failed to predict self-inflation: g(24) = 0.04, P = 0.81, r = 0.

The second measure was the loyalty and nepotism task, which measures whether people draw a sharp distinction between how they treat friends versus strangers (n = 166). One defining feature of collectivistic cultures is that they draw a sharp distinction between friends and strangers (3). A previous study measured this by having people imagine going into a business deal with (i) an honest friend, (ii) a dishonest friend, (iii) an honest stranger, and (iv) a dishonest stranger (19). In the stories, the friend or stranger’s lies cause the participant to lose money in a business deal, and the honesty causes the participant to make more money. In each case, the participants have a chance to use their own money to reward or punish the other person.

The original study found that Singaporeans rewarded their friends much more than they punished them, which could be seen positively as loyalty or negatively as nepotism(19). Americans were much more likely than Singaporeans to punish their friends for bad behavior. We predicted that people from rice areas would be less likely to punish their friends than people from wheat areas.

We computed loyalty/nepotism as the amount they rewarded their friend minus the amount they punished their friend. People from rice provinces were more likely to show loyalty/nepotism: g(25) = 2.45, P= 0.04, r = 0.49. In their treatment of strangers, people from rice and wheat provinces did not differ: g(24) = –0.09, P = 0.90, r = 0.

Pathogen prevalence was not related to loyalty/nepotism: g(19) = –0.13, P = 0.84, r =–0.08. GDP per capita did not predict loyalty/nepotism: g(25) = 1.66, P = 0.36, r = 0.33.

In short, the results consistently showed that participants from rice provinces are more holistic thinking, interdependent, and loyal/nepotistic than participants from the wheat provinces. However, one weakness of these studies is that the participants were all college students. To test whether the cultural differences extend beyond college students, we gathered provincial statistics on variables that have been linked to collectivism and analytic thought: divorce rates and patents for new inventions.

A prior study showed that individualistic countries have higher divorce rates, even controlling for gross national product per capita (20). Rice culture’s emphasis on avoiding conflict and preserving relationships may make people from rice cultures less willing to get divorced. We


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collected divorce statistics from the same statistical yearbook as the farming statistics, 1996. We also collected statistics from the 2000 and the 2010 yearbooks to track the differences over the past 15 years.

In China, modernization did predict divorce: wealthier provinces had more divorce: B(26) =0.10, P= 0.01, b = 0.48. Adding rice to the model explained even more variation in divorce rates, with rice provinces having lower divorce rates: B(25) = –0.11, P = 0.005, b = –0.49. Pathogen prevalence did not predict divorce: B(20) = –0.01, P=0.80, b = –0.07 (controlling for GDP). In 1996, wheat provinces had a 50% higher divorce rate than rice provinces. Although divorce rates have almost doubled in the past 15 years, the raw divorce rate gap between the wheat and rice provinces remained the same in the 2000 and 2010 statistics.

We also analyzed the number of successful patents for new inventions in each province because research has shown that analytic thinkers are better at measures of creativity and thinking of novel uses for ordinary objects (21). Within the United States, immigrants from individualistic cultures hold more patents for inventions (22).

We controlled for GDP per capita because wealthier provinces had more patents: B(26) =2.22, P < 0.001, b = 0.73. Rice provinces had fewer successful patents for new inventions than wheat provinces: B(25) = –1.27, P = 0.003, b =–0.39. Pathogen prevalence did not predict patents: B(19) = –0.34, P = 0.29, b = –0.22. Wheat provinces had 30% more patents for inventions than rice provinces. This difference persisted through the 2000 statistics but not the 2010 statistics.

This study shows that China’s wheat and rice regions have different cultures. China’s rice regions have several markers of East Asian culture: more holistic thought, more interdependent selfconstruals, and lower divorce rates. The wheat growing north looked more culturally similar to the West, with more analytic thought, individualism, and divorce. Furthermore, Table 4 presents an instrumental variable regression showing that climatic suitability for rice significantly predicts all of the cultural variables in this study, which suggests that reverse causality is unlikely.

How large are these differences compared with East-West differences? We compared results on our main task (cultural thought style) in our China sample to a prior U.S. sample. An East-West categorical variable had an effect of B = 0.78. In the China data, a categorical rice-wheat variable had an effect of B = 0.38 (table S2). This suggests that rice versus wheat can explain a portion of the variance in thought style between East and West but not all of it. It should also be noted that psychologists have found holistic thought in parts of the world beyond East Asia, which suggests holistic thought is not just an East-West difference (23).

Modernization predicted divorce and patents, but why did it fail to predict the other differences? In China, modernization seems to have changed customs such as divorce, but perhaps the parts of culture and thought style we measured are more resistant to change. Or perhaps modernization simply takes more generations to change cultural interdependence and thought style. However, most of our participants were born after China’s reform and opening, which started in 1978. Furthermore, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong modernized much


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earlier than China, but they still scoreless individualistic on international studies of culture than their wealth would predict (fig. S2).

The rice theory can explain wealthy East Asia’s strangely persistent interdependence. China has a rice-wheat split, but Japan and South Korea are complete rice cultures. Most of China’s wheat provinces devote less than 20% of farmland to rice paddies. None of Japan’s 9 regions or South Korea’s 16 regions has that little rice (except for two outlying islands). Japan and Korea’s rice legacies could explain why they are still much less individualistic than similarly wealthy countries.

This study focuses on East Asia, but the rice theory also makes predictions about other parts of the world. For example, India has a large rice wheat split. Indonesia and parts of West Africa have also traditionally farmed rice. If the rice theory is correct, we should find similar cultural differences there.

There are still unresolved questions with the rice theory. For example, studies can test whether irrigation is central to the effect of rice by comparing paddy rice with dry land rice cultures, which grow rice without irrigation. Studies can also explore how rice differences persist in the modern world, whether through values, institutions, or other mechanisms.

There is also the question of how long rice culture will persist after the majority of people stop farming rice. There is evidence that U.S. regions settled by Scottish and Irish herders have higher rates of violence, even though most locals stopped herding long ago (24). This is one example of how subsistence style can shape culture long after people have stopped relying on that subsistence style. In the case of China, only time will tell.

Psychologists, economists, and anthropologists have studied the effects of subsistence style and irrigation (1, 4, 25, 26). This study extends that work by using psychological measures to test differences resulting from rice and wheat agriculture. The rice theory provides a theoretical framework that might explain why East Asia is so much less individualistic than it “should be” based on its wealth. Finally, the rice theory can explain the large cultural differences within China, advancing a more nuanced picture of East Asian cultural diversity.

[References]

1. R. E. Nisbett, K. Peng, I. Choi, A. Norenzayan, Psychol. Rev. 108, 291–310 (2001).

2. H. R. Markus, S. Kitayama, Psychol. Rev. 98, 224–253 (1991).

3. H. C. Triandis, Individualism and Collectivism (Westview, Boulder, CO, 1995).

4. J. W. Berry, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 7, 415–418 (1967).

5. P. M. Greenfield, Dev. Psychol. 45, 401–418 (2009).

6. C. L. Fincher, R. Thornhill, D. R. Murray, M. Schaller, Proc. Biol. Sci. 275, 1279–1285 (2008).

7. R. Inglehart, Wash. Q. 23, 215–228 (2000).


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8. V. Guernier, M. E. Hochberg, J.-F. Guégan, PLOS Biol. 2, e141 (2004).

9. J. L. Buck, Land Utilization in China (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1935).

10. M. Elvin, in The Chinese Agricultural Economy, R. Barker, R. Sinha, B. Rose, Eds. Westview, Boulder, CO, 1982), pp. 13–35.

11. F. Xiaotong, Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1945).

12. F. Bray, The Rice Economies: Technology and Development in Asian Societies (Blackwell, New York, 1986).

13. State Statistical Bureau of the People’s Republic of China, China Statistical Yearbook (1996 and 2005).

14. Materials and methods are available on Science Online.

15. C. Junshi, T. C. Campbell, J. Li, R. Peto, Diet, Life-Style, and Mortality in China: A Study of the Characteristics of 65 Chinese Counties (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1990).

16. K. Peng, R. E. Nisbett, N. Y. C. Wong, Psychol. Methods 2, 329–344 (1997).

17. L. J. Ji, Z. Zhang, R. E. Nisbett, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 87, 57–65 (2004).

18. S. Kitayama, H. Park, A. T. Sevincer, M. Karasawa, A. K. Uskul, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 97, 236–255 (2009).

19. C. S. Wang, A. K.-Y. Leung, Y. H. M. See, X. Y. Gao, J. Exp. Psychol. 47, 1295–1299 (2011).

20. D. Lester, Psychol. Rep. 76, 258 (1995).

21. H. A. Witkin, C. A. Moore, D. R. Goodenough, P. W. Cox, Rev. Educ. Res. 47, 1–64 (1977).

22. S. A. Shane, J. Bus. Venturing 7, 29–46 (1992).

23. J. Henrich, S. J. Heine, A. Norenzayan, Behav. Brain Sci. 33, 61–83, discussion 83–135 (2010).

24. D. Cohen, R. E. Nisbett, Culture of Honor (Westview, Boulder, CO, 1997).

25. M. Harris, Cannibals and Kings (Random House, New York, 1977).

26. M. Aoki, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001).

27. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)/International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ v3.0) (2010).


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The Relations between Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout of the 1980s’ Generation

Yuanyuan Luo1,2 and Heyi Song1

1. School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University

2. Xi’an Mental Health Center, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

[Abstract] In this paper, the author aims to explore the relations between psychological capital, coping strategy and job burnout of the 80s’ Generation, with a view to the development of employees' psychological capital and intervention to broaden the idea. The methods employed in the study are psychological capital scale, simplified coping style scale and job burnout scale. The followings are the results revealed in the study. Firstly, the score of administrators’ resilience is remarkably higher than that of general staff (P<0.05), while they are less cynical than general staff (P<0.01). Secondly, the relations between psychological capital and dimensions of job burnout demonstrate a negative correlation (except self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion) (P<0.01 or P<0.001); negative coping strategy and emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment a positive correlation (P<0.001) and positive coping strategy and reduced personal accomplishment a negative correlation (P<0.001). Thirdly, negative coping strategy can positively predict emotional exhaustion (P<0.01); optimism (P<0.01) can negatively predict cynicism while negative coping strategy (P<0.001) can positively predict cynicism; both self-efficacy (P<0.01) and hope (P<0.05) can negatively predict reduced personal accomplishment. In conclusion, enhancement of psychological capital and adjustment of negative coping strategy can prevent and antidote job burnout of employees efficiently. Therefore, management teams should attach great significance to psychological state of the generation after 80s.

[Key words] Psychological capital; Coping strategy; Job burnout; The 1980s’ Generation.

1. Introduction

Currently, people are tense in both work and life as economy develops rapidly, which leads to rising stresses emerging like job burnout and psycho-burnout. Meanwhile, the psychological problems of employees revealed by overwork deaths and suicides in recent years have stepped into the spotlight. Therefore, the new concept “psychological capital” has drawn attention from administrators and academic community.

The origin of psychological capital is closely related to human capital theory, positive psychology and positive organizational behavior theory. An early use for psychological capital


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appeared in the study, the influence psychological capital and human capital for individual real wages, conducted by economist Goldsmith. In 2002, from the new viewpoint of psychology Seligman and other psychologists explored men’s positive qualities, such as development potentials and virtues, which has set off an ideological trend of study in positive psychology and positive organizational behaviour. Luthans, who proposes the theory of psychological capital, points out that positive psychological capital is a positive psychological state expressing in the process of individual growth and development. It is expressed in specific. When confronting challenging work, people are confident (Self-efficacy) of succeeding and they will put their efforts to succeed; they are positive (Optimism) about success at present and in the future, and persist with their goals and they will change the ways of achieving their goals when necessary in order to succeed (Hope). When in adversities and troubled, they will persevere in their goals and get over them to succeed (Resilience). Human capital emphasizes value-driving “what do you know?” and social capital stresses relation-driving “who do you know?” Yet, psychological capital underlines self-driving “who are you?” and “what do you want to be?” which regards positive psychological force and state of individuals as a top priority. How to develop the employee's psychological capital? In the context of the profound changes of the condition in and out of corporations, systematical researches of psychological capital are the important means of knowing the characteristics and construct of human resource of organization and establishing relevant management countermeasure.

In terms of coping strategy, Joff and other psychologists consider that it is the intentional, purposeful and flexible adjustment made by individuals to the change of real environment. Martin states that it mainly functions to adjust stressful events, which includes changing the assessment for stressful events and adjusting physical and emotional reaction related to events. At present, managerial psychology invests efforts in studying individual coping strategy, learning about the relations among coping strategy and mind and body health and improving the ability of adaptation and problem solving.

Job Burnout, first adopted by American clinical psychologist Freudenberger in 1974, was used to describe negative mental symptom experienced by individuals in work. Afterwards, scholars defined it differently. Maslach (1982) insisted that it was the emotional state being for a long time in work and psychological syndrome resulting from reaction for interpersonal stressor in which Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism and Reduced Personal Accomplishment are included. Emotional exhaustion, which represents individual stressful dimension of job burnout, means that individuals are in exhaustion of their emotion and affection and lacking of enthusiasm and vitality for their work. Investigations prove the most representative indictor is the dimension of emotional exhaustion. Cynicism standing for the interpersonal situation implies that individuals keep themselves off from jobs and colleagues with an indifferent, slighting and negative attitude. In the name of the dimension of self-assessment, reduced personal accomplishment means that individuals are likely to evaluate the significance and value of their jobs negatively, think poorly of their performance and believe they make no contribution to organization and society.

Private enterprises play a leading part in economic and social development in China along with progress of socialist market economy and enhancement of market mechanism. However, roblems spring up in the process. People question the quality of private entrepreneurs and their


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management level. There is no scientific strategic planning in majority of private enterprises so that they ignore the psychological state of employees, thus, employees suffer from job burnout. For private enterprises, when employees of the generation after 80s become the principal force, it is extremely necessary to fully understand the psychological capital of employees, study the relation between psychological capital and coping strategy, realize the influence caused by psychological capital to job burnout, and discuss whether it is feasible to lessen job burnout by managing psychological capital and coping strategy for it will enhance and improve the development of enterprises substantially.

2. Study Methods

2.1. Subjects

The study chooses to use random sample in which employees in private enterprises aging from 24 to 34 are taken as study objects. The original meaning of the generation after 80s literally referred in particular to the literary writers born from 1980 to 1989. However, at present, it stands for people who were born after 1980 in a broad sense. In a narrow sense, it only refers to those who were born between 1980 and 1989. The generation after 80s mentioned in this paper is consistent with the later one, that is to say, they are those who ages from 24 to 34. 151 questionnaires are involved in total and among them 143 (94.07%) questionnaires are validated. The number of male is 76 (53.15%) and female 67 (46.85%). There are 52 (36.36%) unmarried people; the married 88 (61.54%) and the divorced 3 (2.1%). Among all these 143 examinees, 38 (26.57%) of them have vocational degrees or lower degrees; 54 (26.57%) of them attend junior colleges; 51(35.67%) of them get bachelor degrees or higher degrees. There are 93 (65.03%) general employers and 50 (34.97%) junior and senior managers. 71(49.65%) examinees are city dwellers; 20 (13.99%) of them are from towns; 52 (36.36%) are rural residents.

2.2. Study Means

2.2.1. Psychological Capital Scale

The study takes advantage of Psychological Capital Questionnaire developed by Luthans together with other psychologists and translated by Li Chaoping. Four dimensions self-efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism are involved in the questionnaire with 24 questions which also uses the Likert scale of 6 grades. The higher score of each dimension is, the higher psychological capital level is.

2.2.2. Simplified Coping Style Scale

The scale includes positive coping strategy and negative coping strategy with 20 items. Each item is graded in four ranks.

2.2.3 Job Burnout Scale

The study adopts Maslach Burnout Inventory developed by Maslach together with other psychologists. Emotional exhaustion, cynicism and reduced personal accomplishment with 15 questions in total are three dimensions involved. The scoring for dimension of reduced personal


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accomplishment is in reverse. The higher score of each dimension is, the graver job burnout level is.

2.3. Data Analysis and Processing

SPSS 13.0 statistical software is employed in the study to do t-test, variance analysis, Pearson analysis and multivariate regression analysis.

3. Results

3.1. The Differences among Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout Measured By Demographic Variables

In all dimensions of psychological capital, coping strategy and job burnout, there exists no statistical differences between male and female as well as married and unmarried. As the education level raises, both self-efficacy and resilience increase progressively while the low level of reduced personal accomplishments. However, the changes still has no significant differences. Different places of residence mark notably differences on the dimension of active coping strategy (P<0.05), among which villages and towns score the highest followed by cities and rural areas. It can be found that, with further pair wise comparison, the differences between cities and towns, towns and villages are striking (P<0.05). Managers' resilience score is much higher than that of ordinary employees. By contrast, the former has lower score than the latter at the cynicism level. (P<0.01)

3.2. Correlation Analysis on Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout

Psychological capital had a significant negative correlation with job burnout on all dimensions (self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion are excluded) (P<0.01 or P<0.001).

Negative coping strategy was significantly and positively correlated with emotional exhaustion and cynicism (P<0.001) while positive coping strategy had significantly negative correlation with reduced personal accomplishment (see table 1).

3.3. Multivariable Regression Analysis on Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout

According to relevant analysis results, the experiment conducting multivariable regression analysis uses the three dimensions of job burnout as dependent variables and all dimensions of psychological capital as independent variables. It can be concluded that working position in demographic variables is a significant predictor of cynicism.

After having controlled the influences attached to demographic variables--- including age, gender, marriage, educational level, position at work, places of residence---the dependent variables and independent variables are directed into the regression equation to predict job burnout. The results indicate that negative coping strategy shows strongly positive prediction ability to emotional exhaustion (P<0.01); for cynicism, optimism (P<0.01) is a significantly negative predictor and negative coping strategy (P<0.001) a positive predictor; either self-


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efficacy (P<0.01) or hope (P<0.05) plays an important negative role in predicting reduced personal accomplishment (see table 2).

Table 1 Correlation Analysis on Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout（r）

M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Self-efficacy 27.80 3.42

2. Hope 27.43 3.85 0.55***

3. Resilience 27.18 3.61 0.45*** 0.53***

4. Optimism 25.18 3.41 0.29*** 0.40*** 0.43***

5.Positive Coping Strategy 2.03 0.41 0.28*** 0.45*** 0.35*** 0.38***

6.Negative Coping Strategy 1.03 0.53 -0.20* -0.20* -0.21* -0.07 0.12

7. Emotional Exhaustion 1.96 1.03 -0.16 -0.30*** -0.30*** -0.25** -0.16 0.30***

8. Cynicism 1.59 1.06 -0.25** -0.37*** -0.33*** -0.36*** -0.11 0.36*** 0.60***

9.Reduced Personal Accomplishment

2.19 1.05 -0.46*** -0.44*** -0.40*** -0.29*** -0.30*** 0.12 0.09 0.23**

Note:* P<0.05; ** P<0.01;*** P<0.001.

4. Discussions

4.1. The Current Situation of Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout of the Generation after 80s

This study suggests that, statistically speaking, the employees after 80s employees experience almost the same level of job burnout regardless of their genders and possibly because nowadays the same job in a company has same requirements for their employees of different genders. As the development of society, more male workers tend to participate in housework as well as their children's education, which means the employees of the generation after 80s begin to shoulder the responsibilities from both society and their families. The level of self-efficacy and resilience of psychological capital increase by degrees with the improvement of education levels, which has its roots in the confidence and perseverance accumulated in the continuous learning process. The managers show much more resilience than average employees, yet they are less cynical than their subordinates.

Considering their duties in enterprises, the managers should undertake the lofty missions for themselves, enterprises and even the whole society which they spare no effort to realize and never withdraw from advancing no matter what difficulties and setbacks. Meanwhile managers demand more human interactions. The generation after 80s is one with positive minds, rich emotions and strong needs for interpersonal communication which can be interpreted in work as their expectations on building harmonious interpersonal relationships with both colleagues and


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managers, and an effective communication channel through which their ideas can be fully expressed.

Therefore, paying close attention to employees' communication requirements and providing necessary support or help can be beneficial for lowering job burnout.

Table 2 Multivariable Regression Analysis on Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout（β）

Variables Emotional Exhaustion Cynicism Reduced Personal Accomplishment

M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M3

Age -0.02 -0.02 -0.04 -0.01 -0.04 -0.07 -0.01 0.03 0.03

Sex -0.06 0.00 -0.03 0.06 0.14 0.11 -0.04 0.00 0.01

Marriage 0.06 0.06 0.09 -0.01 0.05 0.08 -0.04 -0.02 -0.02

Education 0.11 0.13 0.12 0.04 0.05 0.03 -0.14 -0.08 -0.08

Job -0.09 -0.01 0.01 -0.25** -0.18* -0.16* -0.14 -0.08 -0.09

Place 0.09 0.13 0.12 -0.08 -0.07 -0.09 -0.04 0.03 0.02

Self-efficacy -0.03 -0.01 -0.26** -0.26**

Hope -0.18 -0.14 -0.19 -0.17 -0.21* -0.18

Resilience -0.18 -0.14 -0.07 -0.03 -0.11 -0.10

Optimism -0.10 -0.11 -0.26** -0.28** -0.06 -0.05

Positive Coping Strategy

-0.10

Negative Coping Strategy

0.24** 0.28***

R2 0.02 0.15 0.20 0.07 0.25 0.32 0.05 0.30 0.31

ΔR2 0.02 0.12*** 0.05** 0.07 0.18*** 0.07*** 0.05 0.26*** 0.01

F 0.52 2.53* 3.30*** 1.71 4.49*** 5.70*** 1.06 5.70*** 5.31***

Note:* P<0.05; ** P<0.01;*** P<0.001.

4.2 The Prediction Effect of Psychological Capital, Coping Strategy and Job Burnout

The study reveals that psychological capital had a significant negative correlation with job burnout on all dimensions (self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion are excluded). The difference between the result of this study and that of other scholars’ lies in that, optimism had a significantly negative correlation with reduced personal accomplishment as well in this study.

This study result mirrors positive psychological states the employees after 80s who are from only child families and grow up with crave for self-fulfillment. Under this backdrop, strengthening


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their psychological capital, especially the optimism dimension, will be an effective way to elevate their senses of achievement. At the same time, comparatively sharp competitive consciousness is another distinctive feature of this generation. They want to, on one hand, prove themselves, show themselves and be confirmed on their abilities by all means of completions; on the other hand, they also look forward to receiving respect and trust from others.

Through further study, one can find that, as for the employees after 80s, negative coping strategy has significantly positive correlations with both emotional exhaustion and cynicism while positive coping strategy's significant correlation to reduced personal accomplishment is negative.

It can be identified on the basis of further regression analysis that psychological capital and coping strategy are indeed essential sources of prediction on job burnout. Manipulating demographic variables, negative coping strategy is able to make significantly positive prediction on emotional exhaustion; optimism can positively predict negative coping strategy and negatively predict cynicism respectively; and self-efficacy and hope have strongly negative prediction on reduced personal accomplishment.

5. Conclusions

It can be concluded from the results that, firstly, to reduce the likelihood of the occurrence of job burnout, one should promote psychological capital of the employees after 80s, particular from three aspects---self-efficacy, hope and optimism. And management teams can lift their workers' psychological capital by effective training intervention, during which the traits of their psychological capital must be taken into consideration. That is one of the contributions of this study.

Secondly, adjustments of the employees’ negative coping strategy and encouragement of more positive coping strategy can have the same effect. They should try to be positive and optimistic about any problems encountered with work as much as possible so as to stay enthusiasm, patient and experience relatively high-level personal achievements.

It is suggested in this research that, for employees after 80s, they should attach more importance to readjustment of their coping strategy and embrace all kinds of challenges with a more positive outlook; for managers, they should not only keep an watchful eye on all their staff members’ working status but also provide them with more supports and concerns making sure that they can fulfill their self-worth in a better and faster way.

Besides, the study results also indicate that both individuals and groups could make greater developments under the condition of reducing the occurrence of job burnout through adjusting psychological features in employees after 80s.

The limitation of this study lies in that only private enterprises are sampled instead of covering all kinds of work units. Further studies would better collect samples in a wider range in order to be more typical, and on this basis, to explore the intervention model of employee's psychological capital.


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[References]

Milan, D. L., Steven, M. N., Larry, W. H., et al. (2013) ‘Psychological Capital: A New Lens for Understanding Employee Fit and Attitutes’, International Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol.8, No.1, pp.32-48.

Esra, M., Dianne, H. B. and Luthans, F. (2013) ‘Going Beyond Research on Goal Setting: A Proposed Role for Organizational Psychological Capital of Family Firms’, ET&P, pp. 1289-1296.

Claudia, L. and Adriana, B. (2013) ‘Correlates of Positive Psychological Capital: A Synthesis of the Empirical Research Published between January 2000 and January 2010’, Cognition, Brain & Behavior, Vol.2, pp.109-133.

Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., et al. (2012) ‘Authentic leadership promoting employees’psychological capital and creativity ’, Journal of Business Research, Vol.65, pp.429-437.

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Sweetman, D., Luthans, F. and Avey, J. B. (2011) ‘Relationship between Positive Psychological Capital and Creative Performance’, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol.28, No.1, pp. 4-13.

Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M. and Avolio, B. J. (2007) ‘Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge ’, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B. and Leiter, M. P. (2001) ‘Job burnout’, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol.52, pp.397-422.

Cordes, C. L., Dougherty, T. W. and Blum, M. (1997) ‘Patterns of burnout among managers and professionals: A comparison of models’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol.18, pp.685-701.

Cordes, C. L., Lazarus, and Dougherty, T.W. (1993) ‘Review and Integration of Research on job Burnout’, Academy of Management Review,Vol.18, pp.621-656.


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Evaluation Study of Kai’s Sandplay Recording

Kai ZhiZhong

Psychological Counseling Center, Beihai College of Beihang University, Beihai, China

[Abstract] Objective To evaluate the accuracy, integrity, validity and reliability of Kai’s Sandplay Recording. Methods Experiment 1: Kai’s sandplay recording was evaluated on its figure quantity, orientation, sequence, movement, time, special figure, subjective feeling, meaning expression, and influence during sandplay making. Experiment 2: Based on the completed sandplay recording tables, sandplay productions were reproduced, and Kai’s sandplay recording was evaluated by comparing the original sandplay production and the sandplay reproduction. Results (1) In Experiment 1, Kai’s sandplay recording has strong performance on recording the sandplay production’s figure quantity (M=9.58), orientation (M=9.34), sequence (M=9.05), movement (M=9.10), time (M=9.52), position (M=8.76), and special figures (M=9.73). (2) In Experiment 2, the sandplay productions can be effectively reproduced (M=86.32) based on Kai’s sandplay recording table. (3) Gender and actual figure quantity significantly influence the accuracy and integrity of sandplay recording. Conclusions Kai’s Sandplay Recording is an accurate, valid and reliable sandplay recording method for clinical and academic purpose.

[Key words] Sandplay; Recording Method; Accuracy; Integrity; Reliability; Validity

In sandplay therapy, sandplay productions need detailed analysis.[1] But detailed analysis depends on a thorough recording method to provide enough information. So far, common sandplay recording methods include photo recording, video recording, and written record.[2,5] Undoubtedly, video recording is a comparatively good method for sandplay recording, but it is costly (costs of camera/DV, large capacity memory, and storage space).[3] In the absence of video recording, photo recording and written record have a common defect: large amounts of valuable information are lost. Based on this knowledge, Kai’s sandplay recording (hereafter referred to as KSR) has been created to solve this problem. Two experiments were designed to evaluate Kai’s sandplay recording’s accuracy, integrity, validity and reliability.

1. Method

Experiment 1: evaluation of Kai’s sandplay recording’s accuracy, integrity and validity

In Experiment 1 there were 5 trained recorders, 5 observers and 30 sandplay makers involved in a standard sandplay room. Recorders comprised of 5 certified psychological counselors, but they didn’t have any background of sandplay therapy before got training of KSR. They were responsible for hosting Experiment 1 and recording the sandplay making process by


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KSR. Observers comprised of 5 sandplay therapists, who were responsible for witnessing the sandplay making process and completing the objective part of the evaluation form. Recorders and observers are not the same persons. Sandplay makers were randomly selected, which included undergraduates, children, teachers, and workers. After sandplay making, sandplay makers were asked to complete the subjective part of the evaluation form. Finally, the objective and subjective parts were calculated by following formulas.

Figure 1. Original sandplay production (sample)

Objective part (scored by the recorder):

1) Figure quantity 1 = Recorded figure quantity / Total figure quantity×100%

2) Orientation 1 = The number of correctly recorded orientations / The total number of orientative figures×100%

3) Movement 1 = The number of correctly recorded movements / The total number of actual movements×100%

4) Sequence 11 = The number of correctly recorded sequences / The total number of actual sequences×100%

5) Time 1 = Recorded making time / Actual making time×100%

6) Position 1 = The number of correctly recorded figure positions / Total figure quantity×100%


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Figure 2. Kai's sandplay recording table (sample)


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7) Special Figure 1 = The number of correctly recorded special figures / The total number of special figures×100%

Subjective part (scored by the sandplay maker):

8) Subjective feeling 1: evaluate the similar subjective feeling between recorded sandtray table and the actual sandtray. If the sandplay maker feels they are just the same, he or she gives a score of 10. If the sandplay maker feels that they are completely different then he or she gives a score of 0. Sandplay makers were asked to give a score by their subjective feeling on an 11 point scale (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).

9) Meaning expression 1: evaluate whether the abstract notations on the sandtray table express the same meaning of the figures on sandtray. If the abstract notations perfectly express the same meaning, then a score of 10 is given. If the abstract notations express a totally different meaning, then a score of 0 is given. Sandplay makers were asked to give a score by carefully considering the meaning of the abstract notations on an 11 point scale (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).

10) Influence score: evaluate the influence of the recording process during the sandplay’s creation. If the recording process fully impacts sandplay maker’s thinking and feeling of sandplay creation, give a score of 0. If the recording process doesn’t impact the sandplay maker’s thinking and feeling of sandplay creation at all, give a score of 10. Sandplay maker were asked to give a score by their feeling of the recording process on an 11 point scale (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).

Total Score 1= (Figure quantity 1 + Orientation 1 + Movement 1 + Sequence 1 + Time 1 + Position 1 + Special Figure 1) x 10 + Subjective Feeling 1 + Meaning Expression 1 + Influence

Experiment 2: Sandplay reproduction experiment

The same recorders (called reproducers in Experiment 2) and observers as in Experiment 1 involved in Experiment 2. The recorders were responsible for reproducing sandplay productions according to other recorders’ KSR tables. The observers were responsible for evaluating the similitude between the original sandplay productions (hereafter referred to as SP) and the reproduced sandplay productions (hereafter referred to as SR) by following formulas:

Objective part (scored by the observer):

1) Figure quantity 2 = The number of similar figures to SP/ (Total figure quantity x Figure quantity) x 100%

2) Orientation 2 = The number of same figure orientations with SP/( The total number of orientative figures x Orientation) x 100%

3) Movement 2 = The number of same movements as Sandplay maker’s movements/ (The total number of actual movements x Movement) x 100%


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4) Sequence 2 = The number of same sequences as Sandplay maker’s sequences/ (The total number of actual sequences x Sequence) x 100%

5) Time 2 = (1-|The time of reproduction – Recorded making time |/ Recorded making time) x 100%

6) Position 2 = The number of same positions as SP/(Total figure quantity x Position) x 100%

7) Special figure 2 = The number of same special figures as SP/( The total number of special figures x Special figure) x 100%

Figure 3. Sandplay reproduction (sample)

Subjective part:

8) Subjective feeling 2: Scoring the similarity between SR and SP by subjective feeling. A 0 means that the SR is felt completely different than the SP, while a 10 means that the SR is felt to be exactly the same as the SP. The observer is asked to score a number from the following equal interval scale: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

9) Meaning expression 2: Scoring the similarity of the figure’s expressed meaning in SR and SP. A 0 means the figures express a completely different meaning. A 10 means the figures express just the same meaning. The observer is asked to score a number from the following equal interval scale: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

10) Substitutive feeling score: Scoring what degree the recorder experienced the sandplay maker’s feeling when reproducing. A 0 means the recorder has no feeling of what the sandplay maker experienced. A 10 means the recorder has same feeling of the sandplay maker. The


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reproducer is asked to score a number from the following equal interval scale: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

Total Score 2 = (Figure quantity 2 + Orientation 2 + Movement 2 + Sequence 2 + Time 2 + Position 2 + Special figure 2) x 10 + Subjective feeling 2 + Meaning expression 2 + Substitutive feeling

2. Results

2.1. Basic information

26 male and 23 female participants took average 11.99 minutes (min=3 min, max=45 min, SD=9.04) to complete their sandplay productions. But producing time has no impact on sandplay recording (both Experiment 1 and 2). All participants selected dry-white sand from dry-white sand, wet-white sand, dry-yellow sand, and wet-yellow sand. The sandplay makers averagely used 27.03 figures to create their sandplay prodcutions while the recorders averagely used 24.63 figures to reproduce their sandplay productions, which is significantly different (t=3.412, p=0.002).

2.2. Differences between the Experiment 1 and Experiment 2

Table 1 Differences between the Experiment 1 and 2

From Table 1, all figures in Experiment 1 have higher scores than in Experiment 2 (except meaning expression and reproductive meaning expression), which reflect that KSR performed better in recording (Total Score 1=87.55) than reproducing (Total Score 2=86.32).

2.3. Influence factors of Kai’s Sandplay Recording

2.3.1. Actual figure quantity


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Table 2 Actual figure quantity's influence on KSR

Table 2 shows us that how many figures the sandplay makers used doesn’t affect the recording integrity but only affect figure quantity integrity, but has a significant impact on sandplay reproduction. The more figures were used the more difficult to reproduce completely.

2.3.2 Gender

Table 3 Gender's influence on KSR

Gender difference seems to show that KSR demonstrated better on female sandplay productions than male sandplay production, but the cause is unclear.

3. Discussion

Bradway (1997) divided sandtray into several equal parts by marking the four sides of the sandtray with four inconspicuous rulers.[4] The longer sides of the sandtray were marked with numbers 1 to 7 while the shorter sides were marked with letters A to E. Then every figure’s rough position and name can be recorded, such as 4C tiger, 7E princess. In the research literature it’s rare to see a special discussion on sandplay recording method.[6] The defect of this method is obvious. KSR, which synthesizes all strength from writing, sketch, photograph and


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video, can not only accurately and completely record figure quantity (95.8%), orientation (93.4%), sequence (91.0%), time (95.2%), position (87.6%), and special figure (97.3%), but also can record real-time the process of how sand and figures’ move, change and are removed, and even the sandplay maker’s movement (90.5%). Similarly, KSR can be used to accurately and completely reproduce figure quantity (94.3%), special figure (93.0%), sequence (88.7%), movement (87.6%) and orientation (87.2%). On the objective perspective, although KSR can’t make 100% recording (87.53%) and reproducing (86.32%), the results show the accuracy, integrity and validity of KSR is high and acceptable. From a subjective perspective, KSR’s symbolic notation, which abandons the detailed characteristics of every figure instead of common notations, can’t perfectly express the true meaning of the sandplay maker’s mind (64.4%), and for the same reason, KSR’s stimulated sandtray table also can’t perfectly provide same feeling with the real sandplay production (87.3%). On the aspect of Experiment 2, the reproducers aren’t able to fully get the feeling and thinking of sandplay makers (77.7%) and create a SR has subjective similarity with the original one (78.4%). During the recording process, a trained recorder can record the sandplay on one hand and analyze it on the other hand with little influence (3.1%) on sandplay making process. All these reflect that KSR is an effective and reliable recording method for clinical and academic purpose. However, to make the best use of KSR, it requires the sandplay therapists to have training and experience on KSR, and be familiar with all sandplay figures in their sandplay room.

[References]

[1] Zhang R.S. Sandplay Therapy. Beijing: People’s Education Press.2006.5: 8-9.

[2] Zhang R.S., Gen L.N. ( 2003). Research Progress of Sandplay Therapy. Journal of Psychological Science. Vol. 26, No. 2: 354-355.

[3] Forsyth, Danielle Margaret (2011). The Structure and Organization of Conversations in Sandplay Therapy. University of Johannesburg[D]:1-125.

[4] Bradway, K. & McCoard, B. (1997). Sandplay: Silent Workshop of the Psyche. NY: Routledge.

[5] Elina Falck. (2005). Sandplay and Art Therapy with Sexually Abused Children: A Literature Review[D]. Athabasca University: 1-96.

[6] Lowenfeld, M. (1939). The World Pictures of Children: A Method of Recording and Studying Them. British Journal of Medical Psychology. Vol. 18: 65-101.


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Family Relationships and Communication Before and After Suicide A Mixed Methods Approach

Chye Hong Liew and Michael Kral

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,

Champaign, IL 61820, USA.

[Abstract]

This study examined how family relationships and communication changed after a suicide. Eleven suicide survivors were interviewed and subsequently completed the Family Assessment Device (FAD). Before suicide, suicide survivors often faced long standing tensions in their families, and showed low levels of family support and emotional expression. After suicide, survivor families became more open in communication and express appreciation towards family members more frequently. Although suicide survivors reported closer family relationships after suicide, their family relationships were worse than the medical and nonclinical samples. Thus, difficult family relationships may be a suicide risk and open communication may be a protective factor.

[Key words] Suicide survivors; Family relationships; Communication; Mixed method; Social support; Appreciation


64

Hearing, Listening and Understanding: A Study

of Aboriginal Mental in Taiwan

Wan-Leng Hsu and Siang-Hua Tey

Graduate Institute of Guidance and Counseling, National Chi Nan University

545, Nantao, Taiwan

[Abstract]

The study is proceeded with purposively sampling. The five chosen interviewers are of different or gins of tribes, such as Bunun, Paiwan and Seediq. The study is preceded with in-depth interviews. The analysis strategies and steps are based on Giorigi's phenomenological method. The results of this research show that:

1. The mental health of aborigine include the following three dimensions: (1) to be responsible to family, job and oneself; (2) to have close and good linkage relationship with others; (3) from self-liberation toward self-realization.

2. The relationship between aboriginal mental health and their life world include (1) the inner norms of conduct of aboriginal society; (2) the reciprocal production system; (3) the qualitative change after conflicting with a modern society.

3. The strategies that the aborigine maintain, restore and promote their mental health are mainly based on social support systems and inner resilience. The former sources include family, church and village, whereas the latter sources include positive thinking, concert action to fulfill oneself and spiritual fulfillment.

At the last part, based on the discussions of the research results, the researcher has proposed some recommendations.

[Key words] Mental health; Aborigine


65

A Correlated Study about Mental Health Status

and Coping Style for Junior High School Students

from Tibetan in Shanghai

Chang Xiang-dong, Shi Jun-hong, and Ma Dan-ying.

The Songjiang District Mental Health Center in Shanghai, Shanghai 201617, China

[Abstract]

Objective: To understand the correlation about mental health status and coping style for junior high school students from Tibetan in Shanghai so as to provide material about mental health. Methods: Total 292 junior high school students cluster selected from Tibetan in Shanghai finished Mental Health Scale of Middle-School Students (MSSMHS) and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire(TCSQ) test. The data were analysis by SPSS17.0. Results: (1) The total abnormal rate of psychological problems for junior high school students from Tibetan in Shanghai was 43.9%, 40.1% of which was mild, moderate and above 3.8%. The top three sort was compulsion, emotional volatility, learning pressure for psychological problems. (2) Comparison between each grade, the total average balance was significantly different = 5.728, P<0.01). The abnormal rate of psychological problems of second grade students was highest (51.7%). The top three sort was compulsion, emotional volatility, learning pressure for first grade and second grade, while emotional volatility, compulsion, anxiety for third grade. (3) The abnormal rate of psychological problems for junior high school students from Tibetan in Shanghai was higher on boys, countryside, single-parent families, non-only child (45.3%, 47.4%, 58.3%, 47.3%). (4) The correlation was negative between factors of depression, anxiety and positive coping (P<0.01) and positive between all ten factors and negative coping(P<0.01). Conclusions: Mental health status for junior high school students from Tibetan in Shanghai was not well for second grade, boys, countryside, single-parent families, non-only child while coping style showed more negative coping.

[Key words] Tibetan; Junior high school students; Mental health; Coping style


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Psychological Contract in Indonesian

State-Owned Enterprise

Risky Harisa Haslan1, John Richards2, and Hazel Melanie Ramos1

1. Department of Applied Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Malaysia

2. Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

[Abstract]

Psychological contract involves an unwritten agreement between two parties and influences one’s motivation and productivity level. The way psychological contract is formed depends on an individual’s beliefs, behavior norms, environment, or culture. This paper aimed to look into the perception of psychological contract in a state-owned enterprise in Indonesia – a company that operates in sectors where there is a natural monopoly to provide products. Semi structured interviews were conducted among eleven employees of a state owned enterprise. Results revealed that the employees perceived psychological contract to be an essential aspect of their work, particularly in the area of human resource systems, roles, motivation, commitment levels, and organizational culture. Theoretical and practical implications are outlined along with recommendations for future research.


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Teachers’ Voting Behavior

Feliece I. Yeban, Marivilla Lydia Aggarao, and Benjamin Domingcil

Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Philippine Normal University, Manila, Philippines

[Abstract]

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses individuals to hold public offices. As a democratic country, the Philippines has the framework and capacity to conduct this political exercise. The most provoking questions about an election are not pertaining to who won but why people voted the way they did or what the implications of the results are. The most extensive study ever conducted on the Filipino voting behavior was conducted by the Institute for Political Reform in 1995 and updated in 2003.

The IPER study though comprehensive did not look into variations in the voting behavior of different sectors. The teacher sector particularly, is an interesting sector to look at. The power of teachers and educators to shape students’ political attitude and consciousness makes an investigation of the teachers’ voting behavior an interesting research topic. Their voting behavior reveals a lot about their civic and political consciousness which will inevitably have an impact on their students. How do our teachers vote? Is their vote similar to how the majority vote? The election in May 2013 was used as venue to seek answers to such questions. Hopefully, insights drawn from the study can be used to improve the civic and political education of teachers.

This study aimed to examine the voting behavior of teachers in the 2013 midterm election. It attempted both to describe and analyze the various elements that determine and influence the teachers’ decision to vote for certain candidates, through the use of quantitative and qualitative research techniques. To validate the results of the survey and to gain deeper understanding of voters’ behavior, the researchers utilized qualitative techniques such as interview, and several focus group discussions. These were also administered to a selected group of students in all the PNU campuses. These techniques were used to ensure a “high quality and richer data” which may not be captured and included in the survey.

[Key words] Election, Voting Behavior, Political Psychology, Political Cognition


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A Study of the Relationships among Social Support, Leisure Constraint and Mental Health of Employed Married Women

Shu-Fen Lin and Chih-Jiun Lin

Department of Leisure and Recreation Management, Dayeh University,

Changhua 51591, Taiwan

[Abstract] According to the numbers of employed married women have increased gradually, previous studies already focus on family stress, job stress, role conflict, social support and life satisfaction. This study tries to find out the relationships among social support, leisure constraint and mental health of employed married women. The purposes of this research are to realize the current situation of social support, leisure constraint and mental health. Then, analyze the differences of different demographic variables among social support, leisure constraint and mental health. And induct the relationships among different social support, leisure constraint and mental health of employed married women.

First, the study reviews the related literature, and then uses purposive sampling of nonrandom methods. Distributed 268 paper questionnaires were obtained 215 valid samples. On the other hand, Internet questionnaires were obtained 185 valid samples. Total 400 questionnaires were issued in this study. The statistic software SPSS 12.0 was applied for data analyses. The statistical methods included reliability analysis, descriptive statistic, one-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis.

The major findings of this study were summarized as follows. The employed married women getting good social support have better mental health. The married women who are over 51 years old and have stable jobs will have better mental health. The women with lower interpersonal constraints and structural constraints have better mental health. Social support and leisure constraint can effectively predict mental health. Among them, the information social support has the best prediction. The married women who get high income and have stable jobs will feel higher social support than others. The women with low education level, getting low income and having unstable holidays have higher leisure constraint. The employed married women with higher social support have lower interpersonal constraints and structural constraints. Varies job seniority have no differences among social support, leisure constraint and mental health of employed married women.

Finally, hoping the results of this study can assist employed married women themselves to achieve self-growth, and the proposed suggestions based on this study as references to the government department and following researchers on related fields.

[Key words] Employed married women; Social support; Leisure constraint; Mental health


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An Empirical Study on Influence of Work Stress of Employees on Their Health

Wei Xiangqian and Ma Hongyu

Department of Management, Shandong Academy of Governance, Jinan 250014, China

[Abstract]

Objective: The study is to explore the influence of work stress of employees on their physical health, mental health, social adaptation and overall health, respectively. Methods: The study investigated 440 employees from different organizations via scales including work stressors questionnaire and self-rated health measurement scale. The dada was analyzed by person’s product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results: (1) Pearson’s correlation analysis indicates there exist respectively significantly negative correlation relations (P<0.01) between different work stresses and physical health, mental health, social adaptation and overall health. (2) The outcome of regression analysis indicates work stress of employees can effectively predict their physical health (R2=0.123; β=-0.351, P<0.001), mental health (R2=0.165; β=-0.406, P<0.001), social adaptation (R2=0.110; β=-0.332, P<0.001) and overall health (R2=0.192; β=-0.438, P<0.001), respectively. (3) The outcomes of multiple stepwise regression analysis indicate that 17.4% of the variation of physical health (R2=0.174) can be interpreted by the stresses of organization role (β=-0.331, P<0.001) and working conditions (β=-0.144, P<0.01); 18.2% of the variation of mental health (R2=0.182) by the stresses of organization role (β=-0.200, P<0.001), professional development (β=-0.168, P<0.01) and social support (β=-0.131, P<0.05); 13.7% of the variation of social adaptation (R2=0.137) by the stresses of organization role (β=-0.249, P<0.001) and professional development (β=-0.168, P<0.01); 23.4% of the variation of overall health (R2=0.234) by the stresses of organization role (β=-0.345, P<0.001), working conditions (β=-0.131, P<0.05) and organization structure (β=-0.107, P<0.05). Conclusions: Work stress of employee affect negatively on its health. Especially, the work stress from organization role is the most important key factor that influences the health of employee.

[Key words] Health psychology; Work stress; Physical health; Mental health; Employees; Social adaptation


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The Correlation among Explanatory Style, Depression, and Mental Health in Taiwan Adolescents

Yu-shu Wang and Sheng-Fa Chuang

Department of Psychology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan

[Abstract] The explanatory style has been widely used in the fields of psychopathology, psychological assessment, and psychotherapy for depression. The researchers have often suggested that there is a significant correlation between depression, mental health and the explanatory style of optimistic/ pessimistic inclination. Furthermore, studies show that prevalence of depression elevates in adolescence. In light of this, no one can or will deny the importance of mental health of adolescents. However, research which has empirically documented the link among depression, mental health and explanatory style toward Taiwanese people is scant. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the depressive symptoms and mental health status in Taiwanese adolescents.

This present study involved a cross-sectional survey, comprised of the Secondary School Students’ Explanatory Style Questionnaire, Center of Epidemiology Study-Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Taiwan version of Mental Health Continuum Short-Form (TMHC-SF). The quantitative analysis of the questionnaires was conducted through descriptive statistics, three-way ANOVA, confirmatory factor analysis, and hierarchical regression in order to establish a predictive model of explanatory style, depression and mental health.

This present research showed that it is worth noting the reliability as well as validity of the Secondary School Students’ Explanatory Style Questionnaire, since there was a discrepancy in the measurement result of "bad event to personal cause" and "the original theory of explanatory style".

With depression as dependent variable, explanatory style and demographic variables as predictor variable, the result indicated that "gender", "good events to permanent-pervasive cause”, "bad events to permanent-pervasive cause", and “bad events to personal cause” were the significant predictors of depression. As for mental health as dependent variable, explanatory style and demographic variables as predictor variable, the result asserted "gender", "good events to permanent-pervasive cause”, "good events to personal cause”, "bad events to permanent-pervasive cause", and “bad events to personal cause” were the significant predictors of mental health. To conclude, this study may be of importance in mental health and psychotherapy, as well as in providing psychotherapist with a better understanding of the adolescent depression prevention.

[Key words] explanatory style; depression; mental health


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Health-Related Quality Of Life and Mental Health of Chinese Primary Care Patients with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Pui-hang Choi

The University of Hong Kong

[Abstract]

Introduction: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) negatively affect social life, activities of daily living, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and mental health. This study aimed to examine the HRQOL and mental health of Chinese primary care patients with LUTS so as to assess the impacts of LUTS and to identify health service needs.

Methods: The content validity of the Chinese translations of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF), the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-Short Form (IIQ-7), were established by cognitive debriefing interviews involving 20 patients. A cross-sectional survey of 519 patients with LUTS recruited from primary care in Hong Kong was carried out with the ICIQ-UI SF, the IPSS, the IIQ-7, the Chinese (HK) Short Form-12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) together with a structured questionnaire on socio-demographics. The pilot data collected from 233 patients were analysed to assess the psychometric properties (construct validity, reliability and sensitivity) of the ICIQ-UI SF, the IPSS and the IIQ-7. The data of all 519 subjects were analysed to evaluate the HRQOL and mental health of LUTS patients.

Results: Some wordings of the original IPSS (Hong Kong Chinese version) were found not to be equivalent to the English original, which were revised to form the IPSS (Hong Kong Chinese version 2). The IPSS (Hong Kong Chinese version 2) and the Chinese IIQ-7 achieved the expected standards in construct validity and reliability for both male and female patients. Some item and total scale score correlations and the internal consistency of the ICIQ-UI SF did not reach the expected standards. All three measures were more sensitive than the SF-12v2 in detecting differences between patients from different clinic settings. LUTS patients reported significantly lower scores in the general health and vitality domains and the physical component summary scale but higher score in the role emotional domain of the SF-12v2 than the age-sex adjusted Hong Kong population norm. Higher IPSS total symptom score, storage symptoms, mixed urinary incontinence, depression, anxiety, stress, female gender, not currently married, being in employment and lower monthly household income were associated with poorer HRQOL in LUTS patients.

LUTS patients had significantly higher mean DASS-21 anxiety score than that found in primary care patients without medically unexplained physical symptoms. Higher IPSS total


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symptom score, mixed urinary incontinence, younger age, not currently married and smoker were associated with poorer mental health. Mental Health was found to mediate the relationship between LUTS severity and HRQOL.

Conclusions: The study demonstrated the validity and reliability of the IPSS and the IIQ-7 in both male and female patients with LUTS but the psychometric properties of the ICIQ-UI SF required further evaluation. The primary treatment goal for LUTS should be symptom relief since symptom severity is the most significant factor associated with HRQOL and mental health. LUTS seemed to impair perceived general well-being the most in Chinese patients. Interventions to help LUTS patients adjust their general health perception and reduce anxiety may improve their HRQOL.

Follow-up Study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Rescue Soldiers Exposed to The Wenchuan 2008 Earthquake

in China

Zhang Hua, Wang Yali, Huang Yonglan, Wang Xiaoping, and Wang Gaohua

Department of Mental Health Center, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, China

[Abstract]

Objectives: To estimate Mental Health Status and detection rate for post-traumatic stress disorder in rescue soldiers exposed to the Wenchuan 2008 earthquake in 7 months and 14 months after the event. Methods: Cluster randomized sampling method for selecting subjects and A chi-square test was used to analyze these data. 600 soldiers were randomly sampled in troops, and the post–traumatic stress disorder self-rating scale, Symptom Checklist 90 were used to assess their mental status in 7 months and 14 months after the event. We analyzed 497 effective questionnaires from 600 in 7 months and 491 in 14 months after the event by SPSS13.0. Results: Point detection rate on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were 37.62% in 7 months, 26.28% in 14 months (X2=14.633, P=0.000). Moderate and severe symptoms were 2.01% in 7 months, 1.43% in 14 months (X2=0.502, P=0.479). Total Scale score of the post–traumatic stress disorder self-rating scale were 26.70±6.47 in 7 months, 25.77±5.86 in 14 months (P=0.000). Conclusions: It is important to detect post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, especially moderate to severe symptoms, in rescue soldiers exposed to the earthquake and to provide them individual psychotherapy or drugs.

[Key words] Earthquake; Rescue soldiers; Post traumatic stress disorder; Detection rate


73

Research on Relationship of Social Support, Employment Appraisal and University Students’ Anxiety

Yu Binbin and Chen Shaozheng

Department of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China

[Abstract]

Objective: To explore the relationship of social support level, employment appraisal and university students’ anxiety. Methods: 350 university students were tested with Social Support Scale, Employment Cognitive Questionnaire and State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Results: (1) There were significant differences among different sex individuals in the positive employment appraisal ,neutral employment appraisal (t= -2.229, p<0.05; t= -1.979, p<0.05) and trait anxiety (t=-2.726, p<0.01). (2) The neutral employment appraisal and state anxiety have significant positive correlation (r=0.214, p<0.001), the neutral employment appraisal and trait anxiety have significant positive correlation (r=0.287, p<0.001); The objective support, the use of support and state anxiety have significant positive correlation (r=0.142, p<0.001; r=0.123, p<0.05). (3) The social support, positive employment appraisal have significant joint prediction effect to anxiety conditions of university student, especially the social support have larger significant prediction effect (β=0.254, p<0.001; β=0.176, p<0.05). Conclusions: The boys have lower positive employment appraisal and neutral employment appraisal than girls in university, however, the boys have higher state anxiety. The higher the objective support and the use of support, the higher the state anxiety; The higher the negative appraisal; the higher trait anxiety and state anxiety. At the same time, the social support, positive employment appraisal have significant joint prediction effect to anxiety conditions of university student.

[Key words] Social support; Employment appraisal; University students’ anxiety.


74

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHINESE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

Board of Editors (Second) CUI Guangcheng, M.D., Professor, Dept. of Medical Psychology, Qiqihar Medical University, Heilongjiang, China

DENG Mingyu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Institute for Oriental-Western Human Sexuality in American, USA

DU John, M.D., Ph.D., Researcher, Vancouver Rainbow Psycho Counseling Center, BC, Canada

DU Wendong, Professor, School of Psychology, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China

Du Yasong, M.D., Professor, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China

GAO Chengge, M.D., Professor, Dept. of Mental Health, Affiliated First Hospital, Xi’an traffic Univ., China

GU Yuqi, Researcher, Wellington Chinese Consulting Service Center, New Zealand

HAN Yan, Ph.D., licensed Psychologist of Australia, Sydney, Australia

HONG Wei, M.D., Professor, Dept. of Medical Psychology, Peking University Health Science Center, China

JIA Xiaoming, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Social Worker and Psychology, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

KURIANSKY Judy, Ph.D., Professor, Columbia University Teachers College and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA

LEE Peter, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

LI Jianming, M.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, North China Coal Medical University, Tangshan, China

LI Lingjiang, M.D., Professor, Institute of Mental Health, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South Univ., China

LI Zhanjiang, M.D., Professor, Affiliated AnDing Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

LUO Zhengli, M.D., Professor, Jilin Medical College, Jilin, China

SHI Kan, Ph.D., Professor, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

TAI Cheh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Chung Yung Christian University, Taiwan

TONG Huiqi, Ph.D., Researcher, America-China Academy for Psychotherapy, Los Angeles, USA

WANG Ling, M.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

WANG Francy F., M.D., Researcher, Asian Initiative in Mental Health, Toronto Western Hospital, Canada

WANG Youping, M.D., Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Albambra Medical University, Los Angeles, USA

WANG Wei, Ph.D., Professor, Chief Scientist of Clinical Psychology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine

WEN Hong, M.D., Professor, Sichuan Province Mental Health Center, Mianyang, Sichuan, China

WEN Jung-Kwang, M.D., Professor, Tsyr-Huey (Loving) Mental Hospital of KHJA, Taiwan

XU Junzhe, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Hospital of Metal Heath, The State University of New York, USA


75

YANG Ming-Lei, Ph.D., Associate Prof., Institute of Educational Psychology & Counseling, Damkang Univ., Taiwan

YANG Yanchun, M.D., Professor, Metal Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

YUAN Nisa Hong, M.D., Researcher, New York Chinese Community Counseling Center, New York, USA

YUE Xaodong, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Applied Sociology, Hong Kong City University, Hong Kong

ZHANG Kerang, M.D., Professor, Dept. of Mental Health, Affiliated First Hospital, Sanxi Medical Univ., China

ZHENG Jianming, M.D., Professor, Dept. of Mental Health, Affiliated First Hospital, Fujian Medical Univ., China

ZHENG Richang, Ph.D., Professor, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHINESE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

Volume 6, Number 2, Serial No.10, December 30, 2014

(Semiyearly)

Editor in Chief

DENG Mingyu, M.D., Ph.D.

IACMSP

International Association of Chinese Medical Specialists & Psychologists

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IJCAP-201402