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Making sense of positive self-evaluations in China: The role of sociocultural change

Zhang, R.; Noels, K.A.; Guan, Y.; Weng, L.

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Authors

R. Zhang

K.A. Noels

L. Weng



Abstract

Recent research points to Chinese people's elevated tendency to make positive self-evaluations, despite the general claim that East Asians do not self-enhance. We present three studies in support of a novel prediction that sociocultural change in China plays an important role in augmenting self-enhancement. We operationalized self-enhancement primarily in terms of the better-than-average effect (BTAE) and accounted for trait desirability or importance. We found that: (i) compared with Chinese Canadians, Chinese showed a stronger BTAE; (ii) within the Chinese, identification with contemporary Chinese culture uniquely predicted a stronger BTAE; and (iii) priming contemporary (vs. traditional) Chinese culture led to a stronger BTAE. Finally, we provided further evidence that motivation, in part, underlies the rising Chinese BTAE. We conclude by discussing the importance of both socioeconomic and cultural perspectives for understanding how and when of self-enhancement in contemporary China and other societies undergoing social change.

Citation

Zhang, R., Noels, K., Guan, Y., & Weng, L. (2017). Making sense of positive self-evaluations in China: The role of sociocultural change. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47(1), 36-52. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2214

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 6, 2016
Online Publication Date Jul 1, 2016
Publication Date Feb 1, 2017
Deposit Date May 19, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal European Journal of Social Psychology
Print ISSN 0046-2772
Electronic ISSN 1099-0992
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 47
Issue 1
Pages 36-52
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2214
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1384209

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Zhang, R., Noels, K. A., Guan, Y., and Weng, L. (2017) Making sense of positive self-evaluations in China: The role of sociocultural change. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47(1): 36-52, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2214. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.





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