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A cross-cultural study of concepts of intimacy and perspective-taking abilities in American and Chinese young adults
Abstract
Intimacy is an important aspect of human life. Little is known, however, about cultural differences of concepts of intimacy from a developmental perspective. Individuals' capacities for concepts of intimacy are manifested by their Social Cognitive Development stages. The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine cultural differences of concepts of intimacy and Social Cognitive Developmental stages in American and Chinese young adults. The first chapter reviews relevant literature; cross-cultural methodological considerations and suggestions for future intimacy research are also addressed. The second chapter describes an empirical study to test the cultural differences of concepts of intimacy and perspective taking abilities in American and Chinese female university students; it also examines whether the results of the relationship between concepts of relationships and perspective taking abilities support Selman's (1980) assumptions. Twelve white Americans from the U.S. and twelve Taiwan Chinese participated. Based on the structure of Selman's (1980, p. 322-323) "friends dilemma" (adolescent and adult version), four dilemmas (same-sex, opposite-sex, boyfriend-girlfriend and mother-daughter) were developed in English and then translated into Chinese. Selman's (1980) model was applicable but not all data were described in his model; traditional concepts of relations stages and perspective taking levels were found. The quantitative results found significant differences in American and Chinese subjects' concepts of relations stages but not in perspective taking levels. Significant differences were found on the lowest CR scores on general questions and across domains and on the frequency distributions of concepts of relations stages. American subjects gave a higher percentage of CR 2 and CR 2/3 stages scores than their Chinese counterparts. The qualitative data analysis found similarities and differences in American and Chinese subjects' concepts of intimacy; some differences were related to cultural norms. The results of this study do not support Selman's assumption that perspective taking levels are a "necessary but not sufficient" condition for the same parallel concepts of relations stages. Perspective taking levels and concepts of relations stages could be two ways of measuring the same constructs. Implications, suggestions for future studies, limitations, and applications for interventions are also addressed.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Ethnic studies|Social psychology
Recommended Citation
Lin, Jun-chih Gisela, "A cross-cultural study of concepts of intimacy and perspective-taking abilities in American and Chinese young adults" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9408303.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9408303