Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Other Disciplines of Psychology submitted time 2023-11-22
Abstract： The unique Chinese first name "Zhaodi" (招娣) offers an intriguing lens to examine provincial variations in son preference and its deep-rooted ties to clan culture. While most first names carry implicit or ambiguous meanings, "Zhaodi" stands out as it explicitly signifies parents' fervent hope for a male child next. At a provincial level, the prevalence of the name "Zhaodi" can be viewed as an indicator of son preference. Clan culture, deeply intertwined with Confucianism, emphasizes a patriarchal lineage and distinct social norms, such as sons enjoying more privileges than daughters. Though clan culture permeates throughout China, its intensity varies across provinces. This study aims to investigate the provincial variations in the naming of "Zhaodi" and its correlation with clan culture. We hypothesize that regions with a stronger clan culture are more likely to name their daughters "Zhaodi".
Data on the prevalence of "Zhaodi" and clan culture across provinces were sourced from public government databases. Initially, the frequency of "Zhaodi" was obtained from www.gjzwfw.gov.cn, considering the top 10 popular surnames. Subsequently, female population data was sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics (www.stats.gov.cn). The prevalence of "Zhaodi" was then computed by dividing the frequency of "Zhaodi" by the female population, adjusted per million (ppm) for each province. Clan culture strength was determined by the prevalence of "jiapu", as per the methodology of Greif and Tabellini (2017). Data on "jiapu" was sourced from the National Jiapu Platform of the Shanghai Library (www.library.sh.cn). Control variables included modernity, percentage of rice paddy, climate demand, latitude, societal tightness, and population density.
Results indicated significant provincial variations in the naming of "Zhaodi", χ²(473236764,17) = 99874, p < .001. Jiangxi had the highest prevalence at 537 ppm, while Chongqing had the lowest at 2 ppm among the 18 provinces studied. Correlation analysis revealed a positive association between the prevalence of "Zhaodi" and clan culture, r(18)=.51, p =.03; r(18) =.70, p =.001. Regression analysis further confirmed that clan culture positively predicts the prevalence of "Zhaodi", β(18)=.51, p = .046.
This study underscores the provincial variations in the naming of "Zhaodi" and establishes a positive correlation with clan culture. These insights enrich cultural psychology by quantitatively assessing the impact of clan culture, a feat rarely achieved. Furthermore, it highlights the societal implications of the name "Zhaodi" as an indicator of son preference.
Conclusion: This research reveals significant provincial variations in the naming of "Zhaodi" and establishes a positive correlation between such naming practices and the strength of clan culture.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-05-29
Abstract： Liu and Chen’《the Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age》systematically reviewed the new archeological discoveries within the China. It first introduced e natural environment of China and the relationship between ever-changing ecosystems and human responses and adaptations. Then it summarized the findings of different regions from early Neolithic periods to the end of Shang and the possible explanations why Chinese civilization evolved in this way. Inspired by cultural evolution framework of Henrich, we propose three cultural psychological characteristics which includes associative thinking and respect Oracle and nepotism. Furthermore, we speculate these characteristics is originated and transmitted unintentionally from the Saman-Sorcerer of early sedentary agriculture thriving for their social ranking within the settlement and summarize the evidences of this book and authors’ follow-up works.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： The voluntary frontier settlement hypothesis proposed that voluntary frontier settlement leads to independent agency. The present work compared 538 college students from Shenzhen (an ongoing voluntary frontier settlement region) and Xiangfan. Controlling for resident status, the Singelis self-construal scale, the collectivist orientation scale, the triad task, the attribution task and loyalty/nepotism task were administered to examine the relationship between ongoing voluntary settlement and independent agency. As predicted, the results indicated that residents of Shenzhen scored higher in self-reported independent index, lower in self-reported collectivist orientation and holistic thinking, lower in rewarding honest friend and higher in punishing dishonest friend than those from Xiangfan. These findings indicate that Shenzhen as an ongoing voluntary frontier settlement is more independent than other regions of Mainland China such as Xiangfan. This implies that even in a generally interdependent culture in East Asia, ongoing voluntary frontier settlement leads to independent agency.
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