Taiwan Chinese managers' personality: is Confucian influence on the wane?

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Taiwan Chinese managers' personality:is Confucian influence on the wane?Amy Lai Yu Wong a , Graham H. Shaw b & David K.C. Ng aa Department of Management and Marketing , Hong KongPolytechnic University , Hung Hum, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PRCb Department of Management , City University of Hong Kong ,Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, PRCPublished online: 16 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: Amy Lai Yu Wong , Graham H. Shaw & David K.C. Ng (2010) Taiwan Chinesemanagers' personality: is Confucian influence on the wane?, The International Journal of HumanResource Management, 21:7, 1108-1123, DOI: 10.1080/09585191003783546

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Taiwan Chinese managers’ personality: is Confucian influenceon the wane?

Amy Lai Yu Wonga*, Graham H. Shawb and David K.C. Nga

aDepartment of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hum,Kowloon, Hong Kong, PRC; bDepartment of Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon

Tong, Hong Kong, PRC

This paper conjectures that Chinese managers’ personality in the Taiwan context, asshaped by Chinese tradition, has been moderated in response to their career experience.The paper begins with an introduction to Chinese culture and its impact on values andpersonality. It then goes on to argue that if the cultural context can nurture personality,we should therefore expect that as the context changes, personality can be moderatedvia economic reforms as in the case of Taiwan. It is reasonable to assume that amongthe Taiwanese, the occupational grouping that has most actively felt the impact of thesereforms is managers who have been at the forefront of making them happen. We are notaware of any studies focusing on Taiwanese managers which attempt to assess how fartheir personality is still shaped by Confucian values which have strongly influencedChinese traditions, and how far it has experienced changes that have come aboutthrough modernization and economic reform. We have addressed this research gapusing the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI), an indigenous Chinesepersonality instrument developed by Cheung et al. (1996) with the support of aninterview programme and a biographical data sheet to flesh out details related to thesubjects’ lives and experience. The findings suggest that the traditional Chinesepersonality with its grounding in Confucianism has been gradually eroding but thatsome elements of it are still strongly in evidence. The contribution of this study lies inillustrating how personality may be undergoing convergence through modernization.It also signals that cultural boundaries with reference to emic and etic research may alsobe converging. To the extent that this is so, future studies on culture and businessmanagement in China may need to reappraise their understanding of the nature ofChinese culture, values and personality, and how they have responded to businessforces in a globalized world.

Keywords: Chinese personality; Confucian values; CPAI; economic reforms;globalization; Taiwan managers

Introduction

There has been a wealth of studies with Confucianism as a key element in Chinese culture

and its influence on the Chinese (Campbell, Child and Lockett 1990; Redding 1990;

Stewart and Chong 1990; Ralston, Gustafso, Terpstra and Holt 1993; Child 1994; Child

and Lu 1994; Tsui and Farh 1997; Buckley, Clegg and Tan 2006). These studies trace how

Confucianism feeds into Chinese values which in turn influence Chinese personality

(Cheung, Conger, Hau, Lew and Lau 1992; Bond 1996; Cheung et al. 1996; Zhang and

ISSN 0958-5192 print/ISSN 1466-4399 online

q 2010 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/09585191003783546

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*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

The International Journal of Human Resource Management,

Vol. 21, No. 7, June 2010, 1108–1123

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Bond 1998; Cheung and Leung 1998). Among these studies, Cheung et al. (1992) has

argued that the Taiwan Chinese in particular are still strongly influenced by Confucianism

and have strived actively to preserve Confucian traditions. What are the values which

underpin these traditions? From the research (Lockett 1988; Child 1994; Hwang 1982;

Yang 1996; Brindley 1989, 1990; Yang and Bond 1990; Cheung et al. 1992; Cheung et al.

1996 and Wong and Slater 2002), we can single out five values which appear to have high

significance: collectivism, harmony, respect for age and seniority, relationships (guanxi)

and face. We have more to say about these values later.

Alongside its vibrant Confucian heritage, Taiwan has seen rapid modernization and

has pursued radical economic reform since the 1960s so it is reasonable to assume that

these developments have had an effect on the Taiwan Chinese personality, moderating

the influence of Confucianism. It is also reasonable to assume that among the

Taiwanese, the occupational grouping which has felt the impact of these developments

most acutely has been the managers, the group at the forefront of the action. We are not

aware of any studies focusing on Taiwanese managers which attempt to assess how far

their personality is still shaped by Confucian values and how far it has experienced

changes that have come about through modernization and economic reform. We have

addressed this research gap using the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI),

an indigenous Chinese personality instrument developed by Cheung et al. (1996) with the

addition of an interview programme and the biographical data sheet.

The paper begins with an introduction to Chinese culture and its impact on values and

personality. It then goes on to argue that if the cultural context can nurture personality, we

can therefore expect that as the context changes, personality can be moderated via

economic reforms. The economic reforms in Taiwan which, since the 1960s, have

transformed it from a backward agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse, brought

with them massive business and infrastructure projects, many of them funded by injections

of foreign direct investment (FDI). They also encouraged the development of small- and

medium-sized businesses which, as a consequence, encouraged the rapid development of

enterprise and a growing appreciation of the value of individual achievement. The findings

from our combined data capture methods suggest that the traditional Chinese personality

with its grounding in Confucianism has been gradually eroding but that some elements are

still strongly in evidence. The contribution of this study lies in illustrating how personality

may be undergoing convergence through modernization. It also signals that cultural

boundaries with reference to emic and etic research may also be converging. To the extent

that this is so, future studies on culture and business management in China may need to

reappraise their understanding of the nature of Chinese culture, values and personality, and

how they have responded to business forces in a globalized world.

The paradigms: Chinese culture, personality, careers and economy

China is particularly rich in the systems of thought and belief which, for centuries have

shaped everyday thinking and behaviour. Besides Confucianism, these include Buddhism,

Legalism and Taoism (Laaksonen 1988; Tung 1994; Westwood 1992). However, it is

Confucianism which has probably been the most influential and which for more than two

millennia has provided moral guidelines for the Chinese on how to behave, think, feel and

act both in the private and in the public realm. The centrality of Confucian teaching in

Chinese culture is about maintaining harmony in relationships between family members

and, by extension to others in the clan, the community and society at large. The importance

of harmony and relationships (guanxi) is typical of Chinese cultural characteristics which

The International Journal of Human Resource Management 1109

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lay the foundations of Chinese social behaviour. Hwang (1982) and Ho (1996) argue

that the teaching of good relationships and harmony is critical for Chinese personality

growth.

Weber (1916) took the view that Confucianism was anything but conducive to

economic success. He argued that its emphasis on obedience to parental authority

discouraged competition, risk-taking and innovation; in other words, that it was hostile to

capitalism. However, Kahn (1979), Hofstede and Bond (1988), Moore and Jennings

(1995), Bond (1996), Naisbitt (1997) and Hahn (2001) have focused on other aspects of

Confucianism, explaining the economic success of South East Asian countries with strong

roots in Confucianism such as Taiwan, in terms of its encouragement of hard work,

savings and investment for the future as well as its emphasis on co-operation towards

achieving shared goals. So, the debate goes on about the nature and extent of the influence

of Confucianism and about how far the Chinese disposition to hard work is a reflection of

Chinese culture as well as important in sowing the seeds of economic success. If culture

and hard work are related, then we need to review how the dynamic of culture and hard

work can be related to personality – the focus of the present study.

Erikson (1950, 1968), Mischel (1968), Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Livens and McKee

(1978), Schein (1978, 1984), Wong (2005) argue that personality is shaped by cultural

values which are further shaped through the individual’s life experiences. Cultural values

and personality are thus interrelated and some writers on careers have regarded them as the

major determinants that guide career development (Super 1957; Erikson 1968; Holland

1973; Levinson et al. 1978; Schein 1978, 1984; Wong and Slater 2002; Wong 2005). If

cultural values indeed play a critical role in determining personality and are implicated in

decisions about career development, then it is important in the context of this study, first,

to identify the features of Chinese personality which might exert a unique influence on

those individuals who can reasonably claim much of the credit for delivering Taiwan’s

economic success, namely its managers and, second, to examine what signs there are of

global convergence of culture and personality.

The Taiwan context

When Chiang Kai Shek, the leader of Kuomintang fled to Taiwan in 1949, his 1 million

followers brought with them much of the indigenous Chinese culture with its strong

Confucian underpinning, expressed, for example via education, the conduct of private and

public relationship and religious practices (Whitley 1992; Buruma 1996; Wong 2005).

Later, in the early 1960s, Taiwan went through various stages of modernization and major

economic reforms. For example, the higher education curriculum was trimmed to match

labour market demands in order to meet the government’s manpower planning policies

and economic development strategies. Heavy government investment in high-tech

industries led to a thriving venture capital industry with Taiwan referred to as a second

Silicon Valley (Whitley 1992). The government also encouraged foreign direct investment

(FDI) which brought funds from Japan and America which in turn brought changes in

lifestyles, behaviour and aspirations of individuals that could be seen as the outward

expressions of changes in social and cultural values. A number of studies, for example

Hwang (1982), Yang and Bond (1990), Yang (1996) and Brindley (1989, 1990), examined

Chinese culture and values in Taiwan during the economic reform period and indicated

that there were some adjustments consequent upon those reforms in traditional Chinese

behaviour and thinking. Yang (1996) and Brindley (1989, 1990) both made the point that

because of modernization, the Taiwan Chinese have become much more accepting of

A.L.Y. Wong et al.1110

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consumerism, materialism and competition, with indications that traditional Chinese

values and personality were undergoing significant change. These studies led the authors

of the present study to conjecture that this adjustment in behaviour and thinking might

have implications for the structure of Chinese personality; and they further came to the

view that Taiwan would make an ideal focus for that study being a society on the cusp

between Confucian tradition and the forces of modernization brought about by economic

success.

The standardization of Chinese personality characteristics and

The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)

For the past 20 years or so, studies of Chinese personality relied mainly on imported

instruments derived from Western cultural contexts. However, the instruments were

inappropriate for capturing the indigenous personality characteristics and dimensions of

the Chinese people (Hwang 1982; Cheung et al. 1992; Cheung et al. 1996; Cheung and

Leung 1998; Bond 2000; Cheung et al. 2001; Cheung, Cheung, Wada and Zhang 2003;

Lin and Church 2004). In response to this, the psychometric instrument – Chinese

Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) – was developed by Cheung et al. (1996)

based on a sample of 2444 Chinese subjects drawn from a general population (not

exclusively managers) from seven major regions of Mainland China and Hong Kong,

and aged from 18–65 with a minimum grade 6 education level (standardization

sample). The CPAI was derived from the combined emic-etic approach based on the

review of traditional and contemporary Chinese literature plus descriptions used by

Chinese people as well as other recent research on Chinese personality. The CPAI has

been tested widely and used in various studies both in the Far East and in Western

countries (Cheung et al. 2001; Cheung et al. 2003; Kwong and Cheung 2003; Lin and

Church 2004). A recent comparative study of the CPAI with the Five-Factor Model

developed by Costa and McCrae (1985) suggested that the CPAI did not capture

‘openness’, one of the factors in the Five-factor Model (Cheung et al. 2001, 2003).

Thus, the CPAI-2 was developed with new scales related to ‘openness’ added (Cheung

et al. 2003). However, since the present study needed to concern itself only with the

standardization of the Chinese personality, the CPAI-2 was not used. The CPAI

contains 352 items clustered into four dimensions with 22 scales of Chinese

personality. (For further detail, see Table 1.)

Three of the scales, Harmony, Face and Renqing are central components of the

Chinese personality structure. They are interrelated and emphasize implicit rules of

interpersonal dynamics in Chinese culture (Cheung and Leung 1998). Zhang and Bond

(1998) examined the relationship between personality determinants and the Chinese

emphasis on filial piety (deference to parents) and found that Harmony and Renqing had a

significant relationship with filial piety. These personality components may well have

played a significant role in helping the Chinese to develop their business networks and to

maintain the quality of relationships which has been important in enhancing their

economic success over centuries in those Far East societies where there are significant

ethnic Chinese communities.

Research question

We have argued that just as traditional Chinese culture and values based on

Confucianism have influenced the Chinese personality (Campbell et al. 1990; Redding


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1990; Stewart and Chong 1990; Ralston et al. 1993; Child 1994; Child and Lu 1994;

Tsui and Farh 1997; Buckley et al. 2006), so this personality is also subject to

influences from economic forces stemming from modernization (Hwang 1982; Brindley

1989, 1990; Yang and Bond 1990; Yang 1996). In other words, in order to cope and

make a success of these forces, Taiwanese managers have had to acquire up-to-date

business knowledge and skills to respond to the changing social economic

environments and, as a result, are likely to have experienced changes in their values

and personality. It is therefore worth exploring how far the personality of Taiwan

Chinese managers is still rooted within Confucianism. Hence, a research question (RQ)

with one hypothesis (H) was formulated as follows:

Research Question: How has modernization impacted Taiwan Chinese Managers’

personality?

The hypothesis proposed relating to the Research Question (RQ) is:

Hypothesis: Given the impact of modernization on Chinese personality, the data

collected will indicate that the Chinese personality is on the wane.

Table 1. The 22 personality scales of CPAI.

M(1) M (2) SD (1) SD (2)

Self vs. Social Orientation (S_S) 6.98 7.00 2.80 2.74Graciousness vs. Meanness (G_M) 10.71 4.22 2.90 2.21Introversion vs. Extroversion (I_E) 7.19 7.68 3.31 2.14Harmony (HAR) 11.50 12.23 2.43 1.85Leadership (LEA) 7.34 9.77 3.52 3.31Face (FAC) 7.34 5.75 3.47 3.13Renqing (REN) 12.58 11.52 2.05 1.86Family Orientation (FAM) 10.32 6.27 2.93 1.84Optimism vs. Pessimism (O_P) 9.46 7.93 2.88 1.97Flexibility (FLE) 5.73 8.50 3.02 3.05Logical vs. Affective Orientation (L_A) 9.22 10.37 2.95 2.31Modernization (MOD) 9.81 7.62 2.67 2.19Emotionality (EMO) 4.78 7.20 2.94 1.83Thrift vs. Extravagance (T_E) 8.70 8.27 2.90 2.14Responsibility (RES) 9.61 9.16 3.15 1.77Adventurousness (ADV) 7.84 6.90 2.93 2.49Meticulousness (MET) 9.72 7.38 2.90 2.01Defensiveness (DEF) 5.87 3.47 3.16 2.76Veraciousness vs. Slickness (V_S) 11.61 5.12 2.68 1.53Practical Mindedness (PRA) 10.16 7.47 2.61 2.00Ext. vs. Int. Locus of Control (E_I) 7.35 8.30 2.94 2.09Inferiority vs. Self-acceptance (I_S) 4.91 2.78 3.61 3.03Total number of cases 2444 117Average number of cases for the means 2373 117

M (1) – Mean scores of CPAI Complete Standardization Sample (1998 Mainland þ446 Hong Kong); M (2) –Descriptive Statistics: Mean scores of 117 Taiwanese sample SD1 and SD2 – Standard deviation of M (1) andM (2) respectively; The four dimensions of the 22 scales of the CPAI:Dependability: responsibility, practical-mindedness, graciousness vs. meanness, optimism vs. pessimism,veraciousness vs. slickness, family orientation, meticulousness, emotionality, inferiority vs. self-acceptance,external vs. locus of control, and face.Chinese Tradition (Interpersonal Relatedness): harmony, renqing (relationship orientation), thrift vs.extravagance, flexibility and modernization. Social Potency: leadership, adventurousness, introversion vs.extraversion. Individualism: self vs. social orientation, logical vs. affective orientation, defensiveness (Ah-QMentality).


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Research method

The study used both qualitative (semi-structured interview programme) and quantitative

methods (CPAI) to explore the personality of the subjects. This approach can provide

triangulation and can build on the strengths of both methods. It can also yield

convergence of results and so enhance validity. Equally, it can provide divergent results

which may nonetheless enrich the findings and conclusions of the study. By examining

the intact settings where some cases share some characteristics and some do not, the

findings are thus strengthened with validity and reliability (Miles and Huberman 1994;

Yin 1994). The semi-structured interview programme with a check-list was used in

order to avoid missing any important points. Examples of interview questions are: ‘as

you look back from your childhood until now, do you feel that your personality has

changed?; Why do you think it changed?; How do you feel about it?; What do you

want to achieve from your work?; and What is important to you now in guiding the

way you work?’. These were asked in order to gain insight into the participants’

thinking, feelings, emotions, experience and values. The interview allowed them to

articulate and define what they perceived as important to them. Flick (1998) defined the

purpose of the semi-structured interview as to obtain descriptions from the interviewees

about their world view.

Research instruments

In order to measure the subjects’ personality through an instrument taking account of

cultural specificity, this study used the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI).

Cheung et al. (1996) state that the CPAI was developed as an omnibus indigenous

personality inventory for the Chinese people and it has been extensively validated

and tested.

The participants were also asked to complete a biographical data sheet indicating their

age, gender, education, occupation as well as illustrating any significant life experience

that might have influenced their values and attitudes. This data could thus help to verify

and elaborate on the data collected from the CPAI and interviews.

The study was conducted throughout in Chinese. The reason for this is that the

participants’ native language was Chinese. This is in accordance with good research

practice. The CPAI has its own Chinese version. The interview questions and biographical

data sheet were also translated and administered in Chinese, the established convention of

back-translation being used to verify that accuracy of meaning had not suffered through

translation (Brislin 1986).

Method of analysis

The data collected from the CPAI was input into a pre-set computer program in which the

instrument’s scoring syntax was pre-stored. This automatically generated the total scores

on each scale for each respondent. (Scores for the individual personality scales cannot be

generated if there is more than one item missing.) Thus, the mid-point scale of the

Taiwanese sample yielded from the test was used as an indicator to reflect the relative

significance of the scores on each of personality scales.

Content analysis was used to analyse the data gained from the interview programme

which was later categorized with the statistical data obtained from the CPAI and

biographical data sheets. In order to categorize the data efficiently, the data were coded,

labelled and then linked to form relevant patterns. This is a systematic method to merge


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both qualitative and quantitative data that enables the results to be set within relevant

theoretical contexts (Miles and Huberman 1994).

Sampling

In the present study, ethnic Chinese who live within the Chinese cultural context and

environment should be considered as ideal subjects. However, the ‘true Chinese’ are

not easy to identify (Cheung et al. 1992) because of the diversity of experience, social

economic structures and political ideologies in China and South-East Asia where most

Chinese live. For example, Hong Kong originally was a fishing port with about 3000

inhabitants which was occupied by the British after 1841. In the late 1940s, it received

a heavy influx of mainland Chinese who became exposed to British colonial influences

during the years before the territory reverted to China in 1997. By contrast, the Chinese

on the mainland of China were overshadowed by Maoist ideology which brought forth

the 10 years’ Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 resulting in social, economic and

political turmoil. More recently, China has witnessed further change, this time the

consequence of economic reforms freeing up the economy initiated by Deng Xiao Ping

in the 1980s. As for Taiwan, its experience is different again; it has been a Japanese

colony within living memory and during the Cold War, came under American influence

and protection. However, the focus of the study, aiming as it does to explore how far

the Chinese personality is still sustained by traditional teaching, made Taiwan an ideal

place to base the study in that most of the population are descendants of Chinese from

the Mainland which is the cradle of traditional Chinese values and culture. Its polity is

also exclusively wholly ethnically Chinese. The subjects in the current study are

referred to as Taiwan Chinese, differentiating them from Chinese living in other

geographical locations.

A sample specification was developed in order to bring into the study managers who

had been nurtured within the Chinese cultural context. Given that around 1 million

Chinese moved to Taiwan from mainland China in the aftermath of the Communists taking

power there in 1949, the island is imbued with a strong Chinese cultural tradition. Through

some academic contacts 135 Taiwan Chinese managers and entrepreneurs, (all MBA

alumni from Taiwanese universities) were identified on the basis of the following criteria:

they had to be local born ethnic Chinese or at least living in Taiwan for not less than 30

years, have a solid career trajectory and track record in business management and be aged

at least 35 years.

Data collection

A sample survey with the two self-report instruments (the CPAI and biographical data

sheet) was posted to the 135 participants and an invitation letter to participate in the

interview programme was enclosed. The letter also indicated that all information given

would be kept confidential and the data collected would be used only for academic

research purposes.

The two self-report instruments were completed by 117 participants (main

sample). These were then mailed to or collected by the researcher in person. Of the

117 participants 45 further participated in an interview programme which was mainly

conducted in their own offices for about one and a half hours. The interviews were

recorded with the consent of the participants. A check-list was also used to ensure no

points were missed.


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Analysis

Of the original 135 copies of questionnaires 117 were completed and returned, making the

response rate of 87% which was extremely high. After analysing the biographical data

sheets, the participants turned out on average to have at least 10 years management

experience with most having a Master’s degree. The profiles of the 117 managers are

summarized in Table 2. They are composed of 82 managers and 35 entrepreneurs, but

some participants combined employment as managers with part-time entrepreneurial

activities. For convenience, ‘manager’ is used to refer to all the participants unless it is

necessary to specify a difference. For the analysis of the interview data, content analysis

was used. For example, ‘ongoing personal growth’ and ‘maximizing monetary rewards’

were coded and labelled and categorized under ‘current personal value’; ‘need to raise the

living standard and status’ were categorized under ‘impact of social and economic

changes’; ‘I am feeling a higher sense of achievement than I used to’ and ‘Nowadays, I like

to do things in my own way’ were categorized under ‘change of personality’.

The categorization of the interview data was used to explain and support the data collected

from the CAPI and the biographical data sheet.

Analysis of the CPAI, supplemented by content analysis of the interviews and

biographical data sheet is summarized below. The scores of the 22 scales of the CPAI are

used to lead the presentation of the analysis.

The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)

Of the managers who completed the CPAI, 117 validated cases (Table 1) were established

after running the scoring syntax. (For easy reference, the Standardization Sample of the

CPAI is incorporated into Table 1.) The scale mid-point of the Taiwanese sample is 7.5.

Harmony (HAR) and Renqing (REN)

The two scales registering the highest mean scores were Harmony (12.23) and Renqing

(11.52). Both represent two major Chinese cultural traditions stemming from Confucian

teachings (Bond 1996; Cheung et al. 1996; Cheung and Leung 1998; Wong and Slater

2002) so these scores should be treated as no surprise.

Logical versus Affective Orientation (L_A)

This scale obtained the third highest mean score (10.37). Managers who score highly

on this scale value logic over emotion, approach life’s problems from a rational standpoint

and prefer objectivity over intuition in their approach to decision-making. For example,

Table 2. Biographical data of the 117 managers.

Occupation Male Female Total

Manager 54 28 82Entrepreneur* 32 3 35Age 35–40 24 18 42Age 41–45 19 8 27Age 46–50 29 5 34Age 51 þ 14 0 14

* Self-employed or managers in business partnerships.


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one participant in the interview programme was a bank manager as well as involved in a

business partnership. He said that he always counted the pros and cons scrupulously before

making any decision, and confessed himself to be totally unsentimental.

Leadership (LEA), Responsibility (RES) and Flexibility (FLE)

The mean scores on these three scales came fourth (9.77), fifth (9.16) and sixth (8.5)

highest respectively. These above mid-point scores may be reflective of the composition of

the sample: managers and entrepreneurs.

External versus Internal Locus of Control (E_I):

The mean score on this scale was the seventh highest (8.3). The interview data suggested

that the subjects tended to believe that events and outcomes were more likely to be

influenced by external factors lying beyond their control than by internal factors which lay

within their control.

Thrift versus Extravagance (T_E)

The mean score on this scale was the eighth highest (8.27). (T_E) is the tendency to save

rather than to waste and is one of the values linked to ‘Confucian Dynamism,’ a term

sometimes used to explain the success of the South-East Asian Tiger (mainly ethnic

Chinese) economies. A number of participants in the interviews mentioned that improving

their financial situation had always been their first priority in life as they were born in

poverty.

Optimism versus Pessimism (O_P)

This mean score (7.93), the ninth highest, came at slightly above the scale mid-point (7.5),

indicating that the sample was more or less equally divided between those who took an

optimistic and those who took a pessimistic outlook on life.

Introversion versus Extraversion (I_E)

This mean score (7.68), the tenth highest, was also slightly above the scale mid-point

indicating that the sample was more or less equally divided between introverts and

extraverts.

Modernization (MOD)

The mean score on this scale was 7.62 making it the eleventh highest. It covers ‘attitudes

towards traditional Chinese beliefs and values in the areas of family relationships,

materialism, hierarchical order, rituals and chastity’ (Cheung et al. 1996). This mid-point

score suggests that while modernization (the adoption of Western beliefs and practices) may

have taken a firm root in Taiwan, much of what is regarded as traditionally Chinese remains.

Practical Mindedness (PRA) and Meticulousness (MET)

The mean scores on these two scales, the twelfth and thirteenth highest, were 7.47 and 7.38

respectively. The sample as a whole is again clustered around the mid-point.

Emotionality (EMO)

In view of the importance traditionally attached by the Chinese to playing down and

keeping control over their emotions (Bond 1996), perhaps we should be surprised that the


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mean score on this scale, the fourteenth highest at 7.20, is as high as it is. A significant but

not untypical example was a company vice-president who was extremely open and

expressive at his interview, using strong tones and rapid body movements to demonstrate

his passion about making his business a success.

Self versus Social Orientation (S_SO)

The mean score on this scale was 7.00 making it the fifteenth highest. It suggests that the

managers tend slightly towards seeing themselves as having a relational identity

(e.g., family member, employee) rather than an identity which marks them out

unequivocally as individuals in their own right. As a mid-point score, it contrasts with the

extremely low score on Individualism reported by Hofstede (2001) for Taiwan in his

comparative study of national cultural values. The explanation for this contrast probably

lies in the difference between the composition of the samples in each of the studies: the

sample in the present study consisting exclusively of managers and entrepreneurs, an

occupational grouping which can be assumed to subscribe, more than society at large, to

individualistic values such as achievement and initiative.

Adventurousness (ADV)

The mean score for this scale (6.90), the sixteenth highest, suggests that, while the subjects

were by no means excessively cautious and risk-averse, they were not particularly

adventurous either. The interview data indicated that most of the participants preferred to

operate within their comfort zone and to go for ‘sure wins’ in their business dealings.

Family Orientation (FAM)

Given the central role of the family in traditional Chinese culture, perhaps there are

grounds for surprise that the mean score for this scale was only 6.27. Many of the

participants in the interviews mentioned (usually with expressions of regret) that

their business commitments substantially eroded the time they were able to spend

with their families.

Face (FAC)

The mean score on this scale (5.75) came as eighteenth highest and, like Family

Orientation, is an important concept within the Chinese tradition centred as it is on the

maintenance of social approval and self-respect. It is surprising therefore that the score did

not rank more highly. Moreover, ‘giving face’ is an element in maintaining Harmony

(which, by contrast, came out as having the highest mean score).

Veraciousness versus Slickness (V_S)

The mean score on this scale is 5.12 which ranks it as nineteenth, putting the subjects at the

slickness end of the scale. Cheung et al. (1996) state that this personality dimension is

often used by the Chinese to judge the trustworthiness of a person.

Graciousness versus Meanness (G_M)

Graciousness is another Confucian virtue which is to do with ‘patience, forgiveness,

acceptance of self and others, and self-sacrifice as opposed to the mean and calculating


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characteristics of cynicism, vindictiveness and negativism’ (Cheung et al. 1996). The

mean score on this scale was 4.22 making it the third lowest. Our sample thus tends

towards the meanness end of the scale.

Defensiveness (DEF)

The mean score for this scale was 3.47 making it the second lowest. High scorers

(in contrast with our sample) frequently resort to self-protective rationalization and

externalization of blame. If we go by the evidence from the interview programme, the

subjects predominantly saw themselves as more or less successful in their careers, having

no great need for defence mechanisms to shield them from the hard knocks of life.

Inferiority versus Self-acceptance (I_S)

This scale produced the lowest mean score (2.78) and it indicates that the subjects had little

difficulty in accepting themselves for what they were and could indulge in some pride

in their achievements. Most of the managers in the interviews had no hesitation in boasting

of their career success.

Discussion

The data emerging from the research question indicate very strongly that, for the managers

taking part in this study at least, the Chinese cultural tradition rooted in Confucianism, in

terms of its impact on their personality, is in sharp decline. However, it also reveals that

some of the traditional Chinese values are still firmly in place. So the hypothesis is partly

supported.

Harmony (HAR) and Renqing (REN) came out as the two top mean scores on the CPAI

which immediately suggests that traditional Chinese teaching has a strong influence on the

personalities of the subjects. Harmony is about seeking to avoid confrontation and conflict,

especially within the family. Renqing is an aspect of relationship ‘guanxi’ and is about the

need to maintain and nurture relationship so that harmony ensues. These scores, however,

might be indicative as much as of the participants’ occupations (managers and

entrepreneurs) as of their ethnic origin. Cheung and Leung (1998), suggest that high scores

on those two scales from Chinese subjects should be interpreted as a reflection of the use of

gentle persuasion as a preferred tactic in interpersonal influence in Chinese managers.

The Logical vs. Affective (L_A) score which came as the third highest mean score is

perhaps best explained by the fact the subjects were professional managers: disposed to

rely primarily on logic rather than on their feelings. We can reasonably assume that the

subjects, by their training and experience, would be more than averagely disposed to adopt

approaches to problem-solving that are calculative and unsentimental. The biographical

data sheets revealed that 95% of the subjects had taken degrees in science and technology,

and all could be considered from the evidence of their career progression as having

achieved a fair degree of professional mastery. It can reasonably be conjectured that their

education and work experience had made its mark on their personality in the sense of

orienting it away from values associated with traditional Chinese teaching towards values

associated with personal success. Yang’s (1996) Cultural Ecological Model, suggests that

changes in Taiwanese values and personality over the past quarter century have come

about as a result of social and economic factors associated with the growth of individualist

values and modernization. Furthermore, the Taiwan Chinese managers may be good

examples of the acculturation effect: a term which refers to a process whereby individuals


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gradually assimilate the values, characteristics and behaviours of an environment to which

they are exposed (Lin and Church 2004). Taiwan has been very open to American

influence following the setting up of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1940s and some of

the managers participating in the present study had worked or were working in Western-

owned companies.

The score on Thrift versus Extravagance (T_E) comes as eighth highest and is just

above the scale mid-point. The subjects, on balance, tended to value thrift rather than

careless spending, and, to that extent, are exemplifying a traditional Chinese virtue.

An alternative or additional explanation might lie in the impoverished backgrounds of a

number of the managers which inculcated frugal attitudes to money and spending and

which have lived on despite their much improved financial circumstances.

If the influence of traditional Chinese teaching on personality is very much in decline,

it could reasonably be expected that the score on Modernization would be higher. But at

7.62, it falls only on the mid-point of the scale. Perhaps a more telling indication of the

decline in that influence can be found in the just below the mid-point score for Family

Orientation (FAM) (6.27). If the family figures so importantly within the Chinese

tradition, a higher score than this should be expected. Again the score for Face (FAC) is

surprisingly low (5.75) given the importance attached within the Chinese tradition to the

maintenance of social approval and self-respect. In the interviews, most of the managers

suggested that for them social approval and self-respect appeared to relate far more

strongly to ‘getting on’: demonstrating one’s success through career advancement and

earning the tangible rewards that come with that success.

There was further evidence from the CPAI that the managers were not particularly

influenced by certain aspects of traditional Chinese teaching. On Veraciousness vs.

Slickness (V_S), the score (5.12) was somewhat below the scale mid-point, indicating that

they tend towards Slickness. Perhaps as business people, it is not surprising that they prefer

acting out of expediency rather than following the Confucian injunction to be veracious.

Again, the managers in the interview sample frequently said that in order to ‘get on’, apart

from working hard, they sometimes had to use tactics which might not be regarded as

ethical. On Graciousness vs. Meanness (G_M), the score is even lower at 4.22.

The managers appear not to see themselves in a very flattering light. More importantly, in

the context of this discussion, they seem to exemplify only very weakly the Confucian

virtues of patience, forgiveness, acceptance of others and self-sacrifice. Last, the score of

Inferiority vs. Self-Acceptance (I_S) is very low at 2.78. In the interview sample, almost

all the participants agreed that setting up one’s own business was a good strategy to

demonstrate personal success and enhance self-acceptance (I am a boss). For example, one

of the participants said ‘I’ve always invested heavily in building relationships and the

purpose of this investment has been very much to do with earning more money and raising

my social status. I like to win all the time. Once I have enough capital, I will set up my own

company. My friends are almost all of high social rank. They are successful

entrepreneurs’.

All in all, the answer to the Research Question seems that the Taiwan Chinese

managers are in the midst of a battle between the forces of modernization on one side and

Chinese traditional values on the other, and that the former are winning out handsomely.

(Although the scores on the traditional Chinese personality scales give a mixed message

about the impact of modernization, the message is unequivocally in support of the

modernization thesis if the 22 personality scales of the CPAI are considered as a whole.)

Therefore, the influence of the Confucian tradition, at least for this sample, is very much

on the wane. As such, an important implication may be that we are seeing a convergence of


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culture and personality brought about by the spread of globalization with its largely

Western business values.

Limitations of the study

The results of the present study have to be set within a number of limitations. First,

although the CPAI has been conceived as an omnibus indigenous personality inventory

for the Chinese people using a combined emic–etic approach (Cheung et al. 1996), we

are still left with the question of what does ‘Chinese’ mean? What is not clear from the

CPAI data emerging from the present study is how far they represents core Chinese

traits. For example, Lin and Church (2004) in a study of three samples carried out in

the USA, reported that, while low-acculturation Chinese Americans averaged

significantly higher than high-acculturation Chinese Americans and European

Americans on the total score for the Interpersonal Relatedness scales of the CPAI,

the latter two groups were not significantly different. Second, the CPAI, although

designed for Chinese, is but one of many personality instruments. If the Taiwanese

sample taking part in the present study had completed a comparable Western

personality instrument, it would be interesting to find out how the results compared

with those obtained from the CPAI and what further insights they might have offered.

Third, the data yielded from the study captured the subjects at a single point in time.

We can therefore only speculate about when the influence of Confucian values on

Taiwanese managers first began to decline, and the pace at which that decline is now

proceeding. There may be some other explanations and causes. For example, it may be

that Taiwanese managers as an occupational grouping and given the nature of their

calling have, from time immemorial, paid less attention to Confucian teachings than the

generality of the population. We take the view however that in its present form, the

CPAI and the methodology employed in this study is sufficiently robust to permit

replica studies of the Chinese managers’ personality thus making comparisons possible

between the sample of Taiwanese managers who participated in the present study and

matched Chinese samples elsewhere.

Future research

The findings of this study suggest that the Chinese personality has been moderated

under the influence of globalization; so what is the current nature of Chinese culture

and values? The relationship between globalization and personality presents a number

of possibilities for further research. For example, within the Chinese cultural tradition,

there is a deep respect for age, males are regarded as more important than females and

occupations carry differential levels of respect which do not exactly accord with

Western values. Examination of these elements within the Chinese cultural tradition

using personality measurement as a lens could shed light on how rapidly the forces of

globalization are gaining ground. Also, China and the Chinese diaspora are vast in

numbers and geographically fragmented (Slocum et al. 2006). There is a need for

comparative studies to assess the differential impact of modernization on managerial

populations in those Chinese regions which have experienced recent economic reforms

on a far-reaching scale such as Mainland coastal cities and more ‘backward’

communities such as from the interior of China. Such studies could contribute

usefully in extending our understanding of the impact of globalization on Chinese

personality.


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Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Asia Academy of Management Conference,19–21 December 2006, Tokyo, Japan. We are grateful to members of the audience who gave usefulcomments and feedback.

We are also grateful to F.M. Cheung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who allowedus to use the CPAI and the accompanying scoring syntax to conduct the study. She and herresearch associate S.F. Cheung also gave valuable advice on the analysis and interpretation of thescores.

Last but not least, we sincerely thank all those who participated in the research, together withCheng-Nan Chen at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan who kindly set up the contacts.

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Taiwan Chinese managers' personality: is Confucian influence on the wane?

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Transcript of Taiwan Chinese managers' personality: is Confucian influence on the wane?