Self- and Group-Orientations and Adjustment in Urban and Rural Chinese Children

摘要

This study examined self- and group-orientations and their associations with social and psychological adjustment among children in urban and rural China. We expected that self-orientation would be more strongly associated with adjustment in urban children than in rural children whereas group-orientation would be more strongly associated with adjustment in rural children than in urban children. Data on self- and group-orientations and indexes of adjustment were collected for students in urban and rural elementary schools ( N = 990, M _(age)= 11 years) from multiple sources including teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that self-orientation was positively associated with academic achievement (β = .27, t = 5.20, p < .001) and negatively associated with emotional problems (βs = ?.12 to ?.20, t s = ?2.34 to ?3.93, p s = .007 to < .001) in urban children; the associations were weaker or nonsignificant in rural children (βs = ?.04 to .12, t s = ?.83 to 2.54, p s = .405 to .011). Group-orientation was associated with social standing, academic achievement, and psychological well-being more strongly in rural children (βs = ?.35 to .36, t s = ?7.32 to 7.63, p s = .048 to < .001) than in urban children (βs = ?.19 to .20, t s = ?.3.75 to 3.77, p s = .432 to < .001). These results indicate different implications of self- and group-orientations for adjustment in urban and rural children in contemporary China.