泛文化的自尊需要:基于中国人的研究证据

Pan-cultural Need for Self-esteem:Evidence from China

自尊需要是否具有跨文化普遍性是文化心理学领域近10年来争论最为激烈的问题之一。围绕这一争议,本文从6个方面对国内外基于中国人的自尊研究进行了梳理、整合和解读。结果显示:1)自尊作为一种结构在中国和西方是类似的;2)中国人的自尊是存在积极偏差的;3)高自尊对中国人是有益的;4)中国人需要、努力且策略性地维护和促进自尊;5)中国人只是在自尊的认知成分上水平比西方人低,情感成分上不低;6)自尊的文化差异可以由动机或需要本身以外的与文化密切相关的因素解释,比如:谦虚、趋中的反应偏向、朴素的辩证认知风格等。这些证据表明:自尊需要具有跨文化普遍性,但其表达、促进和维护因文化而异。

This article reviews the large body of accumulated studies on Chinese self-esteem in relation to the hot debate about universality of the need for positive self-regard. Six lines of studies on Chinese self-esteem showed that： 1） Chinese self-esteem has similar structure as it is in the West;2） Chinese self-esteem manifest pronounced positive self-bias as it does in the West;3） High self-esteem is beneficial in China as it is in the West;4） Chinese maintain and enhance their self-esteem tactically in culture-specific ways;5） Chinese manifest low cognitive self-evaluation but similar affective self-regard compared with people in the West;6） Chinese low self-esteem could be accounted for by factors characterizing Chinese culture such as modesty,moderate response tendency and nave dialectic self. These findings suggest that the need for high self-esteem is pan-cultural although culture may prescribe its expression and the ways to maintain and enhance it.