ABSTRACT
However, can traditional Chinese values such as collectivism and its stress on harmony, survive in the face of the forces of modernisation? There are broadly two schools of thought on this question. One sees core Chinese cultural values as deeply embedded in traditions that have survived thousands of years. As such, they are unlikely to be casually cast aside. Others have argued that China’s traditional culture was the product of an agricultural society and that as Chinese communities become more industrialised they will abandon outdated values. An example of this approach can be found in the early work of Yang (1986). Surveying findings from numerous psychological studies that mainly centred on comparisons between Chinese and Americans, he concluded that the former were indeed more likely to display social harmoniousness, group-mindedness and mutual dependency. However, he also noted that evidence from Taiwan suggests that its inhabitants are moving away from such a ‘social’ orientation towards a more ‘individualistic’ one. This he attributed to the rapid industrialisation of Taiwan favouring such characteristics. The implications are clear. Given industrialisation, Chinese people will become much like other members of advanced industrial societies.
