Poster #71 - Chinese Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs about Shyness and Physical Aggression: Exploring Regional Differences

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Cultural context shapes individuals’ beliefs about the acceptability of different social behaviors (Chen & French, 2008). Macro level changes within a culture promote social and cultural transformations, which influence socialization and expectations about normative behaviors (Greenfield, 2009). During the past two decades, China has experienced an economic reform towards a more market-oriented economy (Zhang, 2000). As a result, shifts in ideologies about adaptive and maladaptive social behaviors have occurred, particularly in urban areas (Chen et al., 2005). For example, studies of shyness in urban China in the 1990s indicated shyness was positively associated with indices of socio-emotional and academic adjustment (Chen et al., 1998; Chen, Rubin, & Li, 1995). However, contemporary studies of childhood shyness in urban China now suggest that this characteristic is no longer positively valued, and is associated with adjustment difficulties and poorer academic performance (e.g., Coplan et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2018). Interestingly, these changes have not been evidenced in rural areas of China (Li, 2006).

It is important to investigate teachers’ beliefs because of their influences on children’s socio-emotional and academic development (Archbell, Bullock, & Coplan, 2018). Previous studies investigated urban Chinese teachers’ beliefs towards shyness and physical aggression (Li et al., 2016; Li et al., 2018). Results indicated that physical aggression was perceived to be the most problematic, and teachers similarly reported negative views about shyness. Beliefs about these child behaviors have yet to be explored among teachers from rural China. Therefore, this study compared views about children’s shyness and physical aggression among teachers from urban versus rural areas in Mainland China.

Participants were N = 913 female teachers from public kindergartens in Mainland China. Teachers lived and worked either in the large urban center of Shanghai (n = 612) or in rural areas of Liaoning and Yunnan (n = 301). Participants completed the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Vignettes (Li et al., 2018; Li et al., 2016), which depicts short scenarios of hypothetical boys or girls engaging in shy and physically aggressive behaviors. Following each scenario, participants responded to a series of questions regarding their responses, emotional reactions, perceived implications, and self-efficacy towards the child misbehaviors.

Results from series of mixed repeated measures ANOVA’s indicated that shyness was tolerated more than physical aggression and rural teachers were generally more tolerant overall than their urban counterparts. Of particular interest, rural teachers expected shy children to do better academically and felt better prepared to deal with shyness than urban teachers (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). This is consistent with research indicating that rural Chinese teachers rate shy children as higher in school competence than urban teachers (Chen et al., 2011). Results also support the notion that shyness in rural China is still positively evaluated and encouraged by adults (Chen et al., 2005). Findings will be discussed in terms of cultural contexts and impact on children’s social and academic functioning.

Authors

• Kristen Archbell, Carleton University
  Presenting Author

• Amanda Bullock, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yan Li, Shanghai Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert J Coplan, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author