Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Lily C. Huang

Publication Date

7-11-1973

Abstract

The present investigation intended to study conformity of Chinese and Americans in several different situations through three independent experiments conducted in Taipei, Taiwan and in Albuquerque, New Mexico, based on the paradigm adapted from imitation studies. From historical and anthropological analyses of Chinese and American cultures, as ·well as from more recent experimental studies, there were reasons to expect Chinese to be more conforming and their behavior more dependent upon environmental influences. Experiment One studied the effects of a model's task specific competence and general status on adult Ss' conformity in a survey-taking field situation. The results showed that Chinese Ss conformed more than American Ss as expected; but neither the interaction of nationality and status, nor that of nationality and competence was significant, contradicting the differential sensitivity to these manipulations predicted from the cultural patterns in China and in the United States. Experiment Two studied the conformity of adult Ss either to a helpful or unhelpful model when asked to mail a letter for a stranger in a field paradigm.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Educational Leadership

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Mary Bierman Harris

Second Committee Member

James Clark Moore

Third Committee Member

Daniel Bruce Berch

Fourth Committee Member

John Thomas Zepper

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