Individual differences in importance ratings of Chinese values and their associations with the Big Five of personality in Western and Eastern populations

Abstract

AbstractGiven the worldwide importance of Chinese culture, the present work revisited a questionnaire assessing individual differences in importance ratings of Chinese values and their associations with well-established personality traits in Western and Eastern populations.Three samples were recruited and completed German (N = 813), English (N = 404), and Taiwanese/Chinese (N = 331) language versions of the Chinese Value Survey (CVS) and the Big Five Inventory. After examining the factorial structure of the CVS in the three samples, we came up with a shortened—and although better than other factor models,  still not optimal—version of the CVS consisting of 29 items and two factors. The factors were named Chinese Traditionalism and Moral Integrity/Striving for Harmony. Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness were positively linked to Moral Integrity/Striving for Harmony in each sample. Conscientiousness was positively linked to Chinese Traditionalism in all samples. Openness was inversely associated with Chinese Traditionalism in the two Western samples only. Frequently, effect sizes of correlations of Big Five domains with the Moral Integrity/Striving for Harmony scale were stronger than those with the Chinese Traditionalism scale.In summary, across culturally diverse samples, the present study demonstrates a novel factorial structure of the CVS. However, the psychometric properties of the new-found CVS factor structure are not satisfactory. Given the heterogeneous findings on the CVS-factor structure across this and other studies, we suggest using other measures in future research to receive more in-depth knowledge on individual differences in importance ratings of Chinese values. Beyond discussing issues related to the CVS factorial structure, we provide first insights into associations between Big Five personality traits and importance ratings of Chinese values.