Abstract:

What is Chinese personality? This question has long attracted the interest of researchers. Joint factor analyses of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI), which was generated using a combined emic-etic approach, and the NEO-FFI, which measures western-derived Big Five personality factors, produced six factors. These correspond to the five factors from the Big Five Model plus an Interpersonal Relatedness factor (IR). These six factors constitute the “Big Six” personality structure that describes and explains Chinese personality or behavior. IR is a culturally specific personality dimension that is closely related to traditional Chinese culture. The existence of IR has been confirmed by a large number of studies, but its connotations need to be further explored and refined. This paper discussed the subtypes of the Chinese IR personality trait from a quantitative perspective and further explored which subtype of IR was more adaptive.

The study adopted a “person-centered approach” to reveal the overall nature of IR in Chinese people. In Study 1, 1911 participants of the CPAI-2 normative sample were analyzed with latent profile analysis (LPA) in terms of six dimensions of IR - Ren Qing (relatedness Orientation), Harmony, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Discipline, Thrift vs. Extravagance, and Traditionalism vs. Modernity - to explore the latent subtypes of IR. In Study 2, 200 white people were investigated to explore the latent profile structure of Interpersonal Relatedness in non-Chinese people. In Study 3, 2580 juniors from a comprehensive university were investigated to verify the latent structure of IR obtained in Study 1. The LPA method with outcome variables (BCH method) was used to investigate the social adaptability of different subtypes of college students in the latent structure of IR in terms of academic performance, knowledge sharing behavior, and mental health.

The results of study 1 showed that the fourfold classification model of IR had the best fitting index. The fourfold classification model was specifically composed of high and low scores of “round outside” (including three latent personality constructs of Ren Qing, Harmony, and Interpersonal Sensitivity) and “square inside” (including three latent personality constructs of Discipline, Thrift vs. Extravagance, and Traditionalism vs. Modernity). The four subtypes were “gentlemen” who were round outside and square inside, pedantic persons who were non-round outside and square inside, two-faced persons who were non-round outside and non-square inside, and hypocrites who were round outside and non-square inside. The fourfold classification model showed that the latent profile structure of the Chinese IR personality trait involved the dialectical unity of “round outside” and “square inside.” The results of study 2 showed that the latent profile structure of the four categories of "round outside and square inside" did not appear in the Western samples, which reflected the Chinese cultural specificity of the "round outside and square inside" latent profile of Interpersonal Relatedness. The results of study 3 verified the fourfold classification model of study 1. The results of BCH in study 3 found that among the four subgroups, the subgroup of “round outside and square inside” had better academic performance, higher levels of mental health, and more knowledge sharing behaviors, which indicated that this subgroup was the most adaptable in modern society.

The results are discussed in relation to traditional Chinese culture, especially regarding the characteristics of the Confucian “gentleman personality.” The research provides a rich historical context and insight into the applicability to the contemporary life of the dialectical and unified “round outside and square inside” behavior mode of contemporary Chinese people.

Key words: personality, interpersonal relatedness, round outside and square inside, latent profile analysis