The Structure of Basic Life Orientations: Ethno-Cultural Aspect (Using the Example of the Chinese Version of the Subject-Object Orientations Questionnaire)

Basic life orientations characterize the general objective of personality and depend on culture, traditions and mentality. Adequate psychological techniques are essential for cross-cultural studies. The aim of this study was to adapt the Russian-language Questionnaire of Subject- Object Orientations in Chinese. The following tasks were solved: equivalent translation of the questionnaire into Chinese; analysis of the discriminativity of items and the questionnaire as a whole; identification of the Chinese version factor structure; determination of its validity and reliability. The questionnaire was adapted among 1,471 Chinese students of the University of Guizhou Province (China). The survey of respondents was carried out according to six Chi- nese versions, in different samples. The adapted Chinese version of the questionnaire consists of 11 items included in three factors: 1) the courage to challenge difficulties; 2) the desire for inner harmony; 3) clarity of purpose in life. This structure of basic life orientations differs significantly from the four-factor structure inherent in Russians (three factors characterizing different aspects of the creative personal orientation in life situations, and the transsituational locus of control). According to the results of psychometric analysis, the Chinese version of the questionnaire provides assessments of statements on a 5-point Likert scale, unlike the Rus- sian version with an alternative choice of answers. The Chinese version of the questionnaire has high reliability and validity and can be used to study the life orientations of the Chinese. The use of this version will contribute to the development of scientific and cultural exchange between Russia and China.

Burlachuk, L. F. (2008). Dictionary-handbook of Psychodiagnostics.  3rd ed. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ. (In Russian)

Chen, Dan. (2011). Research on the prediction model of depression among college students.  (Dissertation Master). Hangzhou, Zhejiang University. (In Chinese)

Chen, Wei, Ge, Ying, Hu, Yuanyan, Zhang, Jinsu. (2015). Applicability and generalizability of the Life Meaning Scale (revised version): An analysis based on CTT and multidimensional rasch. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology,  23 (4), 604–614. (In Chinese)

Chzhou, M., Mynbaeva, A. K. (2021). Psychological diagnostics and pedagogical measurements: Analysis of approaches in Kazakhstan and China. Sovremennye nauchnye gipotezy i prognozy: ot teorii k praktike. sbornik nauchnykh statei po itogam mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (pp. 78–80). St. Petersburg, Izdatel’stvo SPbGEU. (In Russian)

Danilenko, O. I., Siuĭ, I. (2018). The values of the Сhinese students: The ratio of subjective significance-accessibility. Vestnik of St. Petersburg University. Psychology, 8 (1), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu16.2018.103 (In Russian)

Deng, Wengen, Dai, Haiqi. (2011). A comparison of the applicability of different IRT models in the revised version of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Jiangxi Normal University: Natural Science Edition,  35 (2), 216–220. (In Chinese)

Furmanov, I. A., Syn’chun’, Ne (2022). Internal consistency of the scales of the Chinese version of the questionnaire “Affective and motivational orientation related to erotic arousal”. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology,  2, 49–58. (In Russian)

Hu, L. T., Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling,  6 (1), 1–55.

Intszianʹ V. (2022). The influence of Russian culture on Chinese culture in the context of Ethnopsychology. Pedagogika iskusstva,  3, 179–184. (In Russian)

Kline P. (1994). Reference Guide for Designing Tests.  Kiev, PAN Ltd Publ. (In Russian)

Korjova, E. Yu. (2002). Psychological knowledge of human destiny.  St. Petersburg, Herzen University Press; Soiuz Publ. (In Russian)

Korjova, E. Yu. (2006). Psychology of human life orientations.  St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy Press. (In Russian)

Korjova, E. Yu., Volkova, E. N., Rudykhina, O. V., Tumanova, E. N. (2018). The psychology of a person as a subject of life activity and personality life span: Main research results. Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities & Sciences,  187, 40–50. (In Russian)

Korjova, E. Yu., Dun, Ia. (2020). Proiavlenie otnosheniia k zhizni v risunkakh kitaiskikh i rossiiskikh studentov. Azimuth of Scientific Research: Pedagogy and Psychology, 9, 2 (31), 339–342. https://doi.org/10.26140/anip-2020-0902-0082 (In Russian)

Kostromina, S. N., Grishina, N. V., Moskvichеva, N. L., Zinov’eva, E. V. (2021). Youth life models: shifts and traditions. Bulletin of the Russian Science Foundation. Humanities and social sciences, 1 (103), 79–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.22204/2587-8956-2021-103-01-79-98 (In Russian)

Kriazheva E. V., Vinogradskaia M. Yu. (2020). Analysis of the dynamics of life values and value orientations of university students. Problems of modern pedagogical education,  68-3, 332–334 (In Russian)

Maio G. R. (2017). The psychology of human values.  London, Routledge.

Malysheva O. L. (2018). “Confucian capitalism” and business-culture of china: Socio-cultural tradition and contemporary trends. Sustainable development management,  4 (17), 75–82. (In Russian)

Merkulov, K. K. (2022). Comparison of cultural archetypes of the peoples of Russia and China: A survey of bibliographic source. Peoples and cultures of the Orient, 1, 10, 65–93. https://doi.org/10.48647/IFES. 2022.99.16.036 (In Russian)

Nikulina A. A. (2022). The concepts of determining life orientations in psychology. Review of pedagogical research,  4 (8), 221–226 (In Russian)

Prosekov, S. A. (2020). Chinese character and national psychology: Patterns and metamorphoses. Gumanitarnyi vestnik, 1 (81), 7. Available at: http://hmbul.ru/catalog/hum/phil/647.html (accessed: 30.04.2023) (In Russian)

Roccas S., Sagiv L. (eds). (2017). Values and behavior: Taking a cross cultural perspective.  Zurich, Springer.

Romanenko, A. A., Yashchenko P. F. (2022). The influence of Confucianism on the mentality of the Chinese people. In: N. I. Stepykin (ed.). Iazyk, kul’tura, mental’nost’: problemy i perspektivy filologicheskikh issledovanii. Sbornik IV Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii (pp. 231–236). Kursk: Iugo-Zapadnyi gosudarstvennyi universitet. (In Russian

Shatene, K. (2021). Psychology of Values.  Kharkiv, Gumanitarnyi tsentr Publ. (In Russian)

Tsziuĭ, Iu., Matveev, M. O. (2022). History оf Chinese Psychology: Overview. Moscow University Psychology Bulletin. Ser. 14. Psychology, 2, 3–31. https://doi.org/10.11621/vsp.2022.02.01 (In Russian)