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Collectivistic Conflict of Chinese in Counseling

Conceptualization and Therapeutic Directions

San Francisco State University

Rapid Westernization and modernization in most Chinese societies has triggered a process of acculturation to Western value orientations, which induced conflicts between Confucian-based collectivism and Western individualism at both the societal and individual levels. A review of research instruments indicated that a cultural conflict approach is often used when assessing the personality and psychological functioning of Chinese people within and outside the United States. In spite of the receptiveness toward Western influences, family and collectivistic orientation are Confucian virtues and remain dominant values that govern the interpersonal and normative relationships in Chinese societies. Within this cultural conflict context, the concept of collectivistic conflict is proposed to conceptualize the psychological adaptation and counseling concerns of the Chinese. The development of a compromising self and the reintegration of the indigenous coping mechanism of self-cultivation (i.e., striving to be a cultivated, cultured person) are postulated as therapeutic tasks when helping Chinese clients resolve collectivistic conflict.

Key Words: collectivism • acculturation • filial piety • self-cultivation • compromising self

The Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 37, No. 7, 967-986 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0011000009339974


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