Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Harmony: A Delicate Dance of Symmetry

  • Chapter
Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture

Part of the book series: International and Cultural Psychology ((ICUP))

  • 2331 Accesses

Abstract

Harmony has two versions, optimal and suboptimal. Aversion toward symmetry breakdown and lack of cognitive complexity are identified as two contributing factors to suboptimal harmony. The main thrust of my analysis is on identifying the basic structure of optimal harmony, and the cognitive styles and associated strategies that serve the purposes of optimal harmony, ranging from aesthetics to self-cultivation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • (1971). Confucian Analects (J. Legge, Trans.), In The Chinese classics (Vol. 1, pp. 137–354). Taipei, Taiwan: Wen Shih Chi. (Original work published 1893).

    Google Scholar 

  • (1971). The doctrine of the mean (J. Legge, Trans.). In J. Legge, (Ed.), The Chinese classics, (Vol. 1, pp. 382–434). Taipei, Taiwan: Wen Shih Chi. (Original work published 1893).

    Google Scholar 

  • Abler, W. L. (1989). On the particulate principle of self-diversifying systems. Journal of Social and Biological Structure, 12, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ames, R. T., & Rosemont, H., Jr. (1998). The analects of Confucius/A philosophical translation. New York: Ballantine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocanegra, B. R., & Hommel, B. (2014). When cognitive control is not adaptive. Psychological Science, 25, 1249–1255.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolender, J. (2010). The self-organizing social mind. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M. B., & Yuki, M. (2007). Culture and social identity. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 307–322). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, C.-Y. (1970). Creativity and taoism. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S. X., Chan, W., Bond, M. H., & Stewart, S. M. (2006). The effects of self-efficacy and relationship harmony on depression across cultures: Applying level-oriented and structure-oriented analyses. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 643–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, C., Lee, S., & Chiu, C.-Y. (1999). Dialectic thinking in daily life (in Chinese). Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences, 15, 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, T. (2006). The aesthetic faculty. In M. Turner (Ed.), The artful mind (pp. 21–53). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. I. M. (2014). The social brain: Psychological underpinnings and implications for the structure of organizations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 109–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, T. (2010). Asian management research needs more self-confidence: Reflection on Hofstede (2007) and beyond. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 27, 155–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H., & Sundararajan, L. (2007). Emotion refinement: A theory inspired by Chinese poetics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 227–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fung Y.-L. (1966). A short history of Chinese philosophy. In Derk Bodde (Ed.). New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fung, Y. -L. (1962). The spirit of Chinese philosophy (E. R. Hughes, trans.). Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzman, D. (1978). Confucian and ancient Chinese literary criticism. In A. A. Rickett (Ed.), Chinese approaches to literature from Confucius to Liang Ch’i-ch’ao (pp. 21–41). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, L. L. (1999). Interpersonal harmony and conflict: Indigenous theories and research (in Chinese). Taipei, Taiwan: Gui Guan Chu Ban She.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, K. K. (2000). Chinese relationalism: Theoretical construction and methodological considerations. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 30, 155–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, L.-J., Lam, Q., & Guo, T. (2010). The thinking styles of Chinese people. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 155–168). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1984). Choices, values, and frames. American Psychologist, 39, 341–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Köpetz, C., Faber, T., Fishbach, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2011). The multifinality constraints effect: How goal multiplicity narrows the means set to a focal end. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 810–826.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, K. (1997). Negotiation and reward allocations across cultures. In P. C. Early & M. Erez (Eds.), New perspectives on international industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 640–675). San Francisco: New Lexington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, K., Koch, P. T., & Lu, L. (2002). A dualistic model of harmony and its implications for conflict management in Asia. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 19, 201–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, K., & Morris, M. W. (2011). Culture and creativity: A social psychological analysis. In D. D. Cremer, R. V. Dick, & I. K. Murnighan (Eds.), Social psychology and organizations (pp. 371–395). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, C.-Y. (2008). The ideal of harmony in ancient Chinese and Greek philosophy. Dao, 7, 81–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, P. P. (2012). Toward an integrative framework of indigenous research/the geocentric implications of yin-yang balance. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 29, 849–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X. (2014a). Can Yin‐Yang guide Chinese indigenous management research? Management and Organization Review, 10, 7–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X. (2014b). The hidden secrets of the Yin-Yang symbol (Copenhagen discussion papers, No. 2014-46). Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Retrieved from http://openarchive.cbs.dk/handle/10398/8891

  • Lu, R. R. (2004). Investigations of the idea of relativity in ancient China (in Chinese). Taipei, Taiwan: Shang ding wen hua.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lun, V. M.-C. (2012). Harmonizing the conflicting views about harmony in Chinese culture. In X. Huang & M. H. Bond (Eds.), The handbook of Chinese organizational behavior: Integrating theory, research, and practice (pp. 467–479). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, R. L. (2009, Winter). The science and art of business. Rotman Magazine, 5–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, D. (1989). Cultural influences on the perception of emotion. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20, 92–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, D. (1990). Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Emotion, 14, 195–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological Review, 106, 3–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mischel, W. (2014). The marshmallow test: Mastering self-control. New York: Little, Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mourey, J. A., Oyserman, D., & Yoon, C. (2013). One without the other: Seeing relationships in the everyday objects. Psychological Science, 24, 1615–1622.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108, 291–310.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orehek, E. O., & Vazeou-Nieuwenhuis, A. (2013). Sequential and concurrent strategies of multiple goal pursuit. Review of General Psychology, 17, 339–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54, 741–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabelli, H. (2005). Bios: A study of creation. Singapore: World Scientific.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, K. J. (2013). The polarized mind: Why it’s killing us and what we can do about it. Colorado Springs, CO: University Professors Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain. New York: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2002). The veil and veracity of passion in Chinese poetics. Consciousness & Emotion, 3(2), 197–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2004). Twenty-four poetic moods: Poetry and personality in Chinese aesthetics. Creativity Research Journal, 16, 201–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2009). Enjoyment. In D. Sander & K. Scherer (Eds.), Oxford companion to the affective sciences (p. 155). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2010). Two flavors of aesthetic tasting: Rasa and savoring/a cross cultural study with implications for psychology of emotion. Review of General Psychology, 14, 22–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2013). The Chinese notions of harmony, with special focus on implications for cross cultural and global psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 41, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1970). Experiments intergroup discrimination. Scientific American, 223, 96–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson-Schill, S. L., Ramscar, M., & Chrysikou, E. G. (2009). Cognition without control: When a little frontal lobe goes a long way. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 259–263.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C. (2009). Fooling ourselves: Self-deception in politics, religion and terrorism. Westport, CT: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weatherley, R. (2002). Harmony, hierarchy, and duty based morality: The Confucian antipathy toward rights. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 12(2), 245–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yao, X., Yang, Q., Dong, N., & Wang, L. (2010). The moderating effect of zhong yong on the relationship between creativity and innovation behavior. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 13, 53–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yukawa, H. (1973). Creativity and intuition (J. Bester, Trans.). Tokyo: Kodansha International TD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zee, A. (1986). Fearful symmetry: The search for beauty in modern physics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rochester Psychiatric Center, NY, Rochester, NY, USA

    Louise Sundararajan

Authors
  1. Louise Sundararajan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sundararajan, L. (2015). Harmony: A Delicate Dance of Symmetry. In: Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture. International and Cultural Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18221-6_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation