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Gendered and Generational Differences towards Relationships

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Television and Dating in Contemporary China

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Abstract

This chapter adopts a generational angle to explore the changing identity of Chinese youth towards love and intimacy by looking at a group of participants from the parents’ generation. As a historical construct, the identity of Chinese youth on one hand is linked with the previous generations, who are likely to influence the younger generation with traditional values. On the other hand, the fast-changing socio-economic environment in the post-reform era has greatly influenced Chinese youth born in the early period of the economic reform era, who hold a very different identity compared to members of their parents’ generation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Chao Yang

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  1. Chao Yang
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Recommended Readings

Recommended Readings

  • Bond, M. H. and Hwang, K. K. (1986) The Social Psychology of Chinese People. In: M. H. Bond, ed. The Psychology of the Chinese People. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 213–266.

  • Chang, H. & Holt, G. R. (1991) The Concept of Yuan and Chinese Interpersonal Relationships. In: S. Ting-Toomey & F. Korzenny, eds. Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 28–57.

  • Chia, R. C., Allred, L. J., & Jerzak, P. A. (1997) Attitudes Toward Women in Taiwan and China. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 21 (1), pp. 137–150.

  • Diamant, N. J. (2000) Revolutionizing the Family: Politics, Love, and Divorce in Urban and Rural China, 1949–1968. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • Evans, H. (1995) Defining Difference: The ‘Scientific’ Construction of Sexuality and Gender in the People’s Republic of China. Signs. 20 (2), pp. 357–394.

  • Goodman, D. S. G. & Zang, X. (2008) The New Rich in China: The Dimensions of Social Change. In: D. S. G. Goodman, ed. The New Rich in China: Future Rulers, Present Lives. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 1–20.

  • Goodwin, R. & Tang, C. S. (1996) Chinese Personal Relationships. In: M. H. Bond, ed. The Handbook of Chinese Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 294–308.

  • Hofstede, G. (1983) Dimensions of National Cultures in Fifty Countries and Three Regions, In: J. B. Deregowski, S. Dziurawiec, and R. C. Annis, eds. Expiscations in Cross-Cultural Psychology. Lisse Netherlands: Swets and Zeitlinger, pp. 335–355.

  • Hwang, K. K. (1999) Filial Piety and Loyalty: Two Types of Social Identification in Confucianism. Asian Journal of Social Psychology. 2 (1), pp. 163–183.

  • Miller, J. K. & Fang, X. (2012) Marriage and Family Therapy in the People’s Republic of China: Current Issues and Challenge. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 23 (3), pp. 173–183.

  • Pimentel, E. E. (2000) Just How Do I Love Thee?: Marital Relations in Urban China. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 62 (1), pp. 32–47.

  • Zelizer, V. (2005) The Purchase of Intimacy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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Yang, C. (2017). Gendered and Generational Differences towards Relationships. In: Television and Dating in Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3987-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3987-4_5

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