Objective: The aim of the study was to examine attitudes toward patient aggressive behaviour amongst mental health nurses in China and the UK and the relationship between these attitudes and burnout. The UK government policy of ‘zero tolerance’ of patient aggression may conflict with practitioner attitudes and could potentially increase the risk of aggression occurring.
Method: Two surveys of mental health nurses were conducted, one in the People's Republic of China and one in the UK using the Perceptions of Aggression Scale (POAS). The UK sample also completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).
Results: Some nurses in both groups agreed that patient aggression could sometimes have positive benefits. A sense of personal accomplishment at work (MBI) was significantly associated with a tendency to endorse positive statements about aggression.
Discussion: Nurses seem to have a complex set of attitudes toward this issue that do not simply equate with ‘zero tolerance’.
In this article the authors review the historical development of Chinese psychology. China's long history as a country immersed in the study of psychological issues is well known and has had an influence on developments in the field of psychology around the world. Modern Chinese psychology, however, was imported from the West and the Soviet Union and has been closely linked with China's social environment and changes of national policy. Today Chinese psychology is still in a preliminary stage. Despite difficulties that may impede its future development, the importance of psychology in the modernization of China has been widely recognized.
Chinese society is changing rapidly. As a result of the political and economic reforms of the 'socialist market economy', for example, people have more choices than before. To examine current attitudes to sexual behaviour and marriage, 1100 university students from different parts of China were asked to talk about their views on marriage and choosing a marriage partner, and to describe their own sexual behaviours. Views about 'male superiority' in marriage, for age, education and height persisted, especially for women. Overall, attitudes to sexual behaviours were less open then in the West. However, young people from the cities with educated/professional parents showed more liberal attitudes than those from rural backgrounds. While some attitudes are changing, evidence concerning behaviour change is not so clear. There are important implications for the HIV/AIDS awareness programmes and sex education.
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