Confucian virtues and Chinese adolescent development: a conceptual review

Abstract

Despite the fact that different Chinese communities have already undergone industrialization and urbanization, Confucian virtues are still regarded as developmental ideals in Chinese culture. Unfortunately, while Confucian virtues are commonly discussed under Chinese philosophies, they are rarely examined in the context of developmental research. In this paper, several key Confucian virtues are discussed, including loyalty ("zhong"), filial piety ("xiao"), benevolence ("ren"), affection ("ai"), trustworthiness ("xin"), righteousness ("yi"), harmony ("he"), peace ("ping"), propriety ("li"), wisdom ("zhi"), integrity ("lian") and shame ("chi"). These Chinese traditional virtues are also linked to the concepts of character strengths and positive youth development constructs highlighted in Western culture. It is argued that Confucian virtues provide an indigenous conceptual framework to understand character strengths and positive youth development in Chinese culture. Furthermore, when service leadership is considered in Chinese contexts, these virtues should be regarded as important cornerstones.

Parenting, Autonomy in Learning, and Development During Adolescence in China

“…In addition to relatedness, filial piety (Xiao Dao) may also contribute to the lower significance of autonomy support on Chinese adolescents’ academic functioning compared to American adolescents. Filial piety, an ethic that is valued and encouraged by Confusion heritage, refers to a sense of obligation and care for parents (Shek, Yu, & Fu, ). Yeh and Bedford () further differentiated two types of filial piety: reciprocal filial piety (i.e., children should attend to and care for parents emotionally, spiritually, and materially, out of gratitude for being raised) and authoritarian filial piety (i.e., children should suppress their wishes, comply with their parents’ wishes, maintain parents’ reputation, and bring honor to family).…”

Evolution and realms of service leadership and leadership models

“…Third, with reference to the three realms of leadership, it would be interesting to ask which realm is more important than the others. For example, with reference to Confucian thoughts, self-cultivation is the root of leadership, which precedes regulation of the family, ruling the country and governing the world [38]. However, sociologists and those theorists adopting a macro perspective focus on …”

The role of a caring disposition in service leadership

“…Love, hardly a definable term with both subtle manifestations and unlimited liability [11], is considered as an affect that is similar to benevolence, a core virtue in traditional Chinese philosophy [28]. As an important trait of a caring disposition, love is a genuine care for others by showing sensitivity to others' personal concerns and interests [29].…”