Dialectical Thinking and Its Influence in the World

Abstract

It is often assumed that East Asians, compared with Westerners, try to reshape their personal attitudes and expectations to fit the environment rather than attempting to influence realities. A recent review of the literature revises this idea by suggesting that East Asians, just like Westerners, do attempt to influence existing realities, but via subtly different routes: East Asians employ indirect strategies, seek support from influential others, or take a long-term approach to changing the world via self-improvement. This chapter discusses East Asians’ tendency to employ various tactics in association with dialecticism, and their default cognitive mode of understanding the self, others, and the environment as changeable, connected, and contradictory. Along with collectivist and interdependent cultural characteristics, dialecticism may have additive or interactive effects on control experiences and psychological functioning in East Asia.

A double‐edged sword: Positive and negative implications of the dialectical self

“…We posit that self‐concept control plays an important role in the relation between the dialectical self and personal well‐being. The fact that it is largely missing from the literature is surprising not only because the sense of control has been considered one of the key factors of individual well‐being and growth in Western culture (Deci & Ryan, 1985), but also because it is relevant to the dialectical self (Park et al, 2018). Principles behind the dialectical self (i.e., contradiction, change, and holism; see Spencer‐Rodgers, Boucher, Mori, et al, 2009) emphasize environmental or situational factors in explaining individuals' behavior.…”

“…Principles behind the dialectical self (i.e., contradiction, change, and holism; see Spencer‐Rodgers, Boucher, Mori, et al, 2009) emphasize environmental or situational factors in explaining individuals' behavior. People with highly dialectical self‐concepts exert control by modifying their self‐concepts and behaviors according to their circumstances, rather than by changing their environments (Morling & Evered, 2006; Park et al, 2018). Therefore, dialectical views of the self may be associated with lower self‐concept control, which leads people to be easily influenced by the environment and external situations when defining themselves.…”