The Social Perception Of Power In The Context Of Confucian Culture

Confucianism has deeply influenced Chinese people's characters as well as their ways of thinking.For ages,it has also been the cornerstone of Chinese spirituality.The core of this religio-theological system of beliefs is the worship of tian,the most supreme among all gods.Tian is the creator,the origin of all things,and is the master of the world,the one who bestows sovereignty to kings and emperors.Chinese people have long regarded kingship as resulting from an act of tian,and therefore undisputable.This religious tradition also led the Chinese to think that the person in the throne is the only right one,and the person who loses in a political power struggle does not have much value.This is the belief of“????Cheng Wang Bai Kou”(the winner takes all,while losers are always in the wrong).Influenced by the deep-rooted Confucian culture,does the winner-takes-all style for evaluating people's characters still exist in Chinese people's mind today?Moreover,what traits do the individuals who have a strong expression of winner-takes-all effect possess?In Study ?,it is proposed that the level of traditionalism is likely to be a moderator of the winner-takes-all effect.Results from an experiment using high-level construal stimulus materials showed that winners were rated higher on socially desirable traits and lower on undesirable traits,compared with the losers.The results demonstrated the existence of the winner-takes-all effect among Chinese people.Furthermore,individual traditionalism had a marginally significant moderating effect on the relationship between winner/loser role and aristocratic ratings,as well as a significant moderating effect on the relationship between role and warmth ratings.However,the results using low-level construal stimulus materials show little support of the hypothesis.Construal-level theory was used to explain the discrepancies.In Study ?,the winner-takes-all effect was further explored using a questionnaire of tolerance of immoral behaviors(TIB).The hypothesis was that people would be more tolerant of immoral behaviors committed by winners than of those committed by losers.Two sets of data collected showed significant correlation between TIB and power status.These statistically significant correlations were consistent with our hypothesis.In Study ?,we explored the winner-takes-all effect using two SA-IATs,and compared to females,males are more likely to exhibit the winner-takes-all effect.Results of study3 a showed that compared with the losers,the implicit association is more strong between winners and aristocratic;Results of study3 b showed that compared with the winners,the implicit association is stronger between losers and insurrectionist.The conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)Chinese people have the winner-takes-all styled cognitive bias,which can be traced back to the religious and spiritual root of Confucianism.(2)Traditionalism is a moderator of the winner-takes-all effect.Compared to those of lower traditionalism,people of higher traditionalism are more influenced by Confucian religious beliefs,and are more likely to exhibit the winner-takes-all effect.(3)Compared to the material of low-level construal,the material of high-level construal are more likely to exhibit the winner-takes-all effect.(4)In implicit level,males are more likely to exhibit the winner-takes-all effect,compared to females.(5)Chinese people are still strongly committed to a belief in a supernatural tian that interacts with the human world.This lasting belief is manifested in how the Chinese people evaluate political figures.