“We were just fated together”… Chinese love and the concept of yuan in England and Hong Kong

Abstract

Abstract Recent research into cultural variations in personal relationships has stressed the significance of “etic” measures such as individualism‐collectivism. This study, however, focuses on a more culture‐specific concept, the Chinese notion of yuan, derived from a Buddhist belief in the role of predestiny and fate in relationship development. One hundred Hong Kong Chinese and 100 British respondents completed a specially constructed yuan beliefs scale and then a 24‐item version of Hendrick and Hendrick's (1986) Love Attitudes Scale. Although Chinese respondents scored significantly higher lhan did British respondents on the yuan scale, replies in both cultures demonstrated at least a moderate endorsement of yuan beliefs. Belief in yuan was highly correlated with pragmatic and agapic love styles, and was negatively correlated with erotic love. Results are interpreted in the context of the wider relationship beliefs and practices of the two cultures.

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