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As the world is becoming a more connected and interdependent place, a fast growing literature has examined the effects of foreign experiences on cognitive and psychological outcomes. The current research seeks to explore the relationship between living abroad and intellectual humility. To this end, we conducted four methodologically diverse studies (N = 643) using multiple populations and complementary measures of intellectual humility. In Study 1, we provided correlational evidence that students with international living experience manifested greater intellectual humility than peers lacking such background. Study 2 conceptually replicated the results of Study 1 by using a different measure of intellectual humility and a more diverse population. In Study 3, we found that individuals with international living experiences reported elevated intellectual humility compared to those who had plans to live abroad but had not yet done so. Study 4 adopted an experimental approach and provided evidence for the causal role of foreign experiences in influencing intellectual humility. Moreover, the results showed that the breadth, rather than the duration, of foreign experiences was predictive of greater intellectual humility. Taken together, these findings suggest that foreign experiences can impact the modest personality and meta-cognitive ability in individuals engaging internationally as sojourners.

China has actively internationalized its doctoral education by funding students to study abroad via the China Scholarship Council. Nevertheless, little is known about the scholarship recipients' perceptions of their study sojourn, especially those on short-term exchange programs. Based on 100 visiting doctoral students' study reports, the study employed a sentiment analysis and was guided by the ecological system theory to untangle how this cohort affectively evaluated academic and non-academic dimensions of the study sojourn as a multi-layered ecological system. Via a computer-based SKEP analysis, the study contributes new objective insights regarding the perceived nature of an overseas sojourn, which is predominantly positive. In particular, it reveals positive perceptions regarding the funder and institutional prestige, indicating that the recipients' increasing national pride may be harnessed as a soft pulling force for nation-building. This paper ends by offering implications that may potentially benefit doctoral education in China and other countries.

While interest in the learning of a language other than English (LOTE) has increased, research on how to foster learners' motivation towards learning a LOTE is still scarce. With a specific focus on learners' ideal LOTE and multilingual selves, this article reports on an intervention study which employed near peer role model (NPRM) to construct Chinese undergraduates' LOTE learning motivation. The research aim was to explore the role of the near peer role modeling in nurturing the development of the LOTE-related facets of learners' ideal selves. Open questionnaires, interviews and written journals were used to collect data at one Chinese university over the course of one academic term. Findings provide context-dependent evidence that the presentation of NPRMs in class may strengthen both of learners' ideal LOTE and their multilingual selves, mainly because it demonstrates approachable examples which manifest the value of learning a LOTE in a particular social context. With the help of the NPRMs, learners may not only alleviate their ambiguity about the availability of LOTE-using opportunities in their situated contexts but also deepen their understanding of how 'being multilingual' could benefit their future development. Pedagogical implications emphasize the effectiveness of near peer role modeling in developing learners' self-identification with being a LOTE user or a multilingual in the future.

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the contributions of social, academic, and psychological characteristics of peer groups to individual development in the same and different domains in Chinese children. Participants included 1,864 elementary school students (945 boys, M[subscript age] = 11 years) in China. One-year longitudinal data on social competence, academic functioning, and psychological problems were obtained from peer nominations, teacher ratings, school records, and self-reports. Multilevel structural equation modeling analysis showed that group-level social competence, academic performance, and psychological problems had significant same-domain effects on later individual outcomes. Moreover, group-level social competence had a positive cross-domain effect on later individual academic performance and a negative cross-domain effect on later individual psychological problems. Group academic performance had a positive cross-domain effect on later individual social competence, and group psychological problems had a negative cross-domain effect on later individual social competence. The results suggest that affiliation with peer groups, particularly socially competent groups, may have pervasive implications for children's performance and adjustment from a developmental perspective.

Cyberbullying perpetration has become an international public health concern among adolescents. Based on the general aggression model, the present study sought to examine whether deviant peer affiliation was significantly related to adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration, and whether moral disengagement mediated this association and self-control moderated this mediation process. A total of 2286 Chinese adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.46, SD = 0.93) completed a series of anonymous questionnaires regarding deviant peer affiliation, cyberbullying perpetration, moral disengagement, and self-control. Results showed that adolescents who interacted with deviant peers were more likely to cyberbully others, which was mediated by moral disengagement. Self-control moderated the association between deviant peer affiliation and moral disengagement and the relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration, but not the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and cyberbullying perpetration. Specifically, compared to high self-control adolescents, low self-control adolescents with high deviant peer affiliation were more likely to develop high moral disengagement and further engage in cyberbullying perpetration. The present study contributes to our understanding of the key mechanisms underlying the association between deviant peer affiliation and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration.

Current understanding of how culture relates to the development of children's gender-related peer preferences is limited. To investigate the role of societal acceptance of gender nonconformity, this study compared children from China and Thailand. Unlike China and other cultures where the conceptualization of gender as binary is broadly accepted, individuals who identify as a nonbinary "third" sex/gender have been highly visible and tolerated in Thai society for at least several decades. Chinese and Thai 4- to 9-year-olds (N = 458) viewed vignettes of four hypothetical peers who varied on gender (i.e., boy vs. girl) and gender-typed toy play behavior (i.e., masculine vs. feminine), and were asked to give a friendship preference rating for each peer. Chinese, compared with Thai, children evidenced gender-related peer preferences that emerged earlier, remained more stable across age groups, and were relatively more biased against gender-nonconforming behavior. The only cultural similarity was in children's preference for peers who were of the same gender and/or displayed same-gender-typed behavior. Thus, while preference for peers who are of the same gender and/or display same-gender-typed behavior is common among children across cultures, the developmental onset and course of these preferences vary by culture. Moreover, societal acceptance of gender nonconformity might be key to limiting children's bias against gender-nonconforming peers.

Although the effectiveness of computer-mediated collaborative writing (CMCW) is confirmed by many recent studies, only a few have investigated whether linguistic knowledge and writing skills learned through collaboration can be internalized and transferred to individual writing. This study uses a pre-and post-test design to investigate the impact of CMCW in a classroom setting on Chinese EFL learners' development of writing skills and linguistic knowledge. Participants included 135 non-native English speakers with intermediate or advanced language proficiency and 45 native English speakers. They completed two online writing tasks in dyad or individually over eight weeks. The influences of task type, dyadic type and language proficiency were measured by gain scores on writing complexity, accuracy, fluency, and overall individual writing performance. Findings indicate that intermediate learners had higher gains than advanced learners, and that task type, dyadic type and language proficiency significantly support improvement in overall writing performance and fluency, but not accuracy and complexity. This study confirms the benefits of CMCW on language learning, suggests directions for future research, and offers practical applications for EFL writing teachers.

In this study, dormitory room and social group assignment data from a college are used to investigate peer effects on college students' decisions to switch majors. Results reveal strong evidence of such peer effects at both the room and the social group level. Most notably, at the room level, the dense concentration of same-major roommates deters students from switching majors; having one or two same-major roommates has no significant effect on major switching, indicating strong nonlinearity of peer effects at the room level. Such nonlinearity is not observed among social group members. Results also reveal evidence that students' choices of new majors are affected by peers' majors. Peers are more likely to choose the same destination majors than nonpeers. In choosing their new majors, students do not necessarily follow their peers indiscriminately. Their decisions seem to be influenced more by short-term academic requirements than by long-term job prospects. Finally, peer effects on major switching and major choices are stronger at the dormitory room level than at the social group level in most cases.

Mainland China and Taiwan have a homogenous macroculture, but a heterogenous microculture. To understand the acculturation of students from mainland China to Taiwan, the present study applies Berry's (1997) two-dimensional model of acculturation, together with the concept of cultural types as its analytical framework, using focus group interviews to analyze different directions of acculturation among students from mainland China in Taiwan. The results show that regarding personal values, due to Taiwan's restrictions on students from mainland China and the fact that they must eventually return to their place of origin, the acculturation of students from mainland China mainly takes the "separation/segregation" mode. Regarding peer selection, due to differences between individuals in their interpersonal choices, they may adopt "separation/segregation" or "integration" modes. Regarding the period of residence in Taiwan, as students from mainland China spend longer in Taiwan, they tend more towards "integration." However, when teachers show greater contempt for the culture of mainland China, the acculturation of students from mainland China tends toward the "separation/segregation" mode.

Pre-service teacher identity research has directed limited attention to the construction and development of professional teacher identity through narrative interaction. An analysis of narrative interactions among pre-service teachers in the present study explored the ways in which they negotiated emotional flux in the process of training to become a teacher. Overall, findings show that emotional flux and identity change are connected, and hidden "emotional rules" are embedded in the teaching practicum. The pre-service teachers' negative emotions gradually escalated due to contextual constraints, hierarchical structures, and lack of support from their mentors. This escalation diminished the development of their teacher identity. However, increasing recognition and progress by their students can stimulate preservice teachers to perceive their assumed roles and reconstruct professional identity. Within the context of exploring this interconnection between teacher emotions and teacher identity, the present study argues that narrative interaction can complement existing knowledge on the subject.

Transnational distinction is highly relevant in an age when western degree inflation intersects with harsh gender expectations for Chinese women student migrants, a significant group of players in the scene of UK higher education. Drawing on participant observation and interview data and building on existing theories of cultural capital, this article explores how 25 Chinese women students constructed 'transnational distinction'. Through investigating how newly acquired embodied cultural capital during mobility contributed to the construction of distinction, we argue such distinction is manifested through participants' cognisance of field-specific rules. Their understanding of the complex racial/ethnic and class fabrics of the British society impelled them to be creative in constructing their distinction, particularly seeking diverse peer reference groups. This adds to the extant literature through demonstrating that purposeful comparison and connections can be made across home, host and other destinations, in the women students' quest for transnational distinction.

Popularity and likability--two measures of adolescent peer status--have been examined frequently within Western cultures but relatively rarely within Eastern cultures. This study offered a cross-cultural comparison of adolescent peer status to examine whether these constructs and their correlates vary between the United States and China. The study consisted of a sample of adolescents from China and the United States (N = 864, M[subscript age] = 15.95; 50.5% female). Adolescents completed sociometric peer nominations assessing popularity, likability, and five behavioral correlates: aggression, victimization, prosocial behavior, sad affect, and anxious behavior. Results suggest that popularity may be more differentiated from likability in the United States than in China. More specifically, the association between popularity and likability was stronger in China, and the behavioral correlate profiles of these peer constructs was more similar within China than within the United States. Another notable finding was that popularity was significantly positively associated with aggression in the United States but was significantly negatively associated with aggression in China. Results are discussed through the lens of cultural differences in the meaning of peer status.

This article provides a case study of the relevance of ethnicity in senior student's social interactions at an Australian high school where over 90 per cent of the students speak a language other than English (LOTE) at home. Drawing on ethnographic methods it explores students' own views on the role of ethnic background in shaping who they are friends with, and how these relate to their observed behaviour. It shows that several major peer groups in the school divide on broadly ethnic lines, but that shared orientation toward language and cultural maintenance, rather than common ethnic background are the glue that holds these groups together. The study also finds that relations between ethnic groups at this school are remarkably cordial and closes by reflecting on the possible reasons for this, and the steps schools can take to mitigate inter-ethnic hostility and promote a climate of tolerance and inclusion. (Contains 1 figure and 4 footnotes.)

This paper examines the effects of roommates on students' academic outcomes exploiting the randomized roommate assignment system at a selective Chinese university. Unlike earlier studies that could not measure students' academic quality precisely, this paper makes two important improvements in measuring their English proficiency and overall academic aptitude. I find that randomly assigned roommates' average pre-treatment academic abilities are not significant determinants of students' academic performance across a number of different specifications. However, students are significantly influenced by roommates' decisions in terms of the number of elective course credits taken and the choice of major.

This study examined the relations of maternal warmth, behavioral control, and encouragement of sociability to social, school, and psychological adjustment in migrant children in China. The participants were 284 rural-to-urban migrant children (M age = 11 years, 149 boys) in migrant children's schools and their mothers. Data on parenting were collected from mothers' reports. Data on children's adjustment were collected from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. It was found that maternal warmth was associated with children's social and school performance, and that maternal encouragement of sociability was associated with children's psychological adjustment. Maternal behavioral control was not associated with children's adjustment. The results indicate that maternal warmth, behavioral control, and encouragement of sociability may serve different functions in different domains of adjustment among migrant Chinese children.

The goal of the present study was to explore attitudes and responses to different forms of social withdrawal in China and Canada. Participants in this study were children in early elementary school in the People's Republic of China (n = 213; 113 boys, 100 girls, M[subscript age] = 6.11 years) and Canada (n = 162; 60 boys, 102 girls, M[subscript age] = 6.20 years). Children were presented with hypothetical vignettes describing the behaviours of "shy," "unsociable," and "socially competent" peers and responded to questions designed to assess their perceptions, attitudes, and responses. Results indicated that Chinese and Canadian children differed in their responses, particularly with regard to hypothetical unsociable peers. These findings shed some additional light on possible cross-cultural differences in the meaning and implications of different forms of social withdrawal. (Contains 2 notes, 3 tables, and 3 figures.)

In Pacific Rim countries parents of children with developmental disabilities have organized peer support organizations. One form of peer support is Parent to Parent based on one to one connections between two parents. The movements to create and sustain peer support in the U.S., New Zealand, China, and Korea are described. Qualitative evidence from interviews in the US indicates several reasons why Parent to Parent is effective for some of the people who obtain social provisions from the organizations. Peer support helps parents resist social stigma, gain hope, and obtain persuasive guidance. They are able to exchange situated knowledge from their lived experiences with children with disabilities (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989). This kind of information may not be available through other sources.

This study examined the influences of peer interpersonal strategy and secure attachment on social status in peer contexts in the initial period of secondary school in China. Two hundred and thirty-one new students in secondary schools (grade 6) were recruited in the first semester to complete measures of interpersonal strategies in the peer group, secure attachment to mother, social dominance, and sociometric nomination. The results indicated that both prosocial strategies and attachment security were positively correlated with social dominance and peer preference in peer group, whereas the coercive strategies were not correlated with social status. Implications and limitations of findings were discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

The prospective relations of temperamental effortful control and anger/frustration to Chinese children's (N = 425, age range = 6.6-9.1 years) academic achievement (grade point average, or GPA) and social adjustment (externalizing problems and social competence) were examined in a 2-wave (3.8 years apart) longitudinal study. Parents and teachers rated children's temperament, and parents, teachers, and/or peers rated children's externalizing problems and social competence. Effortful control positively predicted children's GPA, controlling for prior level of GPA. Analyses examining the potential mechanisms underlying the temperament-achievement associations suggested that effortful control positively predicted social competence, and social competence positively predicted GPA. Moreover, anger/frustration positively predicted externalizing problems, and externalizing problems negatively predicted GPA. Mediational analyses suggested that the relations between temperament and GPA were mediated by social competence and externalizing problems. Evidence for the reciprocal relations between externalizing problems and GPA was also found. The study suggested that there are complex interplays among temperament, academic achievement, and social adjustment for school-age children. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)

This longitudinal study examined, in a sample of Chinese children (initial mean ages = 9.5 and 12.7 years, N = 505), how the peer group contributed to social functioning and academic achievement and their associations. Data on informal peer groups, social functioning, and academic achievement were collected from multiple sources. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that group academic performance made direct contributions to children's social development. Group academic performance also moderated the individual-level relations between academic performance and later social functioning. Whereas high-achieving groups strengthened the positive relations between academic achievement and social competence, low-achieving groups facilitated the negative relations between academic achievement and social problems. The results indicate the significance of the peer group for social functioning from a developmental perspective.

The development and evaluation of a peer mentoring program for Chinese immigrant adolescents' cultural adjustment is described. Twenty-three high school students who recently immigrated from Mainland China participated in the year-long program and 4 high school students served as their peer mentors. Data analyses revealed that the students who participated in the mentoring program had significantly higher peer attachment-trust and need for closeness scores at post-test than at pre-test. Implications for working with adolescent immigrants are discussed.

This exploratory study investigated Mainland Chinese children's social networks and peer group affiliations with a particular emphasis on their aggressive behaviour. The participants were 294 elementary school students in Tianjin, P. R. China (mean age 11.5 years; 161 boys). Social network analysis identified relatively large and gender-specific peer groups. Although different measures were used, the pattern of homophily characteristic of Western aggressive children was partially supported. This finding may be due to the large size of the peer groups. The results showed that some aggressive children formed friendships with nonaggressive children. Moreover, for the aggressive children who were group members, the number of within-group friendships moderated the relation between aggression and overall peer preference. In addition, despite the moderating effect of within-group friendship, the relation between aggression and peer preference remained significantly negative even at the highest levels of friendship. Aggressive children who were isolated from all peer groups had higher hyperactivity ratings and were less liked by peers than were aggressive children who were group members. These findings illustrate how culture may be an influence on patterns of peer group affiliation. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Examined the relevancy of group social functioning to individual social, academic, and psychological adjustment in China. Found that social functioning--including sociability, aggression, and shyness-inhibition--of group peers had unique contributions to individual social and school adjustment and adjustment problems, and that contributions of peers to individual school adjustment might depend on the child's social characteristics. (Author/SD)

Describes an extracurricular writing program launched in a Chinese university for English-as-a-Foreign-Language students. Particular emphasis is on "English corner," the most popular activity. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role which women's study groups and writing circles have played in the education of women in Japan, China, and the United States. Serves as an introduction to a cross-cultural study of women's history in the three cultures. Points out that the course raises questions about the politics of women's education. (LS)

Social determinants of public health have gained increasing attention. This paper studied whether social support from online communities related to maternal mental health. We focused on online maternity communities that group users with a similar prenatal status to facilitate their exchange of personal experiences and knowledge about maternal caring during pregnancy. Such online maternity communities are getting increasingly popular and can be found across countries and societies. We invited users—currently pregnant and gave birth within 1 year at the time of the study—from one such community in China to participate in a survey. The survey measured their perceived social support (PSS) exclusively from the peer group in the online community, their mental health and newborns' birth outcomes (N = 500). Users reported high score in PSS from the online peer group which was comparable to the ones from family, significant other and friends in other studies. We used linear regression models to examine the effects of PSS on mental health and birth outcomes. We found that a one‐point increase in the PSS score was associated with a 0.19‐point (p < 0.1) decrease in the prenatal depression and a 0.26‐point (p < 0.01) decrease in the postnatal depression, which was equivalent to 3% and 4.5% of the average respectively. Moreover, a one‐point increase in the PSS score was associated with a 14.49‐gram increase in a newborn's weight (p < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]