Concern for Mianzi and Social‐Behavioral and School Adjustment Among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Social Preference.

Introduction: Seeking social approval and recognition is a major driving force for adolescents to engage in social interactions. Mianzi ("面子" in Chinese) is an indigenous concept related to the social perception of one's prestige or admiration. The goal of this 2‐year longitudinal study was to exami...

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Published in:Journal of Adolescence Vol. 98; no. 4; pp. 1053 - 1064
Main Authors: Hei, Long, Chen, Xinyin, Li, Dan, Liu, Junsheng, Zhang, Minghao, Zheng, Shujie, Zhou, Tong, Fu, Rui
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2026
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
      vid: 98
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        10.1002/jad.70116
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        atl: Concern for Mianzi and Social‐Behavioral and School Adjustment Among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Social Preference.
      aug:
        au:
          Hei, Long
          Chen, Xinyin
          Li, Dan
          Liu, Junsheng
          Zhang, Minghao
          Zheng, Shujie
          Zhou, Tong
          Fu, Rui
        affil:
          Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Pennsylvania,, USA
          School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
          School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
          Department of Psychology, Ludong University, Yantai, China
          Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Pennsylvania,, USA
      su:
        China
        Social adjustment
        Teenagers
        Social acceptance
        Peer acceptance
        Aggression (Psychology)
        Behavior disorders in children
        Prosocial behavior
        Student adjustment
      sug:
        subj:
          Social adjustment
          Teenagers
          Social acceptance
          Peer acceptance
          Aggression (Psychology)
          Behavior disorders in children
          Prosocial behavior
          China
          Student adjustment
      keyword:
        adjustment
        Chinese adolescents
        concern for mianzi
        social preference
        adjustment
        Chinese adolescents
        concern for mianzi
        social preference
      ab: Introduction: Seeking social approval and recognition is a major driving force for adolescents to engage in social interactions. Mianzi ("面子" in Chinese) is an indigenous concept related to the social perception of one's prestige or admiration. The goal of this 2‐year longitudinal study was to examine the moderating role of social preference in the relations between self‐reported concern for mianzi and adjustment in Chinese adolescents. Methods: Participants in this study included junior high school students (N = 938; 461 boys) initially in seventh grade (Mage = 12.41 years) in urban and rural areas of China. Students completed a self‐report measure of concern for mianzi, peer assessments of social preference, prosociality, and aggression. Head teachers in each classroom rated each student in the class on their behavioral problems and learning problems. Results & Conclusions: Adolescents' concern for mianzi was found to negatively predict later aggression, behavioral problems, and learning problems for students who had high initial social preference. Concern for mianzi also positively predicted later aggression for students, particularly boys, who had low initial social preference. The results suggested that concern for mianzi might be a sensitivity factor in adolescents' social‐behavioral and school adjustment and highlighted the role of context in shaping the relations.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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