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Communication Research, Vol. 33, No. 1, 38-63 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0093650205283101

Chinese Evaluations of Emotional Support Skills, Goals, and Behaviors

An Assessment of Gender-related Similarities and Differences

Brant R. Burleson

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Meina Liu

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Yan Liu

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Steven T. Mortenson

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

The present study assessed how people residing in China evaluate the emotional support they receive and provide, as well as whether gender-related influences on emotional support exhibited in American samples are also present among Chinese. Participants (253 native Chinese) responded to a questionnaire that assessed the value placed on emotional support skills, the importance of goals typically pursued in emotional support situations, the appropriateness of distinct coping strategies for providing emotional support, and the sensitivity of varied messages intended to provide comfort. Results indicated that whereas Chinese women rated emotional support skills as more important than Chinese men, women and men differed only slightly in their evaluations of the importance of different support goals, the appropriateness of different coping strategies, and the sensitivity of different messages. These results are compared to those obtained in previous research with samples of Americans and sojourning Chinese.

Key Words: comforting • communication values • coping behaviors • interaction goals • sex differences


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