The cognitive structure of role norms in Taiwan*

This study explores the implicit cognitive structure of role norms in Taiwan. Subjects were asked to make direct pair-wise similarity judgments of 28 role relationships in terms of the way the actor role should treat the object role (e.g., father to son vs. son to father). INDSCAL and cluster analyses were used to delineate the implicit cognitive structure underlying the similarity judgments. INDSCAL showed that Taiwanese implicitly use two dimensions, closeness– distance and dominance–submission, to construct role norms. The first dimension showed that the norm for nuclear family relationships is to love and care for each other. The second dimension revealed that the norm for statusdifferential relationships such as father–son or supervisor–subordinate is to behave in accordance with one’s status. Cluster analysis indicated four major clusters of role relationships, of which the hierarchical family cluster was the most prominent. Taiwanese adults and college students have similar cognitive structures and use relational models to construct their system of role norms. These relational models include complementarity, communality sharing, authority ranking, and equality matching. The implications of these findings for Confucian ethics and theories of Chinese social behavior are discussed.