Exploring Perceptions of Goodness Among the Malaysian and Chinese University Students: A Focus Group Study

The notion of goodness is implicitly central to the discourse relating to person perception. To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the notion of goodness and how it’s perceived and discerned in others. Utilizing focus group interviews, this paper explores how people pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative report 2017-04, Vol.22 (4), p.1076
Main Authors: Hashmi, Madiha, Waheed, Moniza, Tamam, Ezhar, Krauss, Steven, Ahmad, Abdul Muati
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collectivism
College Students
Cross Cultural Studies
Focus Groups
Inferences
Intercultural communication
Interpersonal Competence
Interviews
Morality
Personality
Social Cognition
Social entrepreneurship
Social perception
University students
Values
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Summary:The notion of goodness is implicitly central to the discourse relating to person perception. To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the notion of goodness and how it’s perceived and discerned in others. Utilizing focus group interviews, this paper explores how people perceive and interpret goodness in collectivist cultures of Malaysia and China. Findings revealed that Malaysian and Chinese participants had somewhat similar notions about goodness. “Concern for others’ welfare” was found to have the most resonance across the two nationalities as a key element in discerning goodness in others. Another category emerging from the findings was labelled as “Goodness a subjective notion” which encapsulated additional interpretations surrounding goodness. Directions for future research are discussed.
ISSN:1052-0147
2160-3715
DOI:10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2635