Australian Chinese and Hong Kong Chinese: How do they differ in primary control and secondary control?

Abstract

This study investigated whether the relative use of primary and secondary control varies as a function of cultural difference. It is posited that people who are under the influence of Asian, collectivist culture will be oriented toward secondary control than primary control, but vice versa for those in the Western, individualist society [9]. This proposition was tested in this study by using the Chinese respondents from both Australia and Hong Kong. Hence, it is hypothesized that the Australian Chinese will have higher level of primary control but lower level of secondary control than the Hong Kong Chinese. The results revealed that, though the Australian Chinese was significantly higher than Hong Kong Chinese on primary control, they did not differ on secondary control. The result was discussed in terms of integration process in the context of intercultural contact.