CUHK electronic theses & dissertations collection

The present study investigated the impact of language use on self-perceived personality and personality as perceived by others in the bilingual Chinese-English context. We used a repeated-measures design and collected data at three time points from written measures and experimental settings, to examine whether bilinguals (n = 76) exhibit different patterns of personality characteristics, each associated with one of the two languages and interlocutor ethnicity, and to delineate such discrepancies using behavioral observations in addition to self-reports. By analyzing ratings by targets, interlocutors, and observers, our findings confirmed perception effects, language effects, and ethnicity effects on various personality dimensions, such as extraversion, openness to experience and assertiveness. We suggest that using a second language accesses the perceived cultural norms in which it is applied, especially the prototypic personality profiles in that culture, thus activating behavioral expressions of personality that are appropriate in the corresponding linguistic-social context.Chen , Xiaohua Sylvia."July 2007."Adviser: Michael Harris Bond.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-01, Section: B, page: 0728.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-70).Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.Abstracts in English and Chinese.School code: 1307