What do we know about the Chinese self? Illustrations with self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-enhancement

Abstract Scholars of fields as diverse as biology, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and theology have sought to achieve a greater understanding of the nature of the self. Since its first appearance in psychology, the self has become the most studied topic in Western research on psychology. One of the central issues this article addresses is, ‘What do we know about the Chinese self?’ Besides taking a bottom-up approach to review the literature relevant to the self within a Chinese context, this article also identifies the recurring themes among the topics on the self by assessing the frequency of their appearance in the literature. Although there are many topics relevant to the study of self-processes, this article focuses on only a few. It discusses three widely explored and central self-processes: self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-enhancement. Furthermore it identifies emerging topics and discusses future directions for research on the self.