Exploring the Intrinsic Influence of Confucian Principles on Chinese Women’s Agency: A Malaysian Perspective

Abstract

This study will explore the way three core Confucian principles affect the identity and agency of Malaysian-born Chinese women, from a Malaysian context. The interdisciplinary nature of this research will consider ethnic diasporic and cultural identity from a cultural psychological stance, taking the view that identity is socially constructed, as family and society play a key role in sustaining the Chinese culture and traditions through the socialisation process. To explore the socially constructed phenomenon of Malaysian Chinese women’s life experiences, a semi-structured interview approach adopting Zaltman Metaphoric Elicitation Technique (ZMET) was chosen as it enables the elicitation of intrinsic values through eleven stages that creates opportunities for triangulating, validating and consolidating links between core constructs and/or themes. This qualitative, exploratory approach will provide insight into Malaysian Chinese women’s agency and the effect of Confucian principles that intrinsically influenced their attitude and behaviour, leading to the conceptual framework for this study. The identity of the researcher as a Malaysian Chinese woman provides an emic-etic perspective, adopting the ethnographic principles of cultural interpretation for interpreting the findings. As this research is not an in-depth analysis of Chinese philosophy or culture, its findings will not be generalisable or scientifically validated as each experience is unique and specific to the individual.



Author Information
Karen Leong Trimarchi, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Paper Information
Conference: ECSS2019
Stream: Ethnicity

This paper is part of the ECSS2019 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon