A Psychological and Phenomenological Analysis of Chinese People Who Are Not-Capable-Of-Saying-No

Abstract

Stressed not-capable-of-saying-no (NCSN) people have increased in China and have drawn the attention of researchers and societies within the last few decades. However, this topic is generally discussed in different separated disciplines without deeper and fruitful communication and interconnections. This thesis aims to provide an interdisciplinary and intercultural study by focusing on analyzing the actual Chinese NCSN phenomenon from different disciplines and dimensions compared with related western psychological research.

The following results make the thesis significant: 1). The Chinese concept of “老好人” is not equal to the English (“Western") one of being a “People-Pleaser”; 2). A broader view on intentional reasoning of actual Chinese NCSN behavior is uncovered; 3). The Chinese NCSN phenomenon can be interpreted from three different perspectives; 4). No matter what kind of problems NCSN Chinese might have, the proper understanding and recognition of the "self" is the overlapping core advice and task ahead for all NCSN Chinese.