THE NEUROTIC SCORE AS A FUNCTION OF CULTURE.

An attempt was made to test the hypothesis that the resulting neurotic score is a function of culture. An experimental group of 144 Chinese students in America and a control group of 110 Chinese students reading English but having never been in America were given Thurstones' Neurotic Inventory. The control group revealed a mean neurotic score significantly higher than that of the experimental group. When the experimental group was classified according to duration of stay in America, the group with experiences of less than one year had significantly higher (at 5 per cent level) neurotic score than that of those with experiences from three to 10 years. When the group was further classified according to nativity and home area, there appeared a relationship between the percentage of members with experiences of three years or more and the magnitude of the mean neurotic score, the higher the percentage, the lower the score. Both duration of stay and nativity seemed to be factors in determining the neurotic scores; subjects from the same area but with different experiences had significantly different neurotic scores, always in favor of the longer period of experience in America. On the other hand, subjects with the same experience but from different areas might also have significantly different scores, constantly not in favor of one area. Field of study did not seem to be an important factor, as only one significant difference was discovered, consistent with the result of area factor. The validity of the inventory when applied to Chinese subjects is low; a correlation of .26 is found between the neurotic score and a self-rating of adjustment; correlations ranging from .49 to .17 are found between the neurotic score and specific adjustment problems. From the analysis of internal consistency, there were found 81 non-diagnostic items for the control but only 47 for the experimental. When the neurotic answers of 100 subjects each from the experimental and from the control groups were compared, 128 items showed differences significant at least at the 5 per cent level. In no case the experimental showed more neurotic answers than the control. The traits were grouped according to their cultural characteristics. The differences were interpreted in the light of cultural significance. The existence of a universal neurotic trait is denied. A trait may be called neurotic only when it is examined according to the criterion of happiness and efficiency of living with reference to the standard of a given culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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