Asia Pacific Education Review (2021) 22:729–742

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09713-w

Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded

theory approach
Yifei Li1 · Ellen M. Broido2

Received: 31 December 2020 / Revised: 29 July 2021 / Accepted: 2 August 2021 / Published online: 19 August 2021
© Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2021

Abstract
Chinese higher education institutions would be more effective in assisting college graduates to meet the requirements of an
increasingly complex society if they had a better understanding of Chinese college student development. Self-authorship
theory, which was initially developed for use in the USA, is relevant to contemporary Chinese society’s college graduate
expectations. However, due to possible limitations on the application of this theory to different cultures, it is necessary to
examine Chinese college students’ self-authorship development rather than presuming there is a similarity to US students.
In this study, we used a grounded theory approach to explore the self-authorship development in Chinese college students.
Using purposeful and theoretical sampling, we asked 13 junior and senior college students to share their significant col-
lege experiences, after which we conducted a constant comparative analysis. We found that while Chinese college students
developed self-authorship during their undergraduate college years, they did not achieve full self-authorship by graduation.
While the overall patterns of development in the epistemological, interpersonal, and intrapersonal domains were similar to
those found in US students, there were distinctive aspects in each domain that were specific to Chinese higher education. We
used the students’ narratives on their college experiences to illustrate their journeys toward self-authorship.

Keywords Self-authorship development · Chinese college students · College student development · Epistemological
development · Identity development · Interpersonal development

Introduction College student development theories have been widely

applied to US college populations. Baxter Magolda (2001)
With 38.33 million enrolled students in 2018, the Chinese conducted an integrated exploration of young adult develop-
higher education system has the largest college student ment and found that “…self-authorship has become a central
population in the world (Ministry of Education, 2019). To theory in understanding college students’ ability to make
improve education quality and better prepare students for meaning of the world and their lives in it” (Patton et al.,
their own and the nation’s future, higher education institu- 2016, p. 307). Self-authorship involves the three domains
tions in China have begun to pay greater attention to student of epistemology, interpersonal relationships, and identity
development. However, Chinese college student develop- and is closely related to multiple collegiate learning out-
ment requires a clear and comprehensive understanding of comes, such as critical thinking, intercultural competence,
the students’ growth, which requires empirical evidence and moral and ethical development. Self-authorship enables
based on developmental theories. students to “understand what and how they are learning,”
how to “discern and understand who does what in the edu-
cational process,” and how to weigh “sources of information
* Yifei Li and insights to decide what to believe” (Baxter Magolda &
[email protected] King, 2012, p. 4).
Ellen M. Broido Self-authorship is therefore relevant to contemporary
[email protected] expectations of Chinese college graduates. Increased self-
1
authorship development could assist college graduates
Hunan Institute of Science and Technology, Yueyang,
Hunan, China make independent plans and decisions, gain a clearer under-
2
standing of themselves, behave ethically, establish healthy
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA

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730 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

boundaries inside and outside the family, and take on part- Self‑authorship development
nering and parenting responsibilities.
Chinese college student development has attracted some Baxter Magolda (1992) conducted a longitudinal study
research in the past decade. For example, Cen (2012) exam- of students’ epistemological development on 101 women
ined Chinese college student development using “borrowed” and men, beginning in their first year of college in 1986.
popular US student development theories, such as the Bax- The findings of this study provided the empirical basis for
ter Magolda’s self-authorship theory. She found that the her model of self-authorship (Baxter Magolda, 2001). The
Chinese college students were transitioning from external model includes intertwined dimensions of epistemologi-
meaning-making structures to a mixture of external and cal, intrapersonal, and interpersonal dimensions and col-
internal meaning-making structures, which demonstrated lectively represents how people make sense of their expe-
the applicability of self-authorship as a learning outcome to riences and the world around them. The self-authorship
Chinese college students. model identifies four developmental phases: following for-
However, Cen (2012) and Kodama et al. (2002) rec- mulas, the crossroads, becoming the author of one’s life,
ognized that student development theories may not easily and internal foundation. People navigate the challenges of
transfer across cultural contexts. Therefore, it should not be adult life differently as they advance through these phases.
presumed that self-authorship development in Chinese col- Pizzolato (2005a) and Baxter Magolda and King (2012)
lege students is similar to self-authorship development in tested the model, with the latter study expanding the origi-
US students. This paper explored the characteristics of Chi- nal model using two sets of data: Baxter Magolda’s longi-
nese college student self-authorship development to inform tudinal study and a four-year longitudinal Wabash National
Chinese college student development research and practice. Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS). In the refined
model, there are ten positions grouped into three major
meaning-making structures: external meaning-making,
Literature review crossroads (a mixture of external and internal), and inter-
nal meaning-making. “[T]he three major structures are
Self-authorship theory accounts for parallel epistemologi- developmentally ordered, representing increasing com-
cal, intrapersonal, and interpersonal development processes plexity and adaptability” (p. 17).
(Patton et al., 2016). Kegan divided human consciousness
development into five sequential orders: instinct and percep-
tion, needs and desires, group agreement, “self-authorship," Self‑authorship development beyond the USA
and “interindividualism” (p. 227). The first, third, and fifth
consciousness orders slightly favor inclusion, while the sec- Self-authorship development is an important college out-
ond and fourth consciousness orders slightly favor independ- come. However, most research on college student self-
ence, with lifelong development involving continual tension authorship development has been conducted in the USA,
and movement between these two small imbalances. Kegan which has raised the question as to whether self-authorship
(1982) labeled the achievement of the fourth consciousness development is similar in other countries, especially in
order as self-authorship. China where the culture is very different.
Studies on self-authorship development in other west-
In separating itself from the context of interpersonal-
ern cultures, however, have found patterns similar to those
ism, meaning-evolution authors a self that maintains
identified in the USA. For example, Brownlee et al. (2010)
a coherence across a shared psychological space and
used scenario-based interviews to examine self-authorship
so achieves an identity. This authority—sense of self,
development in Australian college students, finding that
self-dependence, self-ownership—is its hallmark. In
their development had been fostered by “healthy social
moving from “I am my relationships” to “I have rela-
relationships” (p. 113) and by critical personal reflec-
tionships,” there is now somebody who is doing this
tions on “how new knowledge is constructed in relation
having, the new I, who, in coordinating or reflecting
to existing personal beliefs” (p. 113). Weinstock (2010)
upon mutuality, brings into being a kind of psychic
found Israeli Jews, who have autonomy-oriented cultural
institution (p. 100).
values, showed epistemological development trajectories
Baxter Magolda (1992) expanded the self-authorship that eventually led to self-authorship.
concept to college students, and defined self-authorship as However, self-authorship studies in more collective or
“an ability to construct knowledge in a contextual world, to authoritarian cultures have found different self-authorship
construct an internal identity separate from external influ- development patterns, especially in the epistemological
ences, and to engage in relationships without losing one’s component. For example, Weinstock (2010) found that
internal identity” (Baxter Magolda, 1999, p. 12).

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Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 731

Israeli Bedouins, who come from an authority-oriented keeping communication open for maximum participation
culture, gave fewer multiple responses, more absolutist and input, preserving connections and surfacing threats to
or evaluative responses, and had no grade differences, colleagues’ collaborative capacities” (Kegan, 1994, p. 225),
and Hofer (2010) explored the development of epistemic while an employee with a separate style preference “exer-
beliefs in Japanese college students and found that while cises personal authority on behalf of advancing or enhancing
the students showed less sophisticated beliefs than US one’s own position, status, advantage, agenda, mission, or
college students, they also had higher academic achieve- profile; relates to others on behalf of furthering unilateral
ments. Hofer then asked “whether [epistemic] beliefs pre- ends rather than deriving ends out of relationship” (p. 225).
dict differently in different environments” (p. 142) and Baxter Magolda (2010) invited researchers to explore “the
argued that as self-authorship had been conceptualized extent to which the internal authority of self-authoring,
from college student studies in western cultures, it had with its capacity to coordinate external expectations, can
privileged the “idea of a self that is autonomous and inde- be shaped around interdependence and authentic relation-
pendent, common in individualist cultures” (p. 144). Hofer ships rather than around autonomy” (p. 275). This study also
then hypothesized that the interdependent self that was addressed this need.
more common in Asian cultures might have self-authored
epistemic beliefs that the current model did not recognize.
Elshimi (2015) used the self-authorship survey developed Chinese college students’ self‑authorship
by Pizzolato (2005b) and an interview protocol adapted from development
several sources to explore the experience of self-authorship
development in first-year college students attending an Knowing that “cultural difference must be considered when
American liberal arts university in Egypt, finding that “[c] applying western psychological development models to
ultural norms may create patterns of expression of self- diverse contexts” (Bohon, 2015, p. 36), Bohon examined
authorship in one culture that appear to characterize non- the self-authorship development of 12 mainland Chinese
self-authored ways in other cultures” (p. 146). While some students attending a US university. With a focus on the role
study participants chose to disagree with their peers and collectivism and filial piety played in their development, she
protest government actions, they also chose not to articulate used both individual and group interviews to collect qualita-
their disagreements with their parents and elderly relatives, tive data, employing the WNS Phases 1 and 2 Summariz-
which showed that an indicator of self-authorship, consist- ing Training Manual (Baxter Magolda & King, 2012) to
ency between knowing and acting, possibly varied in differ- analyze the interview transcripts. Bohon found that Chinese
ent cultural contexts. students’ development followed the self-authorship model
Weinstock (2010) suggested that the different patterns and that the intrapersonal and interpersonal domains were
shown by Israeli Bedouins and Israeli Jews could “reflect closely coupled.
underlying cultural differences in epistemological develop-
When the participants talked about themselves, their
ment, or that the instrument cannot capture what is essen-
descriptions were often in the context of relationships.
tially a different epistemology” (p. 127). Hofer (2010) also
Participants often discussed their identity in terms
concluded that epistemological development varied across
of the collective, particularly regarding filial piety
cultures. English and Chen (2007) found that Asian Ameri-
and their Chinese friendships. Decisions were often
cans had self-concepts that were more tailored to specific
made by and for the collective. These closely coupled
relationship contexts than were found in western European
domains indicated principles of collectivism (p. 289).
and US cultures.
The findings from these studies focused attention on the However, this finding did not mean that the two domains
critical role of cultural variation in self-authorship (Elshimi, were in the same developmental phases. For example, Bohon
2015), the epistemological domain (Hofer, 2010; Weinstock, (2015) found that five of the six participants who were at an
2010), and the interpersonal and intrapersonal domains external position showed slightly more advanced cognitive
(English & Chen, 2007) and raised questions as to whether and intrapersonal domain development than interpersonal
self-authorship was possible in cultures in which a defer- domain development.
ence to authority and elders is expected. Kegan, as cited in To explore student development in Chinese colleges and
Baxter Magolda (2010, p. 269), claimed that self-authorship universities, Cen (2012) developed a student growth model
was possible in both individual and collective cultural con- focused on the epistemological, intrapersonal, and interper-
texts. “[I]t is possible to go through all the constructive- sonal domains. She identified six contexts in which students
developmental stages in a connected way or a separate way.” developed: curricular, co-curricular, extra-curricular, work,
For example, an employee with connected style preference recreational, and relational. She used an interview protocol
“exercises personal authority on behalf of inclusivity, developed from the WNSLAE interview (Baxter Magolda

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732 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

& King, 2008) to interview senior college students, with less need for a clarification of terms or explanations about
participants’ developmental statuses depicted as follows. cultural differences, which helped develop rapport during
the data generation. The first author was a native Mandarin
[C]ollege students are transitioning from following
speaker and also proficient in the English language.
external formulas to the crossroads where internal
The second author is a higher education faculty member
voices begin to emerge. They attempted to construct
at a US university who was born and raised mostly in the
their own knowledge, either disciplinary knowledge
USA. They have been a visiting faculty member at a Chinese
or knowledge about real life in society, from question-
university, have studied student service work in China, and
ing assumptions and examining evidence. They were
have written about student service developments beyond the
anxious to define and redefine themselves through
USA; however, their basic perspective was grounded in a US
external identifications as well as through an internally
context. They are a native English speaker and have studied
grounded sense of self that is forming. They [had an]
elementary Mandarin. The first author designed and con-
independence never experienced before; yet they found
ducted the research with analytical and editorial guidance
interdependence with all those around them was more
from the second author.
desirable for survival and success in college and in
society (p. 245).
Sampling
Yu et al. (2020) developed an interview protocol and con-
ducted individual interviews to explore medical students’ We used multiple sampling strategies in this research. The
decision-making process when they chose to give up their target participants were Chinese college students at four-
medical career. Six of the eight students were in the exter- year institutions in their junior or senior years as we specu-
nal meaning-making phase when deciding to major in the lated that they would have had more college experience than
medical field. first-year and sophomore students and could possibly have
Compared to students in the USA, Chinese college stu- proceeded further in their development. The participants
dents have been found to be more influenced by Chinese attended one of three higher education institutions in one
traditional cultural factors, such as collectivism and filial province in China. As there is a high level of academic pro-
piety (Deutsch, 2004). Deutsch interviewed 84 senior col- gram and curriculum homogeneity in China (“A Brief Over-
lege students in southeastern China, finding that the partici- view” n.d.), the specific province chosen was based on con-
pants seriously considered their parents’ expectations when venience. To maximize institutional diversity, we employed
making career decisions as they felt more independent and purposive sampling to choose institutions having different
autonomous when their decisions were supported by their levels of selectivity, with one institution being affiliated with
parents. However, many gave up their initial career plans the Ministry of Education, one with the province, and one
when their parents disapproved. Parental influence appeared with the Provincial Education Department.
to play an important part in Chinese college students’ life. Teachers and administrators in the three selected institu-
The above studies began the important work of studying tions acted as gatekeepers, all of whom were personal con-
Chinese students’ self-authorship development. However, tacts of the first author and had the capacity to share the
because of the distinct cultural differences, more empiri- survey link to larger student populations in their respective
cal work on the full model is needed before it can be fully institutions. Initially, the gatekeepers sent out a preliminary
accepted for use in China. The purpose of this study, there- demographic survey link with interview invitations to junior
fore, was to provide insights into how undergraduate Chi- and senior college students. To identify the first six partici-
nese university students develop self-authorship. pants, we used purposive sampling to pick volunteers with
diverse ethnicity, gender, geographic origin, socio-economic
backgrounds, institutions, and majors. We anticipated that
Methodology the students would feel comfortable sharing this information
as these data were often collected by schools, government
In this study, we used a grounded theory approach within a bodies, and other researchers. We also considered diversity
social constructivist paradigm. Like the participants in this in only-child status given the importance in Chinese culture
study, the first author received a college education in China of being an only child versus being one of several children.
and therefore had an insider’s perspective on Chinese col- Grounded theory requires “maximiz[ing] opportunities to
lege student life, a rich knowledge of Chinese culture and discover variations” (Strauss & Corbin, 1998, p. 201). From
Chinese higher education culture, and an understanding of our personal knowledge and the literature review, we felt
the day-to-day life of the participants, which increased the that these characteristics had the potential to influence self-
study’s credibility. Because of this knowledge, it was also authorship development in Chinese college students. We
easier to communicate with the participants as there was considered it important to include diverse participants from

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Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 733

diverse institutions to develop a more comprehensive self- Magolda & King, 2007, p. 501). After participants gave five
authorship development theory for Chinese college students. phrases for the first year, they were then asked to provide
We then used theoretical sampling, which is “the process another five phrases for the second year in college, followed
of identifying and pursuing clues that arise during analysis by the third year, and the fourth year if they were seniors.
in a grounded theory study” (Birks & Mills, 2015, p. 68), to This process allowed the participants to brainstorm material
select the subsequent seven study participants. The initial six that was relevant to subsequent parts of the interview. We
interviews suggested that socioeconomic status and changes then asked participants to describe the experiences relat-
in majors were salient to self-authorship development; that ing to those phrases and if participants showed difficulty in
is, the data analysis made us “aware of issues that require coming up with anything, a list of contexts was provided that
expansion, clarification, or confirmation” (Birks & Mills, the participants could think about, such as family, romantic
2015, p. 68). Therefore, the final seven participants were relationships, part-time jobs, academic life, and peers. In this
selected to explore these tentative hypotheses until theoreti- way, participants recounted the experiences they regarded as
cal saturation was reached with the twelfth and thirteenth significant, which made it possible to access the meaning-
participants. making structures underlying these experiences.
All participants were traditionally aged students, with During the interview process, the interviewer made notes
eight being juniors when interviewed, five being seniors, on the key words each participant used and important points
eight self-identifying as women, and seven as men. Eleven for follow-up questions. Each interview was closed with a
self-identified their ethnicity as Han, one as Miao, and one summary of the interview, after which the participants were
as Dong. They majored in nine different areas, from physical invited to synthesize the collective experiences they had
education to accounting to physics. Based on the urbanicity shared.
of the participants’ homes and the information given in the
interviews (especially about their parents’ jobs), we con- Data analysis
cluded that six participants were from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds and seven were from higher socioeconomic We used constant comparative analysis to facilitate theo-
backgrounds. Four were from Institution A, six were from retical sampling and data generation, combining inductive
Institution B, and three were from Institution C, with six and abductive thought to make decisions, as suggested by
being the only child in their family. Charmaz (2014). Abductive reasoning is a distinctive fea-
ture of grounded theory, “a mode of imaginative reasoning
Data generation researchers invoke” (p. 200) when they come up with and
then test various hypotheses to explain data. Recognizing
The first author conducted the interviews using synchronous the possible influence of prior knowledge when interpret-
video conferencing because of being located geographi- ing the data, we kept an open mind about what we sensed in
cally distant from the participants. All interviews were con- the data. The two authors maintained close communication
ducted in Mandarin, using a modified version of the Wabash during data analysis to ensure a theory fully emerged. The
National Study (WNS) interview protocol. To ensure that all interviews were transcribed into Mandarin. Using a slightly
translated information was fully and conceptually conveyed, modified version of the procedures for conducting grounded
we checked whether participants in pilot interviews under- theory analysis across languages and cultures recommended
stood the translation of terms and questions in the interview by Nurjannah et al. (2014), the first author coded the Manda-
protocol; where necessary, we changed wording to ensure rin text using English codes and translated those portions of
understanding. the text to English. The second author reviewed the parts of
The interviewer began by asking participants to introduce the transcripts translated into English and the initial analysis
themselves and give any information they felt important. and provided comments and revisions. We also consulted a
They were then asked “to share … their expectations going peer debriefer during data analysis. The peer debriefer was a
into the particular college year, and the extent to which those native Chinese speaker, proficient in English, had a doctor-
expectations [matched] their experiences to date. Prompts ate in Higher Education Administration, worked as a higher
[solicited] meaning-making clues as the opportunity [arose]” education practitioner, and had taken courses related to col-
(Baxter Magolda & King, 2012, p. 33). Then, the researcher lege student development theories and assessment.
asked participants to come up with five phrases to describe We conducted initial, intermediate, and advanced cod-
their first year in college, considering their “best or worst ing (Birks & Mills, 2015). In the initial coding, the first
experiences, challenges or dilemmas they encountered, situ- author examined the transcriptions and field notes line by
ations in which they were unsure of what was right, their line and developed codes to define the participant actions
support systems, conflicts or pressures they encountered, and meanings and the evolution of these actions and mean-
and interactions with people who differ from them” (Baxter ings. As the coding progressed naturally to a higher level

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734 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

of conceptual analysis, we began intermediate coding, Epistemological domain

organizing the initial codes into categories and subcatego-
ries and identifying conceptual patterns. The core category We identified two categories in the epistemological domain:
was identified after analyzing the first six participants: depending on external sources’ thinking and beginning to
development within the three domains. construct knowledge, reflecting two different levels of epis-
In the advanced coding phase, we used storyline tech- temological development. Depending on external sources’
niques and theoretical coding to advance the analysis and thinking is a less complex structure and beginning to con-
theoretical integration. Charmaz (2014) asserted that if struct knowledge is more complex.
used wisely, theoretical coding could be immensely help-
ful in moving analytic stories toward a theory, but that care Depending on external sources’ thinking
needed to be taken to avoid the possibility of “[forcing]
data into old boxes” (p. 153), that is, applying theoretical All participants showed evidence of relying on external
codes without thinking. With full recognition of the need sources and did not recognize the possible shortcomings
to let the analysis be grounded in the data, to facilitate of this approach. For example, Tracy, a junior majoring in
moving the empirical data to theorization, we compared English, commented that the vice president’s lecture and
theoretical notions derived from the college student devel- some senior students had been her source of inspiration in
opment field, including Baxter Magolda’s self-authorship her second year. She stated,
model (2001) and Baxter Magolda and King’s updated
We seldom have chances to communicate with those
self-authorship model (2012), with our data. For example,
outstanding people who deserve our admiration in our
we compared the codes derived from the data regarding
daily life. But we listened to [the vice president]’s lec-
the participant reflections on strengths, interests, disad-
tures. I feel like in higher positions, there are more
vantages, feelings about themselves, and goals with the
people who are worth learning from. When you meet
theoretical notions related to identity in existing literature,
them all together, you will feel you are nothing, you
enabling us to identify new dimensions.
are ordinary, they are cool, and you really need to learn
We conducted member checking by providing all
from them.
participants, in both English and Mandarin, with a
summary of their individual analyses and, based on Tracy had trusted and valued the vice president’s words
participants’collective experience, a summary of the and had looked up to the excellent students in the higher
factors that promoted self-authorship development. Par- grades in an effort to learn the “right” formula from them.
ticipants were then asked to assess the extent that these These statements indicated that Tracy assumed that the
descriptions fit their reported experiences, with ten of the authorities, the vice president, and the excellent students in
13 participants agreeing that the summaries were accu- higher grades had absolute knowledge.
rate. For example, one participant said they knew the sum-
mary was about them, but claimed they were unable to Beginning to construct knowledge
describe themself as accurately or deeply. The remaining
three participants, however, did not respond. However, as The category beginning to construct knowledge has several
the ten who responded showed consistent agreement, this subcategories: accumulation of evidence leads to truth, dif-
process demonstrated that the analyses resonated with the ferent opinions than authorities, expressing own understand-
participants. Because some participants also claimed that ing, knowledge as subjective and contextual, some authori-
their participation in the research and the reading of the ties are fallible, and trusting own judgment. All participants
summaries had helped them gain a better understanding of eventually recognized that knowledge was subjective and
their development and a clearer sense of who they were, contextual; they found external knowledge sources to be
this process also served to support their self-authorship unreliable and that it was better to trust their own judgment.
development. Dawkin, a junior majoring in physical education, claimed
that when exposed to the new college environment and the
new information, he became conflicted about whether a
college diploma was worth the effort and expense. There-
Findings fore, he wanted to prove to society and his community that
a college diploma could lead to a successful career, or more
All participants displayed evidence of epistemological, accurately, he could achieve success with a college diploma.
interpersonal, and intrapersonal domain development, Dawkin had tried different paths in the first two years to pre-
which is detailed in the following paragraphs. pare for a successful career. He ran for positions in student
organizations to assess whether he could prepare for the civil

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Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 735

service or government jobs; however, he lost these elections. for bank-related programs. I think it is important for
“I reflected on the reason for my failures. Perhaps my over- me to get my parents’ support.... If they support me
all strength is not competitive. But I have to admit there is on something, I feel more strength inside.
an inherent inequality [in educational opportunity resulting
Yang had sought her parents’ validation of her future
from poverty]. This was a new experience and insight for
career before entering college, letting her parents’ desires
me.” Dawkin also tried to see if he could start a career in
take precedence over her own.
business and tried to establish a few businesses but failed for
Two participants showed evidence of only serving their
different reasons, commenting,
own needs in some relationships, even if they gave oth-
Now I believe the best way to go into the business ers’ needs precedence in other relationships. For example,
world is to work in a big company first, so that you Dawkin showed this tendency in his relationships, saying,
could learn about their culture and how they run the
If there is any conflict, I may put my girlfriend
business. Then you could go to explore your own way
slightly as less prioritized, and other people slightly
based on these experiences. This way might be easier
ahead. Why? I believe she would support me, and
than just starting my own from the very beginning.
she would want me to do my thing. That is to say, my
This is my takeaway from the experiences.
lover would probably try to think from my perspec-
Dawkin’s reflections show that he had started to under- tive, and she understands me.
stand that knowledge of himself and the world was con-
In this case, Dawkin put his needs over his girlfriend’s
structed through his experiences, a more advanced epistemo-
needs and expected his girlfriend to sacrifice and to under-
logical development level than when he had entered college.
stand him, rather than work toward a mutual relationship.
After trying different things, at the end of his junior year,
Dawkin developed his own answer to the question as to
whether attending college worth it, saying,
Serving both others’ and one’s own needs
What college education has brought me, first of all, is
trying new things in interpersonal communication, and All but one participant came to show evidence of striv-
other new things, which could help me with my future. ing for mutual relationships. Tendo, who had majored in
It also allows me to practice my ideas and know more accounting, had just graduated when interviewed. He had
about myself.... I am surer on the purpose of attending not liked his accounting major, which had been chosen by
college. These three years prove that my decision to his parents, so he decided to apply for a graduate program
attend college is correct. in art, a field he liked, saying,
Dawkin had developed meaning-making structures But the decision they made [majoring in accounting]
focused on the purpose/value of his college education. He was the best in their mind at the time and the safest
had developed from trusting external sources to trusting his choice for me. I think I can understand the decision
own insights and valuing his own experiences as a valuable that they made for me at the time. After I commu-
source of knowledge, indicating epistemological and intrap- nicated with her [my mother], she also knew my
ersonal development. thoughts that the field I wanted to do [art] was not a
bad thing, that I really loved it. After this communi-
Interpersonal domain cation, we felt that we could talk about it, and then
we could understand each other. Then I think that it
We identified serving either others’ or one’s own needs and is good to communicate like this. Why do we have
serving both others’ and one’s needs as two different inter- to quarrel? After that our relationship has become
personal development levels. better. It has changed a lot.
Before going to college, despite his love of art, Tendo
Serving either others’ or one’s own needs had relied on his parents to choose his future field as he
put his parents’ needs over his own. After four years of
All participants showed evidence of giving others’ needs college, Tendo was able to make his own decisions based
precedence over their own. Yang, a junior majoring in on what he liked to do and at the same time show an under-
finance, explained why she had chosen the finance major, standing of his parents’ perspectives, which illustrated
saying, development in the constructing of relationships based on
mutual respect and interest.
At first, I really wanted to work in banks.... My par-
ents played a part as well. They wanted me to apply

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736 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

Intrapersonal domain Clear self‑defined goals, high self‑efficacy, and robust

self‑knowledge
The intrapersonal domain showed evidence of three
dimensions—self-defined goals, self-efficacy, and self- All participants showed evidence of developing clear self-
knowledge—each of which was divided into two catego- defined goals, high self-efficacy, and robust self-knowledge
ries. Unclear self-defined goals, low self-efficacy, and in their later college careers. Tendo, the senior majoring
little self-knowledge are the starting points for intraper- in accounting, developed clearer vocational goals while at
sonal development, while clear self-defined goals, high college as he came to understand himself. On entering col-
self-efficacy, and robust self-knowledge indicate a more lege, Tendo had had an emerging internal voice indicating a
advanced intrapersonal position. love for the arts; however, this internal voice was too weak
to follow as his parents’ preferences were that Tendo study
accounting. Further, early in Tendo’s college experiences,
Unclear self‑defined goals, low self‑efficacy, and little his less-developed external interpersonal and epistemologi-
self‑knowledge cal meaning-making structures also had limited his intrap-
ersonal development. Tendo clarified his career goals after
All participants showed evidence of having unclear self- completing a financial accounting internship in third year.
defined goals, low self-efficacy, or little self-knowledge. He recalled how boring the repetitive work had been, saying,
Tracy listed being “lost” as a key phrase for her first year “After the internship, I really disliked it. That was not the life
in college, saying, “I did not know what to do, and what I wanted, not the job I wanted.” Tendo then decided to apply
direction to go next when at college. I was approaching for a graduate program in art even though he was disad-
the job market gradually but could not figure out what I vantaged because most applicants had majored in art, while
need to do to meet society’s requirements. I was lost.” he had not. When preparing for the Art Graduate Entrance
Tracy did not know her goals or purpose. Exam, Tendo was not sure he could get a good result, but
Qiqi, a junior majoring in visual communication, reflected, “I was super excited, because after living for more
showed low self-efficacy when talking about plans after than 20 years, I was finally striving for what I wanted to do.
graduation, saying that she had thought about taking the This feeling was totally different from what I felt in previ-
Graduate Entrance Exam and the Civil Service Exam ous academic work.” The excitement Tendo felt by working
rather than trying to find a job. However, she gave up the on what he wanted to do regardless of the result was strong
thought of taking the Graduate Entrance Exam because, evidence of the development of an internal voice.
“I can hardly face that kind of failure.” She also was not Duanlinxi, a junior majoring in business English, came
confident about finding a job in her field, saying “I like from the remote countryside where teachers had not focused
my field [Design], but I am afraid that I cannot do it on spoken English. Duanlinxi found that her spoken Eng-
well.” Qiqi demonstrated low self-efficacy in the intrap- lish was not adequate for college-level classes and especially
ersonal domain of the job search process, which indicated those taught by foreign teachers. She said,
that she did not trust her internal voice.
At the beginning, I was wondering if I am well suited
Yan, a senior majoring in physics, said,
for learning English and considered if I had to switch
Upon entering college, I was very ignorant. I didn’t to another major. But as I kept learning, I felt that I
know anything. I felt that girls in science and engi- was making progress gradually. Then I had the moti-
neering were cool, so I chose a major in the science vation to keep learning. Now I feel that my previous
and engineering field. However, I usually like to do knowledge gaps can be made up by my current efforts.
quiet activities like reading, writing, and calligra-
Duanlinxi’s lack of preparedness presented her with a
phy. But I just thought that science and engineering
challenge, which made her doubt her abilities during her
girls were a bit cool, without considering what I
identity exploration process. However, Duanlinxi developed
like to do.
a strong sense of self-efficacy guided by the belief it was
This statement demonstrated that when Yan began col- possible to make up for what was lacking in her previous
lege, she had not recognized the importance of following experience.
her own interests, thinking that because girls [sic] major- Leon, a junior majoring in marketing, faced a choice in
ing in science and engineering were “cool,” she should his second year between taking a business administration
choose to major in physics. Yan was focusing on external or a marketing major. Leon finally chose marketing saying,
source’s viewpoints and depending on external sources to “I am more for marketing with my personal characteristics
define who she was. and working in sales after graduation. I like this more. So, I
did not hesitate.” Despite being influenced by other people

13
Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 737

at the beginning of college, Leon had grown and was able to trajectories of epistemological models that describe people
articulate his own rationale, which included looking inward moving from viewing knowledge dualistically and as objec-
to understand his own characteristics and interests. This tive to viewing knowledge as more subjective and relative
indicated that Leon was able to make decisions based on to eventually seeing it as contextual and constructed (Hofer
getting to know himself better. & Pintrich, 1997, 2002). This conclusion is consistent with
The trajectory of development in the epistemologi- Perry’s scheme (1999) that found that students developed
cal domain moved from depending on external sources to from dualism (Position 1–2) to multiplicity (Position 3–4)
beginning to construct knowledge. The trajectory of devel- and then to contextual relativism (Position 5 and beyond).
opment in the interpersonal domain moved from serving However, no participant in this study viewed truth as abso-
either others’ or one’s own needs to serving both others’ and lute (Position 1). The participants showed development from
one’s own needs. The intrapersonal domain has three dimen- Position 2 to Position 5 in Perry’s scheme. That no par-
sions: self-defined goals, self-efficacy, and self-knowledge. ticipant in this study showed Position 1 was not surprising,
The trajectory of development in the intrapersonal domain as Position 1 seldom has been found empirically (Hofer &
moves from unclear self-defined goals to clear self-defined Pintrich, 2002). The finding that no participant in this study
goals, low self-efficacy to high self-efficacy, and little self- developed beyond Position 5 was also consistent with previ-
knowledge to robust self-knowledge. ous findings that undergraduate students rarely have post-
We outline the patterns of development within the three contextual relativistic thinking (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002).
domains and self-authorship overall in Table 1. To examine However, our finding of development toward self-author-
their development, we calculated the number of participants ship contradicts Zhang and Watkins’s finding (2001) that
in each category and sub-category in each domain at the Chinese college students showed epistemological devel-
beginning of their college life (as they recollected) and the opment in the reverse order of Perry’s model. Zhang and
time of the interview. In a few cases, such as Miss. P, partici- Watkins found that first-year students showed the most rela-
pants provided no indications of their epistemological and tivistic and least dualistic reasoning and that the third-year
interpersonal positions at the start of college. students showed the least relativistic and most dualistic rea-
Meaning-making structures became more complex soning, suggesting that their development was the reverse of
as participants progressed through college. As shown in Perry’s findings. These contradictory results may be because
Table 1, on entering college, all participants had only used the Zhang Cognitive Development Inventory did not address
simple meaning-making structures. However, by the time of the context of college students’ life in China or in the USA.
the interview, all participants not only used more-complex A lack of consideration of specific contexts could also
structures but also used some less-complex structures. Note explain why “the cognitive-developmental pattern expected
that only selected subcodes are discussed in this article. by Perry’s theory was not identified in the present American
For discussions about different rates of development across sample, either” (p. 253). Another possible explanation for
domains, see Li (2019). the contradictory findings is that the Chinese college stu-
dents’ epistemological development may have shifted in the
roughly two decades since Zhang and Watkin’s (2001) study
Discussion and implications due to a greater exposure to western ideas and an evolving
Chinese higher education system.
We found that the Chinese college participants developed
toward self-authorship during their college years, consist- Interpersonal domain
ent with earlier studies investigating college students’ self-
authorship development in multiple national and cultural We found that the trajectory of development in the interper-
contexts (Baxter Magolda, 2001; Bohon, 2015; Cen, 2012). sonal domain moved from serving either others’ or one’s
We discuss the developmental patterns that emerged from own needs to serving both others’ and one’s own needs. All
the data in the following sections. We identify consisten- participants were initially dependent on external influences,
cies and inconsistencies with prior research in the patterns but over time became less dependent. This trajectory was
of development within specific domains and self-authorship consistent with Chickering and Reisser (1993)’s vector,
overall in Table 2. Moving Through Autonomy Toward Interdependence. While
the Chinese college students in this study became more inde-
Epistemological domain pendent, even the most independent participants were still
fairly dependent on authorities’ or respected peers’ approval,
We found that Chinese college students’ epistemology consistent with Deutsch’s (2004) finding that senior college
moves from depending on external sources to constructing students in China consider their parents’ expectations when
knowledge. This finding is consistent with the developmental deciding on their career plans.

13
738 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

Table 1  Number of participants Start of college Time of

in categories and sub-categories interview
at the start of college and at
interview Epistemological
Depending on External Source’s Thinking (less developed) 11 8
Authorities are right 10 3
Learning from excellent people 2 3
Needing external validation 1 5
No appreciation of different views 1 3
No internal criteria 0 2
People around do the same 1 1
Trusting parents keep best interest for self 1 1
Beginning to Construct Knowledge (more developed) 0 13
Accumulation of evidence leads to truth 0 2
Different opinions than authorities 0 9
Expressing own understanding 0 5
Knowledge as subjective and contextual 0 10
Some authorities as fallible 0 6
Trusting own judgment 0 3
Interpersonal
Serving Either Others’ or One’s Own Needs (less developed) 12 9
Serving only own needs 1 1
Deferring to external ideas 10 6
Fitting in 3 1
Giving others’ needs precedence over own 2 2
Needing to get external approval 2 4
Viewing people at different ranks 2 3
Obeying 3 1
Reliant on parents 3 1
Serving Others’ and One’s Own Needs (more developed) 0 12
Accepting self when facing disapproval 0 2
Communicating own perspective 0 4
Considering own needs in relationships 0 9
Disobeying authorities 0 7
Tolerant of differences 0 2
Understanding others’ perspectives 0 4
Intrapersonal
Less developed 12 8
Unclear Self-defined Goals 10 5
Busy without purpose 4 0
Unclear goal for college years 10 0
Not sure what to do 4 1
Unclear plan after graduation 0 5
Low Self-efficacy 6 3
Fear of not meeting requirements of society 0 2
Not confident 6 3
Little Self-knowledge 8 5
Externally defined self 3 2
Not knowing self 4 1
Negative feeling about self 4 3
Value commitment without rationale 1 1
More developed 0 13
Clear Self-defined Goals 0 11

13
Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 739

Table 1  (continued) Start of college Time of

interview

Clear plan after graduation 0 7

Goal based on own interest 0 9
High Self-efficacy 0 11
Confident 0 5
Supportive self-talk 0 4
Willing to take risk for the choice 0 4
Robust Self-knowledge 0 13
Decision based on personal characteristics 0 6
Feeling fulfilled 0 6
Seeing the need to look inwardly 0 13

The participants in this study had not achieved interde- and change directions, or clarify goals, as these were essen-
pendence, which is not surprising given Chickering and tial parts of “becoming one’s own person and taking increas-
Reisser’s (1993) explanation that interdependence “cannot ing responsibility” (p. 115).
be experienced until a measure of independence has been The dimensions of self-efficacy and self-knowledge and
achieved” (p. 140). However, the findings in this study dif- the associated developmental trajectories found in this study
fered from Kodama et al.’s (2002), who found that Asian are consistent with Chickering and Reisser (1993)’s com-
American students followed a developmental trajectory from ponents of identity development. Chickering and Reisser
interdependence to independence, rather than from inde- acknowledged that self-acceptance and self-esteem devel-
pendence to interdependence, due to Asian cultures valuing opment, which are part of the fifth vector, Establishing Iden-
family. The participants in this study moved from depend- tity, were marked by a greater positive sense of self-worth
ence to greater independence but had not yet achieved “on internal, personal standards” (p. 199). Chickering and
interdependence. Reisser also found that an increasing ability to assess one’s
Our finding of a less complex interpersonal meaning- interests was part of the sixth vector, Developing Purpose.
making structure of serving only one’s own needs in rela- Different from previous literature on identity develop-
tionships was not part of Baxter Magolda’ s model (2001) ment in the US context, the participants in this study did
nor Baxter Magolda and King’s (2012) updated model. not address any aspects of social identity, such as gender,
However, Baxter Magolda (2001) referenced a similar idea, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. This was probably because
stating that a focus on “increasing individuation and separa- in the Chinese context, where homogeneity is encouraged,
tion from others to achieve control, autonomy, and independ- people are not used to talking about their social identities.
ence in relationship to others often [led] to sacrificing others’ Further, this study was not specifically designed to explore
needs in relationships to others” (p. 19). This is similar to the participants’ identity dimensions.
our finding of serving only one’s own needs in relationships.
Self‑authorship as a whole
Intrapersonal domain
As a whole, the developmental trajectories of the Chinese
We found that the Chinese college students’ intrapersonal college participants were consistent with Baxter Magolda
domain was comprised of three dimensions: self-defined and King’s (2012) updated model of self-authorship. Bax-
goals, self-efficacy, and self-knowledge. The develop- ter Magolda and King found that students developed from
mental trajectory moved from unclear self-defined goals Solely External Meaning-Making to Crossroads, where their
to clear self-defined goals, low self-efficacy to high self- internal voices competed with the external influences. How-
efficacy, and little self-knowledge to robust self-knowledge. ever, Baxter Magolda and King’s last level, Solely Internal
The dimension of self-defined goals and the developmental (Self-Authoring) Meaning-Making, did not appear in these
trajectory in this dimension are consistent with Erikson’s participants. That being said, Baxter Magolda and King
(1994/1959) and Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) theory. acknowledged that only a small group of WNS participants
Erikson described identity as a gradual process of “really had shown internal meaning-making by their senior year in
know[ing] what you want to be” (p. 98). Chickering and college. Therefore, it was not surprising that the participants
Reisser also stated that it was important for college students in this current study did not show any signs of the last stage
to define personal goals, develop self-determined directions, of the revised model. Our findings regarding developmental

13
740 Y. Li, E. M. Broido

trajectories also are consistent with Cen’s (2012) study of

Direction of Chinese college students’ epistemological development in Zhang and

Chinese college students. Cen found that Chinese college

Asian American students’ developmental trajectory from interdependence to

students “are transitioning from following external formulas
to the crossroads where internal voices begin to emerge” (p.
245). Given that only 13 participants took part in this study,
additional research on Chinese student self-authorship devel-

Social Identities such as gender being salient among US samples

opment is needed to validate these findings.

Implications for practice and future research

The evidence from this study that all participants felt lost
or lacked direction when they began college suggested that
independence in Kodama et al. (2002)

extra support should be provided for first-year Chinese col-

lege students. Perry (1999) suggested that students in the
dualism and early multiplicity phases needed structures
provided by an authority to support their development.
Higher education institutions in China, therefore, need to
provide greater structural support for first-year students,
Watkins’ (2001)

such as first-year seminars and college success courses, to

Inconsistent with

accommodate the transition to college. In these seminars

or courses, instructors should seek to normalize the experi-
ence of feeling lost by encouraging all students to find and
N/A

express their voices rather than just focusing on the voice of

the students who perform well academically. With structured
development; Developmental trajectory of self-defined goals, self-efficacy, and
Developmental trajectory of self-defined goals in Erikson (1994/1959)’s identity

development model; developmental trajectory in Cen (2012)’s Chinese college

Developmental trajectories in Hofer and Pintrich (1997) and Hofer and Pintrich

Developmental trajectory in Baxter Magolda and King (2012)’s self-authorship

considered parents’ expectations when deciding their career plan; sacrificing
Table 2  Consistencies and inconsistencies of developmental patterns of the study compared with literature

support and encouragement, students would feel less anx-

(2002); order of positions in Perry (1999)’s intellectual and ethical scheme

dependence; Deutsch’s (2004) finding that Chinese senior college students

Interpersonal relationships Chickering and Reisser (1993)’s Moving through Autonomy Toward Inter-

others’ needs in interpersonal domain in Baxter Magolda (2001)’s model

self-knowledge in Chickering and Reisser (1993)’s identity development

ious about exploring their options and interests, which would

promote greater self-authorship development, especially in
the intrapersonal domain. As well as easing their explora-
tion process, by giving information on navigating college,
such as information about switching majors, these seminars
or courses could serve as a structured way to help students
define their own goals.
The study findings also indicated a need to shift Chinese
educational practices from knowledge-based to inquiry-
based. Current knowledge-based educational practices in
students’ self-authorship development

Chinese higher education enhance the hierarchical inter-

personal relationship orders embedded in Chinese culture,
hindering students’ self-authorship development. The core
of inquiry-based educational practices is that self is central
to knowledge construction and that faculty, student affairs
staff, and peers are colleagues in this process. Scholars have
Consistent with

recognized the need to consider cultural variations when

shifting to inquiry-based education practices (Kaur, 2020;
Liang & Matthews, 2021). In Asian contexts, practices such
as regarding students as partners redefine the traditional
roles of teachers and students, expose students to multiple
knowledge sources, and help students develop positive self-
concepts in the intrapersonal domain (Kaur et al., 2019),
Intrapersonal domain

thus promoting self-authorship development.

Self-authorship

Professionals and practitioners in Chinese higher educa-

Epistemology

tion should acknowledge students’ capacities to construct

Domain

knowledge and make decisions for themselves, which is

essential in inquiry-based education. Specifically, students

13
Self‑authorship development in Chinese college students: a grounded theory approach 741

need to be presented with multiple sources of knowledge. Baxter Magolda, M. B., & King, P. M. (2007). Interview strategies
Evaluation should encourage students to inquire rather than for assessing self-authorship: Constructing conversations to
assess meaning making. Journal of College Student Develop-
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ricular activities, students should be encouraged to explore Baxter Magolda, M. B., & King, P. M. (2008). Toward reflective con-
their beliefs, relationships, and values in discussions with versations: An advising approach that promotes self-authorship.
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Baxter Magolda, M. B., & King, P. M. (2012). Nudging minds to
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