Thinking styles of modern Chinese leaders - Independence and exploration in an historically conditional China

Oct 15, 2026

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Research examines how Chinese leaders perceive the thinking process, which thinking styles they value, and how they prefer to think. A quantitative framework applied two thinking styles inventories, using data from nearly 300 leaders across multiple industry sectors who completed Sofo’s Thinking Style Inventory (TSI), with an additional subgroup completing three forms. A further comparison contrasted 172 non-education leaders with 48 education leaders using independent-sample t-tests and analysis of variance. Results show strong preferences for executive, judicial, and legislative styles, plus high independent and exploring styles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research Questions

Thinking style definitions

Assessment approach and instruments

Findings and implications

Australian Journal of Adult Learning East meets West or never the twain shall meet 305 Volume 45, Number 3, November 2005 Thinking styles of modern Chinese leaders: Independence and exploration in an historically conditional China Francesco Sofo University of Canberra The research examined how Chinese leaders view the thinking process, what thinking styles they value and how they prefer to think. The methodological framework used quantitative analyses of two thinking styles inventories. The survey included a sample of nearly 300 leaders from a wide representation of industry sectors across China who completed Sofo’s Thinking Style Inventory (TSI)(Sofo 2002). Additionally, 22 of these leaders completed three forms of thinking style (Sternberg 1997). Another sample of 172 non-education leaders’ thinking styles were compared with 48 educational leaders’ thinking styles using independent sample t-tests and supported by analysis of variance. The findings showed that Chinese leaders have strong preferences for ‘executive’,‘judicial’and ‘legislative’styles of thinking as well as high preferences for independent and exploring styles. They reported moderate preferences for ‘inquiring’ and ‘creative’styles and low preference for ‘conditional’style, an indication that Chinese leaders may be atthe forefront of change in an historically conditional China. Introduction The Chinese culture has a long history of recorded intellectual and philosophical traditions; however, the entrenched legacy of the Chinese communist rule infers that citizens are expected to think conditionally – that is, to think like their leaders and the governing party of the day. China’s social values and structures are different from Western ones, and this means that understanding ways of thinking is important, especially given the increasing profile that China is taking in the world. The collapse of conventional communism, the waning of socialism and the emergence of a global capitalist system in China has posed a new set of uncertainties for some Western countries. According to Fishman (2005), China is everywhere these days and it is influencing the lives of consumers, employees and citizens through its rapidly changing massive economy, resulting in leaders and executives being at the forefront of cultural change brought about by reform and decentralization in the new global economy that China has entered with alacrity. China’s keenness to learn from, and work with, the West, while equalling or indeed surpassing them at the innovation and economic game, is gathering momentum. There is a mystery and fascination with Chinese ways of thinking, and one wonders to what extent leaders Chinese leaders and executives use styles of thinking that can be analysed gainfully with Western frameworks. Previously there was no choice but to begin with Western conceptions as a search of Chinese literature does not yield any accessible research tools or frameworks. Studies on thinking styles conducted in China tend to be laden with perspectives originating from the West, notably Sternberg’s (1997) theory of thinking style (Cheng, Chen & Yu 2002, 306 Francesco Sofo East meets West or never the twain shall meet 307 Cheng & Chang 2000) . One consequence has been the importation of Western theories to Chinese settings with unproven appropriateness, and since little research has been conducted in the field of thinking style, it is not possible to say if such approaches have been successful in the non-Western setting. Cross-cultural understanding in the emerging globalised world is increasingly imperative and any theories or practices used as the foundation for investigation should be aligned with the specific contextual factors. This paper explores a theory of reality construction based upon styles of thinking developed by Sofo (2004) . In this theory, style of thinking is not an ability, but instead a preference to use various abilities in particular ways. Thinking st

FAQs

What did the research focus on regarding Chinese leaders’ thinking?

It investigated how Chinese leaders view the thinking process, which thinking styles they value, and how they prefer to think.

How were thinking styles measured and compared in the study?

The study used quantitative analyses of two thinking styles inventories, drawing on Sofo’s Thinking Style Inventory (TSI), with additional forms for a subset. Comparisons between education and non-education leaders used independent-sample t-tests and analysis of variance.

What thinking styles did Chinese leaders prefer based on the findings?

The findings indicated strong preferences for executive, judicial, and legislative thinking styles, along with high preferences for independent and exploring styles, while showing low preference for conditional style.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Aldword