Culture, Cognition, and Emotion in China's Religious Ethnic Minorities: Voices of Suffering among the Yi (Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology)

This study examines the suffering narratives of two religious communities--Bimo and Christian--of the Yi minority who reside in the remote mountains of Sichuan and Yunnan, China, respectively. It is informed by the theoretical framework of ecological rationality, which posits that emotions influence, and are influenced, by cognitive styles that have co-evolved with the ecological niche of a culture. It was predicted and found that in times of adversity, traditional religious communities may differ in emotion expression, causal attribution, and help seeking behavior, with far-reaching ramifications in how they are uniquely vulnerable to the pitfalls of modernization. The authors hope that the voices of the study participants, heard through their harrowing narratives, may inspire a deepened sensitivity to the plight of rural Chinese communities as China races to become superpower in the global economy Annotation This study examines the suffering narratives of the Bimo and Christian religious communities of the Yi minority who reside in the remote mountains of Sichuan and Yunnan, China, respectively. It is informed by the theoretical framework of ecological rationality, which posits that religions influence and are influenced by cognitive styles that have co-evolved with the ecological niche of a culture. It was predicted and found that in times of adversity, traditional religious communities differ in emotion expression, causal attribution, and help-seeking behavior, with far-reaching ramifications for how they are uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of modernization. The authors hope that the voices of the study participants, heard through their harrowing narratives, may inspire a deepened sensitivity to the plight of rural Chinese communities as China races to become a superpower in the global economy Front Matter ....Pages i-xxvi First Things First: Research Orientation and Background Information on Two Yi Communities in Southwest China (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 1-39 Narratives of Suffering (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 41-81 Suffering and Worldviews (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 83-124 Help-Seeking in Suffering (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 125-170 Emotions of Suffering (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 171-201 Toward a Reflexive Indigenous Psychology (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 203-243 Challenges and Future Directions (Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Louise Sundararajan)....Pages 245-275 Back Matter ....Pages 277-288