Concern for mianzi, or the social perception of one's prestige and standing in the group, is an important socioemotional experience in Chinese adolescents. This 2-year longitudinal study examined relations between concern for mianzi and adjustment in junior high school students (N = 498; 266 boys), initially in seventh grade (Mage = 13 years), in rural China. Data were obtained from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, and school records. The results showed that concern for mianzi positively predicted later sociability and academic achievement and negatively predicted later internalizing problems. Concern for mianzi also positively predicted later aggression and externalizing problems in boys. Aggression positively predicted concern for mianzi, and sociability positively predicted concern for mianzi in girls. The results indicate the developmental significance and the nature of concern for mianzi in rural Chinese context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.