title: Life event scaling: the Chinese experience.
abstract: Two hundred and sixty-one staff and student members in a university community responded to a questionnaire to rate 69 life events on a scale of 'upsettingness'. There were relatively great consensus in their ratings as a group and relatively great consistency in their ratings across diverse status groups differing in age, sex, marital status and staff-student membership. An examination of specific events however revealed subtle differences among groups. In general, the perception of life events could be meaningfully conceptualized in dimensions interpretable as personal loss and failure, gain and achievement, environmental and role change, personal catastrophe, minor interpersonal problems, and legal and court-related problems. It was suggested that adjustment, control and desirability are event attributes which capture different aspects of the perception of life events.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001290:Attitude; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*