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Open-Mindedness 
Report on the Study of Social and Emotional Skills of 

Chinese Adolescents (IV) 

Zhifang Shao, Zhi Liu, Shuyu Yang, & Jingzhong Huang 

East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China 

S one of the five dimensions of social and emotional ability, open-

mindedness is derived from the openness factor of the “Big Five 

Personality”, which describes one’s willingness to try and accept 

novel experiences. People with a high level of open-mindedness are more 

creative and artistic, while those with low level of openness are more obedi-

ent to tradition and pragmatic, but lack of innovation. According to the 

OECD research framework, open-mindedness includes tolerance, curiosity 

and creativity. This study is based on data collected from 10-year-old and 15-

year-old students in Suzhou city participating in the OECD social and emo-

tional ability assessment. It uses descriptive statistics, difference testing and 

regression analysis to present the performance of Suzhou students’ open-

mindedness. This allows the study to provide reference for the accurate as-

sessment of teenagers’ social and emotional abilities, in addition to further 

developing the quality of education in China. The study presents data results 

from the following three parts: the first part presents the overall score of 

open-mindedness, the correlation between open-mindedness and other sub-

abilities, and the age difference of open-mindedness (comparison between 10 

and 15 years old group), gender difference, urban-rural difference, and the 

difference between general high and vocational high; the second part pre-

sents the factors influencing open-mindedness through regression analysis, 

including background variables, individual factors, family upbringing, teach-

er factors, and school factors; the third part presents the effects of tolerance, 

curiosity and creativity on academic achievement (Chinese, math, art), edu- 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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A 



 

BECE, Vol.9, No.1, 2021 1214 

cational expectation, global consciousness, closeness to family, closeness to 

others, health, life happiness, life satisfaction, test anxiety and other life out-

come variables of 10 and 15 year old students through regression analysis. 

The results are as follows: 

The Overall Status of Open Capacity 

From the scores of openness, Suzhou students’ self-evaluate open-

mindedness at a higher level, indicating that their confidence in themselves is 

higher than the international average. At the same time, the self-rating of stu-

dents in the 10-year-old group is lower than that in the 15-year-old group. 

The same is true for parents’ and teachers’ ratings, which are themselves 

similar. In the distribution graphs of each sub-ability score of the two age 

groups, there is a small peak in the high end of the distribution graph of the 

10-year-old group. The reason for this phenomenon may be that some ele-

mentary school students are susceptible to social expectations, leading them 

to be more likely to give what they think society may deem the “best” option. 

From the perspective of the correlation between open-mindedness and 

other sub-abilities and compared with the international sample, the Suzhou 

sample has a higher correlation between tolerance, curiosity, and creativity in 

its openness. Moreover, the correlation coefficients are all higher than 0.5. 

There are also higher correlation coefficients between open-mindedness’ 

sub-abilities and the sub-abilities of other abilities. Among them, open-

mindedness has a higher correlation with task ability and collaboration abil-

ity. The correlation coefficient between curiosity and perseverance in the 10-

year-old group is 0.69, and the correlation coefficient with cooperation score 

is 0.67. In contrast, the correlation is low between openness and emotional 

regulation and communication skills, while the correlation coefficient of the 

15-year-old group is slightly lower than that of the 10-year-old group. 

From the perspective of the difference in openness, the scores of open-

ness of 15-year-old boys and girls are significantly lower than those of 10-

year-olds. This is especially the case for the curiosity and creativity scores, 

with an effect size of about 0.8. Here, compared with boys, girls experience a 

decline. This result is particularly serious and deserves focused attention; 

gender differences in the openness of the 10-year-old group are small, with 

the only significant differences in tolerance scores (girls are higher than 

boys). The effect is weak, and there is a gender difference in the 15-year-old 

group. As a result, girls are more tolerant than boys, but they score signifi-

cantly lower than boys in curiosity and creativity in these groups. In both ur-

ban and rural areas, the openness of students in schools in central urban areas 

is significantly higher than schools in rural areas, but the effect size is not 

large; in general, they are higher in vocational schools except for girls’ crea-

tivity scores, while other indicators are significantly higher than those of vo-

cational high school students. 

Influencing Factors of Openness 



 

BECE, Vol.9, No.1, 2021 1215 

Use multiple regression to analyze the factors that affect openness, including 

the effects of background variables, student variables, teacher variables, 

school variables, and family variables on tolerance, curiosity, and creativity. 

Regarding background variables, among the 10-year-old students, par-

ents’ highest education level, family possessions and family book collection 

significantly positively affect tolerance, curiosity and creativity. The positive 

influence coefficients of the parents’ highest educational background were 

0.01, 0.01, and 0.04, respectively. The positive influence coefficients of fam-

ily possessions were 0.45, 0.49, 0.47, respectively, and the positive influence 

coefficients of family book collection were 0.07, 0.06, and 0.09, respectively. 

Among students in the 15-year-old group, age, parents’ highest education, 

family possessions, and family collections significantly positively affect tol-

erance, curiosity, and creativity. The positive coefficients of age are 0.61, 

0.66, and 0.51, respectively, with parents being the highest. The positive in-

fluence coefficients of educational background were 0.02, 0.02, and 0.03, re-

spectively. The positive influence coefficients of family possessions were 

0.31, 0.31, 0.38, respectively, while the positive influence coefficients of 

family book collection were 0.05, 0.05, and 0.06, respectively. 

Regarding student variables, among the 10-year-old students, security, 

friendships, and good habits significantly positively affect tolerance, curiosi-

ty, and creativity. Friends’ high expectations and online time significantly 

negatively affect tolerance, curiosity, and creativity. Among the students in 

the 15-year-old group, one’s sense of security, friendships, good habit friends, 

extensive social relationships, outdoor activity time, and growth-oriented 

thinking all significantly positively affect students’ tolerance, curiosity and 

creativity. Friends’ high expectations and online time significantly negatively 

affect students’ tolerance, curiosity and creativity. 

Regarding teacher variables, the teacher-student relationship significant-

ly positively affects the tolerance, curiosity and creativity of students in the 

10-year-old group and the 15-year-old group (p < 0.01; 10-year-old group: β 

is 0.12, 0.14, 0.11, respectively; 15-year-old group; β = 0.14, 0.15, and 0.13). 

The training frequency has a significant positive effect on the three abilities 

of the 10-year-old group (p < 0.01, β = 0.01, 0.01, and 0.01, respectively). 

Among the three abilities of the 15-year-old group, the influence is signifi-

cantly negative (p < 0.01, β = -0.01, -0.00, -0.01, respectively). 

Regarding school variables, except that the standard regression coeffi-

cient of school bullying on curiosity scores is insignificant, other factors in-

cluding school belonging, school cooperation atmosphere, school competi-

tion atmosphere, and extra-school activities all significantly positively affect 

the tolerance of the 10-year-old and 15-year-old students Degree, curiosity 

and creativity. 

Regarding family variables, whether it is a 10-year-old or a 15-year-old 

student, understanding mothers, understanding fathers, and parents’ high ex-

pectations all significantly positively affect students’ tolerance, curiosity, and 

creativity. Parent-child issues significantly negatively affect three abilities (p 



 

BECE, Vol.9, No.1, 2021 1216 

< 0.01; 10-year-old group: β = -0.04, -0.07, -0.04, respectively; 15-year-old 

group; β = -0.05, -0.07, -0.04 respectively). 

Openness and Life Outcomes 

Among the 10-year-old students, tolerance, curiosity and creativity have sig-

nificant positive effects on educational expectations, global awareness, health, 

happiness, satisfaction, and closeness to family and others. Among the 15-

year-old students, tolerance, curiosity and creativity have significant positive 

effects on global awareness, health, happiness, satisfaction, and closeness to 

others. In addition, whether it is a 10-year-old or a 15-year-old group, the re-

gression coefficients of curiosity scores on various variables of life outcomes 

have reached an extremely significant level, indicating the high importance 

of curiosity in students’ lives. 

It is therefore necessary to strengthen encouragement and guidance for 

high school girls, rural school students, and vocational school students to 

prevent “stereotype threats” caused by various gaps. During the enrollment 

stage of freshmen, we should protect students’ curiosity and creativity, set 

reasonable course difficulty and academic burden, and prioritize inspiring 

freshmen’s curiosity and cultivating students’ active learning spirit. In addi-

tion, protecting and developing the curiosity of students is the key to the de-

velopment of social and emotional abilities. 

 

 

Source: Journal of East China Normal University (Education Science Edition), 2021, 

39(09):77-92. 

 

Correspondence to:  

Zhifang Shao 

East China Normal University 
Shanghai 200241 

China 

Email: zfshao@psy.ecnu.edu.cn  

 

Conflict of Interests: None. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.21.rp034 

 

mailto:zfshao@psy.ecnu.edu.cn

