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Neither collectivism nor individualism: Trust in the Chinese guanxi circle

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  • Jar-Der Luo
  • Yung-Chu Yeh

Abstract

This paper illustrates the phenomenon of the social circle in Chinese culture, including the type and role of trust in such a circle, which we call a guanxi circle. In general, a guanxi circle is an ego-centric network. The Chinese national culture is generally thought of as a culture of collectivism, which in turn makes the Chinese network structure dense and closed in organisational settings. However, we find that there are also aspects of openness and flexibility in both Chinese business and social networks, as guanxi circles. In addition, the guanxi circle has a unique structure with ‘differential modes of association’. Finally, the boundary of a guanxi circle is not closed, and outsiders may be included in this circle. That makes the Chinese network structure flexible to opening or closing. This flexibility may be rooted in the Chinese guanxi operation, and trust plays the key role in the operation of guanxi circles. In particular, different levels of association in the circle require different types of trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Jar-Der Luo & Yung-Chu Yeh, 2012. "Neither collectivism nor individualism: Trust in the Chinese guanxi circle," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 53-70, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jtrust:v:2:y:2012:i:1:p:53-70
    DOI: 10.1080/21515581.2012.660355
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    Cited by:

    1. Jar-Der Luo & Meng-Yu Cheng & Tian Zhang, 2016. "Guanxi circle and organizational citizenship behavior: Context of a Chinese workplace," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 649-671, September.
    2. Huimin Gu & Tingting (Christina) Zhang & Can Lu & Xiaoxiao Song, 2021. "Assessing Trust and Risk Perceptions in the Sharing Economy: An Empirical Study," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 1002-1032, June.
    3. Yangyong Zhang, 2023. "Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
    4. Chin‐Hwa Lu & Chung‐Hua Shen, 2020. "Do networks or performance impact the promotion of Chinese officials? Evidence from prefecture‐level cities," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 539-573, October.
    5. Sven Horak & Markus Taube, 2016. "Same but different? Similarities and fundamental differences of informal social networks in China (guanxi) and Korea (yongo)," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 595-616, September.
    6. Peter Ping Li, 2017. "The time for transition: Future trust research," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Miao, Yumeng & Du, Rong & Ou, Carol, 2022. "Guanxi circles and light entrepreneurship in social commerce : The roles of mass entrepreneurship climate and technology affordances," Other publications TiSEM f19a203f-abb6-4835-9c34-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Mengying Wu & Rongsong Wang & Peixu He & Christophe Estay & Zubair Akram, 2020. "Examining How Ambidextrous Leadership Relates to Affective Commitment and Workplace Deviance Behavior of Employees: The Moderating Role of Supervisor–Subordinate Exchange Guanxi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-18, July.

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