Comparison affective dispositions toward critical thinking across Chinese and American baccalaureate nursing students

The purpose of this cross-cultural study is to understand and compare affective dispositions toward critical thinking across Chinese and American cultures. Two convenience samples of 214 and 196 undergraduate nursing students were obtained in Taiwan and the USA, respectively. The California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI) was used to measure critical thinking dispositions. The ages of the students in these samples ranged from 19 to 28 ( M = 22, SD = 1.87) for the Chinese sample, and from 20 to 51 (M = 28, SD = 6.08) for the American. For the Chinese sample, all means of the seven subscale scores were above 40, except for truth seeking, systematicity and maturity. For the American sample, all means of the seven subscale scores were above 40, except for truth seeking. The mean item responses for each subscale were significantly different between the two samples [F (1, 408) = 54.11, p <.01] and across the subscales [F (6, 2448) = 905, p <.01]. Significant differences between the two samples were also found in truth-seeking, t(408) = 14.70 (p <.001), open- mindedness, t(408) = 6.17 (p <.001), systematicity, t(408) = 4.73 (p <.001) and maturity, t(408) = 10.46 (p <.001). The findings provide information to understand affective dispositions toward critical thinking in either Chinese or American students. The differences may contribute to the cultural differences shown in their dispositions.