Relations between Eastern Four Pillars Theory & Western Measures of Personality

[JLim (Darma W)]

The below is from a Korean Medical Journal!! 

Purpose
The present study investigated the validity of personality classification using four pillars theory, a tradition in China and northeastern Asia.

The current findings together suggest that four pillars theory, which have hardly been subjected to empirical tests, may have some rational and empirical bases.

Conclusion
Although the major criteria of four pillars theory were not independently correlated with personality scale scores, correlations emerged when participants were grouped according to the composite yin/yang variable. Our results suggest the utility of four pillars theory (beyond fortune telling or astrology) for classifying personality traits and making behavioral predictions.

INTRODUCTION
In northeastern parts of Asia, especially China, predictions about personal destiny and explanations of personality are frequently based on a universal cosmology known as the "four pillars of destiny." Predictions and explanations are provided according to the concept of a moving cosmos and are based on the individual's birth year, month, day, and hour. This is in contrast with Western theories of human personality, which focus on individualistic analysis rather than trying to explain how a person's destiny or personality can be influenced in the context of a cosmic process; that is, Western theory does not refer to human personality as part of the larger cosmos.

In Korea (as in China where the four pillars theory originated), the four pillars theory has not been a scholarly, academic subject but rather a matter of culture and everyday living. For example, the four pillars approach is used to read New Year's fortunes, name newborns, predict marital compatibility, select the date for a move, predict the results of important exams, and predict job promotions. However, the four pillars are generally regarded more as fortune telling or a form of astrology rather than as a serious topic of scholarly investigation. Indeed, some scholars view four pillars theory as having no scientific validity or empirical grounds.

In the present study, we classified and described personality and behavioral tendencies according to both the four pillars theory and objective personality tests developed in the context of the Western view of human personality; that is, based on nomothetic descriptions of personality traits. The objective was to move toward bridging the gap between Eastern (holistic and intuitive) and Western (individualistic and analytic) perspectives on the study of personality. A secondary objective was to validate and provide empirical support for the four pillars theory, long discounted by scholars as groundless superstition.

It is important to note that four pillars theory plays a considerable role in traditional and lay practices of psychiatric healing and psychological counseling in East Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea. We, therefore, expect that the present study could be a starting point for further systematic and cooperative investigations with psychiatrists and psychologists in China and Japan.

for the complete article, please refer to the source https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4397439/

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