WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository 3-2005 Animal Welfare Consciousness of Chinese College Students: Findings and Analysis Zu Shuxian Anhui Medical University Peter J. Li University of Houston-Downtown Pei-Feng Su Independent Animal Welfare Consultant Follow this and additional works at: https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/socatani Recommended Citation Shuxian, Z., Li, P. J., & Su, P. F. (2005). Animal welfare consciousness of Chinese college students: findings and analysis. China Information, 19(1), 67-95. This material is brought to you for free and open access by WellBeing International. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Animal Welfare Consciousness of Chinese College Students: Findings and Analysis Zu Shuxian1, Peter J. Li2, and Pei-Feng Su3 1 Anhui Medical University 2 University of Houston-Downtown 3 Independent Animal Welfare Consultant KEYWORDS college students, cultural change, animal welfare consciousness ABSTRACT The moral character of China’s single-child generation has been studied by Chinese researchers since the early 1990s. Recent acts of animal cruelty by college students turned this subject of academic inquiry into a topic of public debate. This study joins the inquiry by asking if the perceived unique traits of the single-child generation, i.e. self- centeredness, lack of compassion, and indifference to the feelings of others, are discernible in their attitudes toward animals. Specifically, the study investigates whether the college students are in favor of better treatment of animals, objects of unprecedented exploitation on the Chinese mainland. With the help of two surveys conducted in selected Chinese universities, this study concludes that the college students, a majority of whom belong to the single-child generation, are not morally compromised.