This was a qualitative study of mainland Chinese students' conceptions of self and morality in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. Taking Gilligan's (1982) research on gender and moral voice as a starting point, this study inquired into the cultural dimensions of morality, asking of Chinese students: What constitutes a moral problem? And how does one arrive at a moral solution? In-depth interviews were conducted with thirty Chinese men and women studying in the U.S. about their lived experiences of moral conflict and choice. Out of these interviews, the problem of power emerged as a central moral issue in students' relationships with Americans, influencing not only their construction of but their responses to those morally problematic relationships. These responses were characterized by a dilemma of voice: the tension between an ethical imperative to keep silent to preserve vital yet hurtful power relations and the moral need to speak out in defense of one's dignity and integrity. This dilemma of voice varied with the nature of the power relationship itself, i.e., with how power was distributed and differences constructed between Chinese and Americans, as well as the perceived consequences of speaking out. These findings underscore the situational nature of moral voice, arising in or suppressed by relations of power and difference, and challenge current theories of moral psychology by calling attention to the central role of power in the social construction of morality.
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