Chinese kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about young children’s classroom social behavior

•Chinese kindergarten teachers’ reported their beliefs about children’s classroom social behaviors.•Exuberance and aggression were least tolerated and most likely to evoke anger among teachers.•Teachers also reported more negative views toward physical versus relational aggression.•Teachers were more worried about shy children than unsociable children.•Chinese teachers displayed both similarities and differences in beliefs as compared to previous findings in North America and Western Europe.

This study examined Chinese kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about children’s classroom social behaviors. Participants were N = 672 kindergarten teachers in Shanghai, China. Teachers viewed hypothetical vignettes depicting kindergarten children (i.e., aged 4–6 years) displaying aggressive (physical/relational), socially withdrawn (shy/unsociable), exuberant, and prosocial (empathetic/sociable) behaviors and responded to questions regarding their attitudes, beliefs, and reactions. Exuberance and aggression were least tolerated and most likely to evoke anger among teachers. However, teachers reported more negative views toward physical than relational aggression, and were more worried about shy than unsociable children. Implications of the similarities and differences among teacher beliefs across cultures are considered.