A cross-national assessment on critical thinking disposition between Hungarian and Chinese undergraduate students

Liu, Yong and Pásztor, Attila and Molnár, Gyöngyvér (2026) A cross-national assessment on critical thinking disposition between Hungarian and Chinese undergraduate students. THINKING SKILLS AND CREATIVITY, 60. No.-102121. ISSN 1871-1871

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Abstract

Critical thinking (CT), a higher-order cognitive skill, has gained urgency amid AI advancements. Despite its recognized importance, cross-cultural assessments of critical thinking disposition (CTD) remain scarce, particularly comparisons between non-Western and Western educational contexts. This study addressed this gap by comparing CTD between Hungarian (N = 1090) and Chinese (N = 1535) undergraduates using Confirmative Factor Analysis (CFA), Measurement Invariance (MI), Item Response Theory, Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and descriptive statistics. Results revealed distinct correlation patterns: Hungarians exhibited strong inter-correlations among self-efficacy, instant judgment, and habitual truth-digging (all p-values < 0.001), whereas Chinese students showed no self-efficacy–habitual truth-digging link (p > .05). MI analysis indicated the acceptable configural and metric model (CFI and TLI > 0.90, SRMR < 0.08, and RMSEA < 0.10), but failing to achieve the scalar MI requirement (ΔCFI > 0.01), partially attributable to DIF in specific items, specializing in habitual truth-digging (favoring Hungarian respondents), self-efficacy (favoring Chinese respondents), and mixed pattern for instant judgment. These findings challenge the assumption of CTD universality, suggesting that cultural-educational systems (e.g., Hungary’s interdisciplinary focus vs. China’s rote-innovation blend) may drive divergent CTD development, underscoring the need for context-specific pedagogical interventions.

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