From Theatrical Conflict to Value Re-authoring: An Exploratory Study on the "Financial Personality Growth Quartet" Workshop's Cultivation Path

Abstract

In contemporary China, the cultivation of "personality" among students in financial institutions faces a dual challenge: they must master outstanding professional skills while also fostering the professional ethics and sense of social responsibility that align with the "Financial Power" national strategy. However, the highly quantified competitive environment can easily lead students into a value dilemma of "instrumental rationality" and "refined egoism." This study aims to explore the intrinsic cultivation path of a novel psychological education model—the "Financial Personality Growth Quartet" workshop. This model uses educational drama as its vehicle and "theatrical conflict" as its core mechanism to guide students toward "value re-authoring." Adopting an exploratory case study paradigm within qualitative research, this study involved 12 finance major students who participated in a complete three-month (eight-session) workshop. Through participatory observation, in-depth narrative interviews, and analysis of participants' reflective texts, the complete cultivation process of the "Quartet" (i.e., "Prelude: Value Awakening," "Variation: Conflict & Negotiation," "Chord: Systemic Resonance," and "Finale: Meaning Re-authoring") was deeply analyzed. The study found that this path is not a linear superposition of four independent stages, but a spiraling upward process centered on "theatrical conflict." The cultivation path manifests as: 1. Cognitive Awakening: In the "Value Awakening" stage, latent values are "made explicit" through narrative and artistic exploration; 2. Embodied Involvement: In the "Conflict & Negotiation" stage, abstract "professional ethical dilemmas" (e.g., integrity vs. profit, efficiency vs. equity) are transformed into embodied "theatrical conflicts" through "Forum Theatre," compelling participants to move from "knowing" to "feeling"; 3. Perspective Fusion: In the "Systemic Resonance" stage, through "multi-role-playing" and "ripple effect" analysis, participants' perspectives shift from "individual optimal solutions" to a "sense of systemic responsibility," catalyzing profound ethical empathy; 4. Identity Internalization: In the "Meaning Re-authoring" stage, participants integrate their new value understandings into their "financial personality" self-narrative through forms like "Future Self-Portraits." This study reveals the pedagogical function of "theatrical conflict" as a form of "ethical rehearsal," offering a "beyond-cognition" and "embodied practice" path for personality and values education in financial institutions and other high-stakes professions.