This paper describes how the author has used children's stories, published in the People's Republic of China, to explore the ethnocentrism in American academic social psychology. The stories are read to students in the author's undergraduate classes in social psychology, who then discuss the themes of the stories. Comparisons are made with stories commonly available to children in this country. Major emphases in the stories from China include: (1) an emphasis upon helpfulness and cooperation in the pursuit of group goals; (2) a minimizing of roles defined by sex, age, or social prestige; (3) the early introduction of children into adult roles; (4) error seen as ignorance, calling for reeducation rather than punishment; (5) care of personal and group belongings. The frequency of these themes is contrasted with their appearance in American children's literature. Attention is then directed to the cultural differences which have been noted, as these relate to emphases within areas of interest common to American social psychologists. To date attention has included the various psychological needs identified by Henry Murray, with particular attention to the achievement motive. Maslow's need hierarchy is reexamined in terms of the orientation of the Chinese stories, and a similar reexamination is made of Kohlberg's stages of moral development. (Author)