人權學者在討論人權教育推廣遲緩的原因時，往往歸因於傳統社會培養出人民的威權性格，或者傳統社會的價值倫理。本文從社會心理學實徵研究成果討論將推動人權教育障礙歸因於威權性格的迷思，也從華人價值觀研究的實徵研究成果深入分析阻礙人權教育的華人高社會支配與權力距離的價值體系，並從社會認知論的角度討論如何改變傳統價值規範。

Human rights scholars habitually attribute obstacles to human rights education or practice to the authoritarian personality and values formed in an authoritarian society. Based on research results from social psychology, this paper discusses the myth of attribution to authoritarianism alone. In fact, in-depth analysis shows that an obstacle to human rights education is the Chinese social structure of rule from above and its accompanying values. A discussion of how these traditional values and norms may be changed is then undertaken based on a social cognitive approach.