There's been recent discussion over Chinese attitudes toward foreigners, sparked by another quarrel between a foreigner and a taxi driver.

The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Psychology published five years ago may shed some light on the matter. According to the studies described in the handbook, Chinese have lower self-esteem compared to Westerners. Yet does the result still apply to the Chinese people today?

Yes and no. For the moment, different attitudes toward foreigners can still be found in China's society, with some displaying inferiority complexes like "Foreigners are awesome, and Western countries are awesome. We should respect them and be as polite as possible, and shouldn't let them look down on us," and a few arrogant opinions such as "Some foreigners are rude and disrespectful, their level of civility is far behind China."

But one thing has not changed, which is that every time a foreigner did something good or bad, there will be an argument triggered by the issue, which shows how much we care.

Chinese used to be lacking in self-confidence. It might start from the modern history, after the failure in the Opium wars, and the following humiliation of being bullied and brought to their knees by Western rifles and cannons. And the dark history is still to some extent affecting our mentality today.

For some time, the Western world represents the best of everything in some Chinese eyes. But our state of mind is gradually changing.

When asked "What makes you feel proud of your country?" in school classes in China, answers vary from the World Expo to the Olympic Games, from athletes to astronauts, from the mushrooming skyscrapers to busy metropolises, which have all filled us with growing self-confidence.

While answering the question "Since China is so good today and Chinese people are more confident, why are an increasing number of Chinese emigrating abroad?" Zhang Weiwei, a professor at Fudan University, replied that at least 70 percent of Chinese migrants become more patriotic after leaving their home country, no matter whether they have become a naturalized citizen of another nation or not. Such result and experiences are much more convincing and have better effect than dozens of "patriotic education" classes.

There is no reason for us not to be self-confident. We live in the world's second-largest economy. Chinese net financial assets per capita and the purchasing power of residents have seen a sharp rise, with more and more people starting to purchase works of art or luxuries, instead of only necessities.

These all indicate a rising standard of life and self-esteem.

Nevertheless, the point of the changing attitudes toward ourselves or other countries is not realizing other nations are better or worse than China, but treating them like how we treat our fellow Chinese.

That is what confidence means, not being condescending, not worshiping, but looking each other in the eye with mutual trust and respect.

There is still a long way to go, since attitudes are not something that can be erased and rewritten easily. But we are on the road to change

Isa Zhang, a freelance writer based in Beijing