The Impact of Felt Understanding on Chinese National Identity: The Mediating Role of Intergroup Trust

Yang Yang; Luo Huan; Jiang Liwei; Li Anqi; Wang Xuhong; Hou Liang

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240616

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6) : 1444-1454. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240616

Social，Personality & Organizational Psychology

The Impact of Felt Understanding on Chinese National Identity: The Mediating Role of Intergroup Trust

Yang Yang, Luo Huan, Jiang Liwei, Li Anqi, Wang Xuhong, Hou Liang

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Abstract

Chinese national identity refers to people's conscious awareness and emotional attachment to the Chinese nation as an ethnic entity. It not only affects individuals' psychological well-being and behavioral adaptation, but also has important impacts on ethnic harmony, social stability, and national identity. However, current research on Chinese national identity has mainly focused on theoretical explanation and policy analysis, with relatively little empirical research. Most existing studies have used questionnaire surveys to explore correlations between Chinese national identity and other variables, without examining causal relationships. Moreover, current empirical research on factors influencing Chinese national identity has not yet considered intergroup meta-perceptions. Existing research has found that intergroup meta-perceptions influence attitudes toward outgroups. Therefore, for different ethnic groups in China, does feeling that outgroups understand one’s ingroup facilitate Chinese national identity? The present research through three studies explores the effect of felt understanding on Chinese national identity and its underlying mechanism.
Study 1 surveyed 367 college students to examine the relationships among felt understanding, intergroup trust, and Chinese national identity. Study 2 manipulated felt understanding using a single-factor between-subjects design, with 165 college students assigned to a felt understanding group, a felt no understanding group, or a control group. Participants' intergroup trust and Chinese national identity were measured after the manipulation. To further establish the effect of felt understanding rather than felt liking on Chinese national identity, Study 3 adopted a 2 (felt understanding: understanding vs. no understanding) × 2 (felt liking: liking vs. no liking) between-subjects design with 192 college students. Participants were first exposed to manipulations of felt understanding and felt liking before their Chinese national identity was measured.
Study 1 found that felt understanding positively predicted Chinese national identity, with intergroup trust partially mediating the relationships between felt understanding and shared ingroup identity (Chinese nation) and Chinese national identity. Intergroup trust fully mediated the relationship between felt understanding and the sense of Community for the Chinese Nation. Study 2 showed that, compared to felt no understanding group and control group, the felt understanding group scored higher on common ingroup identity (Chinese nation) and Chinese national identity. Furthermore, intergroup trust mediated the effect of felt understanding on common ingroup identity (Chinese nation) and Chinese national identity. Study 3 revealed a significant multivariate main effect of felt understanding. The univariate main effect of felt understanding was significant for common ingroup identity (Chinese nation) and the sense of community for the Chinese nation, indicating higher Chinese national identity in the felt understanding condition than in the felt no understanding condition. There was also a significant multivariate main effect of felt liking, while the univariate main effect of felt liking was only significant for common ingroup identity (Chinese nation) but not for the others. This suggests that felt understanding promotes Chinese national identity more effectively than felt liking, further confirming the facilitating effect of felt understanding on Chinese national identity.
The research found that felt understanding facilitates Chinese national identity, intergroup trust mediates the relationship between felt understanding and Chinese national identity and felt understanding promotes Chinese national identity more effectively than felt liking. This research enriches the downstream effects of felt understanding. From the perspective of meta-perceptions and in the context of China's multi-ethnic society, it is the first to explore the effect of felt understanding on Chinese national identity and its underlying mechanism. It makes an original contribution to the antecedent variables and mechanisms for promoting Chinese national identity. At the same time, it provides an evidence-based rather than speculative way to consolidate the sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Key words

felt understanding / intergroup trust / Chinese national identity / meta-perception / common ingroup identity

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Yang Yang, Luo Huan, Jiang Liwei, Li Anqi, Wang Xuhong, Hou Liang. The Impact of Felt Understanding on Chinese National Identity: The Mediating Role of Intergroup Trust[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2024, 47(6): 1444-1454 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240616

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