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In‐ and outgroup representation in a dynamic society: Hong Kong after 1997
Author(s) -
Schack Thomas,
Schack Ellen
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
asian journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-839X
pISSN - 1367-2223
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-839x.2005.00159.x
Subject(s) - outgroup , ingroups and outgroups , psychology , perception , sociocultural evolution , social psychology , representation (politics) , identity (music) , dimension (graph theory) , mental representation , cognition , sociology , politics , political science , acoustics , pure mathematics , physics , mathematics , neuroscience , anthropology , law
Reunification with the People's Republic of China in 1997 draws attention to the identity of Hong Kong people along with their representation and perception of in‐ and outgroups. We gathered current data on in‐ and outgroup representations, self‐categorizations, and the willingness to assimilate in this dynamic sociocultural environment. A new experimental method was developed to measure the structure and feature dimensions of in‐ and outgroup representation in 25 university students and 25 employees. Results showed that the structure of mental representations had changed after reunification. Interestingly, significant feature dimension of intergroup perception, such as modernity and Confucian values, proved to be consistent with earlier research. In the present study, it became obvious that such feature dimensions played an important role in discriminating between in‐ and outgroups.