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Perceptions of social changes and social identity: Study focusing on Hong Kong society after reunification
Author(s) -
Kim Jungsik,
Ng Sik Hung
Publication year - 2008
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.2008.00262.x
Subject(s) - social identity theory , psychology , social psychology , perception , mediation , identity (music) , china , social change , preference , social group , sociology , political science , social science , physics , neuroscience , acoustics , law , economics , microeconomics
Based on the social identity theory and the need for closure theory, the present study investigates how Hong Kong people's perceptions of social changes after the reunification with China are related to their social identities. A randomly selected sample of 315 Hong Kong residents participated in a telephone survey to report their perceptions of major changes in five social areas, as well as their social identities. A series of logistic regression analyses confirmed, as predicted, that the perceived pace of social change was related to the participants’ preference for a single identity (‘Hongkonger’ or ‘Chinese’) over dual identities (‘Hongkonger and Chinese’, or ‘Chinese and secondarily Hongkonger’) through the mediation of social uncertainty. The results indicate that for individuals with dual social identities, perceptions and evaluations of social change are important factors contributing to social identity preference.