The Influence Of Common Identity And Secondary Identity On The Development Of Intergroup Relations

Common identity is an individual’s perception of the identity of an upper common group.When the group membership is transformed from "us" and "them" to a more inclusive "we",individuals will redefine the internal and external groups in the form of common identity and form a new identification of the common upper identity.This process promotes the positive development of intergroup relations.Since the process of social classification is dynamic,for real groups,individuals may be reluctant to give up their original group identity and prefer a superior entity identity.Therefore,for individuals with high secondary group identity,reclassification into a common upper identity may trigger the individual’s sense of group identity threat,thus leading to the increase of inter-group prejudice.In view of the negative effects of a common upper identity,the dual identity model solves this problem well.Emphasizing both identities at the same time can have a softer effect than focusing only on the common identity or only on the individual identity.This process reflects the idea of cross classification.For the negative effects of social classification,the classification of other people’s identities in multiple dimensions is conducive to eliminating the negative effects of social classification.The dual identity model emphasizes that common identity and secondary identity are equally important.Imitating the concept of double identity,we construct an inclusive and interwoven identity classification method of common identity and secondary identity guided by the consciousness of community of the Chinese nation from the perspective of cross-classification of social identity.In order to eliminate the possible negative effects of a common identity in our national relations.Therefore,on the basis of social identity theory and self-classification theory,this study adopts the research methods of questionnaire survey and experiment,and investigates the role of a common identity and secondary identity in external group prejudice and ethnic communication attitude and its possible negative impact through four series of studies.And further introduce mutual identity to alleviate the negative effects of a common identity.Firstly,in study 1,the correlation between common identity,secondary identity,out-group bias and ethnic communication attitude was discussed through questionnaire,and it was proved that common identity positively predicted out-group bias and ethnic communication attitude.Secondary identity positively predicted out-group bias and shared identity significantly negatively predicted out-group bias when secondary identity was high.Secondly,on the basis of study 1,Study 2 adopted a two-factor intersubject design and used text priming technology to verify the specific effects of single common identity,secondary identity and out-group bias on ethnic communicative attitudes.The results showed that the single shared identity improved the ethnic communication attitude and reduced the out-group bias,and those with high secondary identity showed greater out-group bias under the single identity condition.Study 3further repeated the results of Study 2 on implicit group bias using a single-class implicit association test.Finally,Study 4 uses text priming technique to introduce interlocking common identity.The results show that: Both interlocking common identity and single common identity have significant effects on improving ethnic communicative attitudes and reducing out-group bias,and there is no difference between them.No matter out-group bias or ethnic communicative attitudes,the interaction between the two common identities and secondary identities is not significant.Compared with the single common identity group and the control group,The embedded common identity can effectively alleviate the sense of identity threat caused by individuals with high secondary ethnic identity under the condition of a common identity,and thus realize the role of reducing out-group prejudice and promoting ethnic communication.This echoes the results of Study 1 and shows from an empirical point of view that the Chinese national identity guided by the sense of community of the Chinese nation and the identity classification form of inclusiveness and mutual embedding of ethnic identities are more advantageous forms of identity in both theoretical and empirical levels.In summary,based on existing theories and empirical studies,this study further proves that common identity has a positive effect on the development of intergroup relations,but only emphasizes that a common upper identity will cause greater out-group bias for those with high secondary identity.However,the common identity guided by the consciousness of the Chinese nation community and the inclusive and mutually embedded common identity of the secondary identity can effectively alleviate the negative impact of the existence of a single common identity.The research results can provide corresponding practice guidance for the harmonious development of inter-group relations in our country.