The Structure, Characteristics And Change Of Ethnic Minorities' Values

China is a multi-ethnic country and the harmonious ethnic relation is an important cornerstone of the construction of a harmonious socialist society. Enhancement of the awareness of Chinese nation and the core-status of the values shared by each ethnic group, acknowledgement and respect of the unique ethnic minorities' values, perfectly combines diversity and unity, and is an effective measure to build harmonious ethnic relationship. Therefore, understanding the structure, characteristics and change of ethnic minorities' values contributes to the realization of ethnic harmony. Some investigations and researches on ethnic minorities' values, have been reported in China, however, few are from the psychological perspective, and systematic studies of ethnic minorities are seldom conducted. What's more, the method is relatively simple, lacks an integration of multi-disciplines. In view of the defects of current researches, the broadening of the scope of subjects, diversification of the methods and the integration of researches are the only solution to deepen the investigation.The research on the value of minority from a psychological view is not only a brand-new field of research, but also an important issue must be taken seriously in the process of achieving national unity and social harmony.In this study, we choose ethnic minority people as our research subject, based on the idea of "tradition - the status quo - changes", summarized the characteristics of the traditional values of ethnic minorities through a collation of folk literature of ethnic minorities. On the basis of literature review, interview and open questionnaire, we developed an ethnic minorities' values measurement which is psychometric satisfactory, with which we probed into the structure and the actual characteristics of ethnic minorities' values and the relationship between ethnic minorities' values and subjective well-being . Through a case study of Dai people's wedding custom, "thread-tying ceremony", the changes of ethnic minorities' values were discussed.The whole study includes four parts, focused on the tradition and the status quo (structure and characteristics) and relevant factors (relationship between ethnic values and the subjective well-being), and the changes of the ethnic minorities' values.1. From the three levels (physical, physicalized ideology, psychology) of traditional culture of ethnic minorities, based on the analysis of the traditional values of heroic myths and legends of Hani people ,we summed up the characteristics of the traditional values of ethnic minorities as strongly religious, richly folksy, systemically integrated, vividly figurative and openly compatible;2. Combined with literature review, "ethnic minorities' values" is defined as a basic view and faith inclination system of the ethnic minority on the goals and access to the goals of their lives,by which to guide the behavior from their own desires, which can also answer "what individual pursuits, values and how to reach the goals" . Based on the results of literature reviews, interviews , and open questionnaire , we established the indigenous dimensions of ethnic minorities' values, and developed the Ethnic Minorities' Values Questionnaire (EMVQ), which includes two factors, the means and the goals of values, and seven sub-dimensions, including honest intercourse, money and power, inheritance of ethnic culture, career achievement, family, patriotism and dedication, spiritual happiness. The questionnaire has good reliability and validity;3. 1,262 ethnic people were chosen as a sample to carry out our research on the actual status of ethnic minorities' values .By comparison of differences, we discussed the characteristics of ethnic minorities' values on various demographic statistical variables. When primarily probing into the correlative specific questions such as choosing spouse, jobs and friends in the domain of individual social life, we classified the data according to age and ethnicity to conduct an integrated analysis of general and specific characteristics .The results showed that ethnic minorities' values appears to be a positive evaluation and there are some differences between groups on sex, marital status, level of education, occupations, living environment, time of living in the area of Han, ethnicity and age;4.We preliminarily analyzed the relationship between the ethnic minorities' values and subjective well- being, inspected the path relationship between them. The results showed that the subjective well being of ethnic minorities is moderate and they are relatively happy on the whole. The model of the structure has an ideal index and ethnic minorities' values can, to a certain extent, predict subjective well-being;5.We conducted field study to investigate Dai Wedding Customs -"thread-tying ceremony", with which to reflect and highlight the change of values through the changes of wedding. Results showed that the advanced part of traditional values remains and develops at the atmosphere of ethnic culture change of holding the good and selecting the better. The trend of changes is: the coexistence of convergence and diversity, the gradual changes from the non-rational to the rational, and the interactive combination of tradition and modern; 6. It is proposed that outstanding traditional ethnic cultural inheritance and protection should be strengthened.On the whole, this study has the some development and innovation as follows:1. On the aspect of subjects, we chose the ethnic minority public aged from 18 to 60, which expanded the scope of the subjects of the researches on values existed;2.As to the content of the research, through theoretical analysis and on the basis of the establishment of indigenous dimensions of ethnic minorities' values, we designed an ethnic minorities' values questionnaire with good reliability and validity by which we detailed the discussion on the influence of individual variables on ethnic minorities' values and revealed the present status of values of ethnic minorities in China;3.In the approach of research, this study, based on inter-discipline and approach integration, and centered on the logic of "tradition-the status quo-changes", illustrated and analyzed the development and the evolution process of ethnic minorities' values, which fully embodies the integration of research;4.As to the method, the study mainly adopted questionnaire survey, and other methods such as field work, case study, interviews, documentation, which is the cross-confirmation of theory and demonstration, the combination of quantitative and qualitative studies, promoted the pluralism and integration of the methods of research on ethnic minorities' values;5.As to the results of this study, based on the three levels of the traditional cultural system of ethnic minorities, we expounded the concept of values in the heroic legend of Hani, analyzed the traditional characteristics of ethnic minorities' values, the actual status of ethnic minorities' values from psychological perspective, and preliminarily revealed the relationship between ethnic minorities' values and subjective happiness. And a case study of Dai people's wedding customs-"thread-tying ceremony" probed into the changes of ethnic minorities' values.