A Study Of Types Of National Identity And Activation Mechanism Under Different Self-Construal Conditions

The reality of international relations is undergoing great changes.One is the impact of China's growing power on global values.With the rise of the country,China's cultural values will continue to flow to the international level,and the view of international order governance of China's values will further affect every country in the world.The other is the deconstruction and reconstruction of the conceptual structure of the existing system by the rise of non-western countries including China.With the rise of non-western countries,the non-western view of international order governance may further achieve the multi-dimensional and multi-level remodeling of current system concept structure.In this context,the voices from the non-western,Chinese schools of international relations theory are more important than ever.Due to the increasing diversity of global values,mutual understanding between western and non-western countries has become very necessary.As early as in the discussion of constructivism theory,the concept of "identity" was introduced to explain the mutual understanding and cognition between countries.The identity determines the mutual recognition between countries,and then determines a country's relations and interests with other countries,and finally determines a country's policy behavior towards other countries.Based on the above basic logic,both western and non-western countries share a similar identity type framework and have a consistent identity activation mechanism.However,historical experience has shown that countries with different self-constructs may have significant differences in identity type frameworks and activation mechanisms.The mainstream identity classification theories are more suitable to explain the identity types of western countries.Among them,the identity classification of structural constructivism is the most classical theory.The Hobbesian culture,Lockean culture and Kantian culture divided by Alexander Wendt correspond to the respective roles of enemy,rival and friend,which outlines the identity type structure of the country which based on mutual interests very well.In the order of modern international relations,Wendt's anarchic cultures and role identity structure seems very appropriate.Even in the interpretation of the Roman system,the identity classification theory of Wendt still maintains a strong theoretical vitality.However,when explaining the national identity under the oriental international system,Wendt'sidentity framework is slightly inadequate.In contrast to the Roman system,the ancient east Asian international order took on almost entirely different characteristics.From the perspective of historical evolution,the identities of east Asian countries and their behaviors are quite different from the "friend-rival-enemy" identity framework.Even in the modern international system,China,as a typical eastern country,has shown the role behavior that is inconsistent with the western identity type framework.The mainstream theory of national identity activation also shows a certain degree of western-centered tendency.The mainstream constructivism theory is based on the value orientation of individual rationality,emphasizes the difference between individual self and others,and tends to propose identity activation mechanisms that are consistent across contexts and cultures.In a specific international system,the system concept structure will construct the identity of a country,so that a country will tend to activate its previous highly significant identity in any interactive situation.Based on the assumptions of cross-cultural consistency,the eastern and western cultures and their corresponding national self-differences were not valued by the mainstream identity activation theory in the first place.In Wendt's structural constructivism theory,a country always tends to activate the main role identity constructed by the system.However,in the international system dominated by Oriental countries,a country's identity activation has situationality.The core condition of identity activation is the specific interactive situation and the specific relationship between a country and other countries.A country activates its identity according to its specific relationship with other countries and its specific position in the system.As the diversity of global values grows,mutual understanding among nations becomes more important.Based on the difference between western countries and eastern countries in identity framework and activation,there are significant differences between countries with different self-construals in the focus of attention and the way of thinking in the same interactive situation.As a result,they have different expectations on identity inclusion,the different identity frameworks and activation mechanisms may further increase the probability of misjudgment between independent self-construal countries and “guanxied” self-construal countries.The main reason for the partial failure of the mainstream identity classification theory and identity activation theory may be that the cultural differences of identity types were intentionally or unintentionally ignored in the theoretical construction,andthen based on the experience of the western international system,the identity type framework and identity activation that are mainly applicable to western countries were formed.Therefore,the most effective analysis scenario of the mainstream identity classification theory and activation theory is the western-dominated international system,while the most effective analysis object is the western countries that uphold the value of individualism.At present,the Chinese school of process constructivism advocates ontological criticism of the mainstream constructivist theory,introspects the constructivism of "individual and structure" from the perspective of "process and relationship",and proposes a constructivism with cross-cultural consistency based on Chinese native culture.Chinese "guanxi" identity is a typical embodiment of the broader concept of relational identity.By referring to social psychology and cultural psychology,the Chinese school puts forward the relational identity theory from the perspective of "guanxi" identity.However,process constructivism is currently committed to ontological dialogue with structural constructivism,so there is still room for further development of systematic identity classification and activation theory.For each sub-identity type distinction,identity characteristics and internal connection,as well as the corresponding identity activation mechanism there is room for further enrichment.Therefore,by reference to social psychology and cultural psychology,taking "type and activation of national identity" as the research object from the perspective of "self-construal" has both theoretical and practical significance: From the theoretical point of view,we can further revise the theoretical framework through the reflection of constructivism identity theory and identity the activation mechanism,think and use for reference from the social psychology and cultural psychology,deep think the law of a country's identity classification and activation under the cultural differences in system,and enrich national "identity theory".From a practical perspective,the comparison of national identity types and activation mechanisms under cultural differences can not only express the voice of China in relevant theoretical studies,but also provide reference for the mutual understanding between eastern and western countries.This paper based on the reflection of the existing national identity and identity activation theory,referred to research of social identity theory and self psychology and cultural psychology,distinguish national identity type frame between the systemof individualism culture and collective Confucian "guanxi" under socialist system culture,and then establish national identity activation mechanism of the dimension and situation dimension,discuss the impact of self-construal and identity clue on the activation of a country's identity under systematic cultural differences.Based on this,the paper uses this analytical framework to explain the identity type and activation process of tubo in the tang dynasty under the influence of tianxia culture.Under the influence of western individualistic culture,this paper explains the identity type and activation process of American toward China.