Imagining The Impact Of Contact On Individuals' Prosocial Tendencies And Sense Of National Unity

The harmony of inter ethnic relations is related to social stability and national development,China has developed a close ethnic relationship of solidarity and interdependence in the 5000 year history of the Chinese nation.However,due to geographical location,cultural differences and various uncontrollable factors,opportunities for contact between different ethnic groups are limited.Owing to the lack of understanding of other ethnic groups,the negative attitude and prejudice among ethnic groups still exist.How to eliminate prejudice,improve negative attitude,promote inter-ethnic communication and ethnic unity has become the focus of social science,including Ethnology,Pedagogy,Psychology and Sociology.The theory of intergroup contact shows that the contact between different groups can reduce intergroup anxiety,improve the willingness of communication between the members of the different groups,make the psychological distance between the individual and outside group closer.This study focus on the positive effects of inter-group contact,and investigate whether imagined inter-group contact can improve individuals' pro-social behavior and enhance their sense of ethnic unity.In the first study,questionnaire survey method was used to measure the level of imaginative contact,prosocial tendency and ethnic unity consciousness of 303 college students and to investigate the relationship between imaginative contact level,prosocial tendency and ethnic unity consciousness.In the second study,imaginary contact initiation paradigm and interview were used to explore the relationship between positive imaginative contact and prosocial tendency.The results showed that imaginative contact was significantly correlated with prosocial tendency and sense of ethnic unity,and the positive imaginative contact intervention can effectively improve the prosocial level of college students.In view to this result,three enlightenments regarding the development of ethnic unity education in colleges and universities are proposed:First,enrich the form of ethnic unity education by imaginative contact.Second,carry out cross school communication and cooperation to create opportunities for inter ethnic contact.Third,we should pay more attention to inter ethnic communication and avoid negative contact in the process of contact..The findings of this study expand the theory of intergroup contact,that is,in the absence of direct contact,only indirect contact,such as imagining contact with other ethnic gruop can increase the individual's awareness of ethnic unity and encourage them to express kindness to other ethnic groups.This also provides some guidance for ethnic unity education.For example,in the design of school-based curriculum,the content of imaginative contacts between multiple ethnic groups can enhance the awareness of ethnic unity among all ethnic groups and promote them to show more pro-social behaviors.