The Effect Of Imagined Contact On The Self Ethnic Positive Bias Of High Group Anxiety Participants

Previous studies have found that individuals attribute positive results or traits to stable personality characteristics within their own ethnic group,and believe that their ethnic personality characteristics are not related to negative results or trait s,which is known as self-ethnic positive bias.The researchers found that the results of self-ethnic positive bias were inconsistent among different groups.The level of intergroup anxiety affects individuals’ attitudes towards different groups,but whether it affects self-ethnic positive bias is still unclear.In addition,it remains to be discussed whether imaginative contact can play a role in promoting intergroup communication.In this study,Chinese and Tibetan college students were selected as the research objects to explore the effect of self-ethnic positive bias from an implicit level,and whether this effect is affected by intergroup anxiety.Furthermore,the positive bias of self ethnicity can be reduced through imaginary contact.In study 1,a mixed experimental design of 2(reference conditions: Han and Tibetan)× 2(emotional valence: positive and negative)× 2(ethnic group: Han and Tibetan)was adopted.The reference condition and emotional valence were the intra-subject variables,ethnic group was the inter-subject variables,and the dependent variable was the response time.The results show that han and Tibetan groups respond faster to self-ethnic positive words than to non-self-ethnic positive words,which indicates that there is self-ethnic positive bias in Han and Tibetan groups.In study 2,a mixed experimental design of 2(intergroup anxiety: high and low)× 2(ethnic group: Han and Tibetan)× 2(reference condition: Han and Tibetan)× 2(emotional valence: positive and negative)was used.Priming type and emotional valence were intra-subject variables,intergroup anxiety and ethnicity were inter-subject variables.The results show that in the high intergroup anxiety group,the Tibetan group responds significantly faster to the positive words of self-ethnic group than to the positive words of non-self-ethnic group compared with the Han group.In the low intergroup anxiety group,there is no significant difference between the Han group and the Tibetan group in the positive words of self-ethnic group and non-self-ethnic group.The results show that intergroup anxiety affects the positive bias of self-ethnicity.When the level of intergroup anxiety is high,the positive bias of ego ethnicity exists.In study 3,a mixed experimental design was used: × 2(ethnic group: Han,Tibetan)× 2(imaginary contact type: positive,neutral)× 2(reference condition: Han,Tibetan)× 2(emotional valence: positive,negative).Priming type and emotional valence were intra-subject variables,while imagined contact type and ethnicity were inter-subject variables.The dependent variable is reaction time.The results showed that there was no positive self-ethnic bias in the positive contact group of Han ethnic group and Tibetan ethnic group,while there was significa nt difference in positive self-ethnic bias in the neutral contact group.This result indicates that the imaginary contact weakens the self-ethnic positive bias.In conclusion,the results of the above three studies indicate that high group anxiety has a positive predictive effect on self-ethnic positive bias.Positive visual exposure reduces self-ethnic positive bias.The current research further enrichis the role of imaginary contact in reducing positive bias of self ethnicity,which is conducive to promoting communication and integration among different ethnic groups,and has reference significance for the enhancement of community consciousness of The Chinese nation.