How essentialist beliefs about national groups differ by cultural origin and study abroad experience among Chinese and American college students. Issue 4 (27th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Yian; Li, Xuan; Coley, John D.
• Is Part Of: Asian journal of social psychology. Volume 24:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 537
• Page End: 552
• Publication Date: 2021-01-27
• Subjects: culture -- multicultural experience -- nationality -- social essentialism; Social psychology -- Periodicals; Social psychology -- Asia -- Periodicals; 302.095
• DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12456
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2223

Abstract

Abstract : Nationality constitutes a salient part of social categorization. However, little research has examined how people form nationality concepts and how it may be shaped by culture and experience. The current study aims to investigate essentialist beliefs about nationality in participants from two cultural origins: the United States and China. In both samples, we compared college students studying domestically and internationally ( N = 290) by using direct and indirect measures of essentialism. Ratings from direct measures of essentialism revealed that American participants were more likely than Chinese participants to perceive national groups as natural, whereas Chinese participants were more likely than American participants to perceive national groups as cohesive. Interestingly, the observed differences between domestic and international students on the indirect measure showed opposite directions among participants of different cultures of origin. As hypothesized, American international students showed lower essentialist thinking than American domestic students. Surprisingly, Chinese international students showed stronger essentialist thinking than Chinese domestic students. Further analyses revealed a positive relationship between the length of arrival time and essentialist thinking by Chinese international students. The current research demonstrates the cognitive malleability of social essentialism, addressing the importance of examining the effect of intergroup processes under diverse and dynamic cultural contexts.