Search

This study examined the relations among social dominance orientation (SDO), social contact, and attitudes toward international students. SDO was positively associated with prejudice against international students, perception of threats from international students, and exclusionism. Men had a higher level of SDO than women, but SDO had a greater effect on female exclusionism. The results show that SDO did not directly predict a general attitude toward international students. Prejudice predicted unfavorable attitudes, but threat perception and exclusionism did not, indicating that the mechanism underlying the effect of SDO on attitudes toward international students was through prejudice rather than threat perception and exclusionism. The negative effect of prejudice remained after controlling for the effect of social contact. However, social contact contributed to a favorable attitude toward international students. Both the number of international-student friends and personal relations with them had positive effects., Author(s): Yida Zhai [sup.1] , Lingbo Zhang [sup.1] , Zheng Yan [sup.1] , Yuxin Wei [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.16821.3c, 0000 0004 0368 8293, School of International and Public Affairs, [...]

Between March 28 and June 1, 2022, Shanghai imposed lockdowns under the zero-COVID policy, which caused Shanghai residents to lack access to adequate food. The present study examined the relationship between temporary food insecurity, social capital, and mental health during the lockdowns. We conducted a quota sampling survey in April 2022, in which data of 1,064 respondents, aged 18–79 years, were used to estimate a mediated moderation model. The results show that temporary food insecurity predicted poor self-rated health and high depression levels. Both offline and online social capital positively related to self-rated health but negatively related to depression. When faced with severe food insecurity, people with high offline social capital maintained better self-rated health, whereas those with high online social capital were not immune to depression. The mediation effects of participation in voluntary activities on the relationship between social capital and mental health were not confirmed. Temporary food insecurity during the lockdowns resulted in detrimental outcomes to Shanghai residents’ health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of the Internet on feelings of self-worth from a social capital perspective. Based on a survey among 800 undergraduate students from China, we find that browsing web pages and using emails do not have positive effects on the formation of online social capital, whereas social media use has significant effects. All four types of Internet use surveyed in this study do not significantly correlate with self-worth. The findings provide supporting evidence for an indirect effect of Internet use on people's self-worth. Social capital generated from online interactions improves feelings of self-worth. The present study contributes to the discussion on the potential benefits of online social capital for mental health and highlights the online interactions as important as in-person interactions, which is useful to those who design web-based interventions., Author(s): Yida Zhai [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.16821.3c, 0000 0004 0368 8293, School of International and Public Affairs, Xin Jian Hall, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, , 1954 Huashan Road, 200030, [...]

This study examined how politics, along with familial and socioeconomic factors, influence the life satisfaction of marriage migrants in Taiwan. We conducted a social survey in Taiwan and offered a multidimensional and dynamic view on adaptation and life satisfaction among them. The results showed that in Taiwan, family relationships and socioeconomic class were significant factors of life satisfaction among mainland Chinese marriage migrants. A high level of social integration was positively related to life satisfaction, while the prejudice faced from neighbors, rather than from the media, was negatively related. Regarding political factors, political disagreement with their Taiwanese partners undermined life satisfaction among spouses from mainland China. However, those who possessed a dual identity (i.e., both Chinese and Taiwanese) and those who viewed mainland China and Taiwan as two separate entities tended to have high levels of life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People's pro-war attitudes provide an important lens for understanding the various conflicts and wars taking place around the globe. The present research bridges the social psychological insights on ingroup identity with the macro realism theory of international relations studies. It examines the association of populism and collective narcissism with support for war under the conditions of offensive and defensive realist foreign policies. The research comprises two studies. Study 1 shows that populism is linked with offensive realism, whereas collective narcissism is associated with defensive realism. Study 2 further demonstrates that the perceptions of threat mediate the relationship between collective narcissism and support for war, rather than mediating the relationship between populism and support for war. Both populism and collective narcissism are related to authoritarianism. This research contributes to a theoretical understanding of the effects of populism and collective narcissism on resorting to military actions in international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have adopted various measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The regulation measures of lockdown have triggered changes in public political trust in the government (including in its competence, benevolence and integrity). Information shapes the attitudes and values of residents; this paper aims to study the effect of a lockdown on political trust and the moderating effect from quality of government shared information. From 12 March to 31 May 2022, Shanghai implemented strict lockdown measures. In this study, we randomly sampled the participation information of 1063 participants. Data-based regression analysis shows that lockdown has had a negative impact on all subcategories of political trust. However, timely and accuracy information weakens its negative effect. The accuracy of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in competence and integrity, while a sufficient supply of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in benevolence. Points for practitioners: This study explores how different dimensions of information quality affect each component public's political trust, and thereby inspires practitioners to strategically improve information communication in crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emergency, food insecurity threatens people's well-being, while social capital is expected to enhance their resilience in this situation. This study examined the relationship between food insecurity and social capital during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai. We collected a dataset of 1064 participants by random sampling. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the dynamics of social capital before and after lockdowns. The results show that the level of post-lockdown social capital was higher than that of pre-lockdown social capital. Pre-lockdown social capital predicted the extent to which people suffered from food insecurity and their approaches to obtaining food. Participation in group purchases and food exchange with other residents predicted the levels of post-lockdown social capital. The results shed light on the interaction between emergencies and social capital. Our study theoretically contributes to understanding social capital through a dynamic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How citizens in authoritarian regimes evaluate the practice of democracy in both new and established democracies has important implications on the prospect of democratisation in their own country. As an authoritarian country with the largest population around the world, China has resisted waves of democratisation and maintains the one-party rule. This study examined the Chinese case and explored how Chinese citizens evaluated democracy in the United States, India and Taiwan. It theorised that the tendency towards ingroup favouritism and attitudes towards democracy are the factors that primarily influence citizens' evaluations of democracy in other countries. The results show that Chinese citizens perceive the democratic level of China as being as high as that of the United States and Taiwan, whereas they gave lower evaluations in the case of India's democracy. The effects of the aforementioned factors varied between the three countries. After presenting the findings, the theoretical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its announcement in 2013, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has drawn considerable international attention and remarkably influenced the global economy and politics. By employing the methodological framework of the Discursive News Values Analysis (DNVA), this study scrutinizes how the BBC World Service portrays the BRI. Using its podcast "Stories from the New Silk Road," we analyzed its coverage of how ordinary people see the BRI. Through different episode elements, such as interviewees, presenters, images, and titles, the findings reveal how news values are shaped. The four episodes of the podcast share, with slight differences, a similar pattern in constructed news values as seen in the narratives of the interviewees and presenters. Economic and environmental issues are frequently discussed in the narratives of the BRI in the podcast episodes. While the news value of Positivity is prevalent in the episodes, it has been observed that the construction of Negativity is mostly in the foreground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few decades have witnessed a radical religious revival in China, where economic inequality has been sharply increasing as well. This study examines the impact of religion on the Chinese public's perceptions of income disparity and political trust. The findings show that there is a significant difference in the perceived fairness of personal income distribution between religious and non-religious people. As the opiate thesis on religion predicts, religious beliefs are positively associated with a high level of perceived fairness about personal and national income distribution. Such perceptions of fairness contribute to fostering citizens' trust in both political institutions and government officials. However, contrary to the opiate thesis, religious beliefs are negatively associated with institutional trust. Moreover, religious beliefs offset the positive effect of the perceived fairness of income distribution on institutional trust. Hence, when income distribution is perceived to be unfair, institutional trust declines more drastically among religious believers than among their non-religious counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examined the relationship between ideology and conspiratorial thinking and the related mediating effect of ingroup favoritism in a non-Western society. We investigated patriotism and nationalism as two favorable orientations toward national ingroups. We also examined their relationship with the general conspiracy mentality and the specific conspiracy beliefs that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that conservative ideology was associated with conspiratorial beliefs in China regardless of the specific conspiracy theories related to ingroups or outgroups, which indicates such tendencies may exist universally across cultures. Patriotism was not associated with conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID-19, whereas nationalism was negatively associated with the conspiracy theories about China (an ingroup) and positively associated with conspiracy theories about the US (an outgroup). Moreover, nationalism mediated the relationship between ideology and specific conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. The general conspiracy mentality did not predict conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID-19. The results indicate that believing conspiracy theories is not only the result of a stable conspiracy mentality but is also influenced by ideology and intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing the ideological square model (Van Dijk, 1998, 2000), this article examines polarization strategies of positive and negative representations of 'us' and 'them' in ideological discourse on the rise of China by Western media. We analyzed discourse properties in the narratives of five podcast episodes of the BBC World Service about the Chinese Dream, one episode each on Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, and Kenya. The results revealed prevalent negative representations of 'them' – emphasizing negative characteristics and de-emphasizing positive ones of China. However, discourse strategies of emphasizing positive characteristics about 'us' and de-emphasizing negative things about 'us' were only found in Australia and Canada. The podcasts hardly avoided discussing negative aspects of India, Indonesia, and Kenya. In doing so, the BBC's ideological discourse excluded these countries from 'us.' Our study indicates that the ideological square approach is not only useful to elucidate discourses behind positive and negative representations of 'us' and 'them' but also can identify nuances in discursive construction of 'us.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens in authoritarian regimes understand the concept of democracy under the influence of the state's manipulation and individual agency. This study examines Chinese citizens' perception of three types of government – people relationships – government (1) of the people; (2) by the people; and (3) for the people – without directly using the term 'democracy'. Citizens' perceptions of these three principles of democracy can predict the level of their support for democracy, identifying variations among Chinese 'democrats'. The principle of government by the people is most popular among the Chinese public. Citizens who understand democracy based on government of the people are dissatisfied with the country's level of democracy and criticize authoritarian politics. Public understanding of democracy based on government for the people has an anti-democratic orientation, and is compatible with support for authoritarian rule. This study unveils variations in the Chinese public's understanding of democracy and its impact on politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely acknowledged that the economic situation is of vital importance for the stability of an authoritarian regime, but it is rarely known how the public's economic evaluation contributes to such outcomes. This study examines the effects of citizens' retrospective and prospective evaluations of their household economic situation and the national economy on the level of regime support in China. The findings show that the national economy outweighs household economic conditions in its effects on the public's support of the regime. However, the gap between evaluations of the national economy and individual economic situations debilitates regime support. The population in different age cohorts has distinct patterns of relationships between retrospective and prospective economic evaluations and regime support. This study elucidates the political-psychological mechanism of the public's economic evaluation affecting regime support, and the ruling strategy in authoritarian regimes of manipulating this evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]