Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:22:20.329Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Hollywood in China: How American Popular Culture Shapes Chinese Views of the “Beautiful Imperialist” – An Experimental Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2015

Peter Gries*
Affiliation:
Institute for US–China Issues, University of Oklahoma.
Matthew A. Sanders
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma.
David R. Stroup
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma.
Huajian Cai
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Sciences.
*
Email. [email protected] (corresponding author).

Abstract

While most mainland Chinese today have extremely few direct contacts with either America or Americans, their indirect contacts with both, via globalized American popular culture, are increasing rapidly. Do daily parasocial contacts with American celebrities shape Chinese views of America? Based on two experimental studies, this paper argues that even indirect, subconscious exposure to American celebrities via popular magazine covers shapes Chinese views of America. However, the impact of that exposure depends upon both the specific nature of the bicultural exposure and the psychological predispositions of the Chinese involved. Not all Chinese are alike, and their personality differences shape whether they experience American popular culture as enriching or threatening, leading to integrative and exclusionary reactions, respectively.

摘要

尽管绝大多数现代中国人从来没有和美国或美国人有过直接的接触, 但是, 在日益加剧的全球化的大背景下, 中国人接触美国流行文化的机会却无处不在。美国的流行文化会影响中国人对美国的看法吗? 本文以流行杂志封面的中、美明星人物为启动中、美, 结果发现, 大众杂志封面上的美国明星可以影响中国人对美国人的看法, 但是只有当美国明星人物出现在中国杂志封面上时, 这种影响才会发生。并且, 这种影响因人而异: 只有高民族自恋的人才会将美国流行文化看作威胁, 而低民族自恋的人却把美国流行文化视为有益, 并分别导致排斥性或包容性的反应。

Type
Research Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allport, Gordon. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.Google Scholar
Bargh, John A., and Chartrand, Tanya L.. 1999. “The unbearable automaticity of being.” American Psychologist 54(7), 462479.Google Scholar
Boulding, Kenneth E. 1959. “National images and international systems.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 3(2), 120131.Google Scholar
Brown, Ryan P., Budzek, Karolyn and Tamborski, Michael. 2009. “On the meaning and measure of narcissism.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35(7), 951964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cai, Huajian, and Gries, Peter Hays. 2013. “National narcissism: internal dimensions and international correlates.” Psych Journal 2, 122132.Google Scholar
Castano, Emanuele, Bonacossa, Alain and Gries, Peter. (Forthcoming). “National images as integrated schemas: subliminal primes of image attributes shape foreign policy preferences.” Political Psychology DOI: 10.1111/pops.12259.Google Scholar
Chiu, Chi-yue. 2007. “Managing cultures in a multicultural world: a social cognitive perspective.” Journal of Psychology in Chinese Societies 8, 101120.Google Scholar
Chiu, Chi-yue, Gries, Peter H., Torelli, Carlos J. and Cheng, Shirley Y.Y.. 2011. “Toward a social psychology of globalization.” Journal of Social Issues 67, 663676.Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, Agnieszka, Cichocka, Aleksandra, Eidelson, Roy J. and Jayawickreme, Nuwan. 2009. “Collective narcissism and its social consequences.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97(6), 1074–96.Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, Agnieszka, Cichocka, Aleksandra and Iskra-Golec, Irene. 2013. “Collective narcissism moderates the effect of in-group image threat on intergroup hostility.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104, 1019–39.Google Scholar
Gosling, Samuel D., Vazire, Simine, Srivastava, Sanjay and John, Oliver P.. 2004. “Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires.” American Psychologist 59, 93104.Google Scholar
Gries, Peter Hays, Cai, Huajian and Crowson, H. Michael. 2010. “The spectre of communism in US China policy: bipartisanship in the American subconscious.” The Chinese Journal of International Politics 3, 397413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gries, Peter Hays, Crowson, H. Michael and Cai, Huajian. 2011. “When knowledge is a double edged sword: contact, media exposure, and American attitudes towards China.” Journal of Social Issues 67(4), 787805.Google Scholar
Herrmann, Richard K., and Fischerkeller, Michael P.. 1995. “Beyond the enemy image and spiral model: cognitive-strategic research after the Cold War.” International Organization 49(3), 415450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, Ying-yi, and Khei, Mark. 2014. “Dynamic multiculturalism: the interplay of socio-cognitive, neural and genetic mechanisms.” In Benet-Martinez, Veronica and Hong, Ying-yi (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Multicultural Identity: Basic and Applied Psychological Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press, 1134.Google Scholar
Horton, Donald, and Wohl, R. Richard. 1956. “Mass communication and para-social interaction.” Psychiatry 19, 215229.Google Scholar
Lewin, Kurt. 1935. A Dynamic Theory of Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Malhotra, Neil, and Krosnick, Jon A.. 2007. “The effect of survey mode and sampling on inferences about political attitudes and behavior: comparing the 2000 and 2004 ANES to internet surveys with nonprobability samples.” Political Analysis 15, 286323.Google Scholar
Schiappa, Edward, Gregg, Peter B. and Hewes, Dean E.. 2005. “The parasocial contact hypothesis.” Communication Monographs 72(1), 92115.Google Scholar
Torelli, Carlos J., Chiu, Chi-Yue, Tam, Kim-Pong, Au, Al K.C. and Keh, Hean Tat. 2011. “Exclusionary reactions to foreign cultures: effects of simultaneous exposure to cultures in globalized space.” Journal of Social Issues 67, 716742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar