Xia Chen

Bio: Xia Chen is an academic researcher from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The author has contributed to research in topics: China & Mainland China. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 8 publications receiving 151 citations. Previous affiliations of Xia Chen include Sichuan University & Peking University.

Lay psychology of globalization and its social impact.

Abstract: As a first step to establish social psychology of globalization as a new area of investigation, we carried out two cross-regional studies to examine lay people's perception of globalization and its related concepts, as well as lay people's appraisal of the social impacts of globalization. The participants were undergraduates from regions with markedly different experiences with globalization (the United States, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong). Despite regional differences in experiences with globalization, cross-regional similarities were found in the way globalization-related issues were classified and how their social impacts were evaluated. Participants in all four regions (1) perceived globalization to be related to but not synonymous with modernization, Westernization, and Americanization; (2) used international trade versus technology, and globalization of consumption versus global consequences as the dimensions to categorize globalization-related issues; and (3) perceived globalization to have stronger positive effects on people's competence than on their warmth.

The good old days and a better tomorrow: Historical representations and future imaginations of China during the 2008 Olympic Games

Abstract: Based on the stereotype content model, we examined Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese' historical representations and future imaginations of China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Among Mainland Chinese, China's unprecedented economic growth and the resulted value competition led to the expectation of a more competent China in the future (vs now; a ‘better tomorrow effect’) and a perception of a warmer and more moral China in the past (vs now; the ‘good old days effect’). As the Olympics proceeded, the perceived compatibility of competence and warmth/morality increased and the good old days effect diminished. Hong Kong Chinese, who also witnessed China's growth but did not directly experience the cultural implications of globalization in Mainland China, displayed the better tomorrow effect only.

Rural-urban differences in generation of Chinese and Western exemplary persons: The case of China

Abstract: Chinese adolescents in urban cities (Beijing, Chengdu) and rural towns (Wei Shan Zhuang, Zheng Xing) generated Chinese and Western exemplary persons and rated the values these exemplary persons represent. The results showed that the tendency to differentiate Chinese culture from Western culture was greater among urban (vs rural) Chinese. Specifically, only urban Chinese consistently attributed Chinese moral values (more than other types of values) to self-generated Chinese exemplary persons and Western moral values (more than other types of values) to self-generated Western exemplary persons. Because urban Chinese have more frequent exposure to foreign cultures, our results suggest that frequent exposure to foreign cultures can lead to enhanced perceptions of cultural differences.

Cultural threats in culturally mixed encounters hamper creative performance for individuals with lower openness to experience

Abstract: Past research has examined independently how openness to experience, as a personality trait, and the situational threat triggered by a foreign cultural encounter affect the emergence of creative benefits from a culture-mixing experience. The present research provides the first evidence for the interactive effect of openness to experience and cultural threat following culturally mixed encounters on creative performance. In Study 1, under heightened perceptions of cultural threat, exposing to the mixing of Chinese and American cultures (vs. a non-mixed situation) made close-minded Chinese participants to perform more poorly in a creative generation task. In Study 2, inducing cultural threat by having a foreign cultural icon spatially intrude a sacred space of the local culture caused Chinese participants with lower levels of openness to perform less creatively when the foreign icon was deemed highly symbolic of the foreign culture. These patterns of effects did not emerge among open-minded participants. The...

The cosmopolitan vision

Abstract: Sociology was born as an attempt to delimit an object of investigation offered by society as a social reality. The ambition was that of “treating the social facts as things” (Durkheim) or of understanding and explaining the social relations by respecting an “axiological neutrality” (Max Weber). Today, however, we are in the presence of a new kind of sociologists, and they are by no means the less popular ones, who are not trying to avoid assessments in their analysis of the present social world. I have in mind especially two sociologists, Ulrich Beck (Munich) and David Held (London). I will discuss in particular the view of sociology presented in a recent book of Ulrich Beck (Macht und Gegenmacht im globalen Zeitalter, 2002, translated into French under the title Pouvoir et contre-pouvoir a l’ere de la mondialisation, 2003), and I will show some analogies between Beck and Held. Finally, I will try to identify the points hat make the present sociological epistemology different from that of the great founders of this science.

Toward a social psychology of globalization

Abstract: In most parts of the world, globalization has become an unstoppable and potent force that impacts everyday life and international relations. The articles in this issue draw on theoretical insights from diverse perspectives (clinical psychology, consumer research, organizational behavior, political psychology, and cultural psychology) to offer nuanced understanding of individuals’ psychological reactions to globalization in different parts of the world (Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Singapore, Switzerland, United States, Taiwan). These articles address the questions of how people make sense of and respond to globalization and its sociocultural ramifications; how people defend the integrity of their heritage cultural identities against the “culturally erosive” effects of globalization, and how individuals harness creative insights from their interactions with global cultures. The new theoretical insights and revealing empirical analyses presented in this issue set the stage for an emergent interdisciplinary inquiry into the psychology of globalization.

Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China

Abstract: Introduction: What the Olympic Games Mean to China Chapter 1: Europe and the People without Sport History, or What Hosting the Olympic Games Means to China Chapter 2: The Clash of Cultures: Martial Arts and Olympic Sports Chapter 3: Symbols of State Power: Stadiums and National Identity in Beijing Chapter 4: What Women's Sports Mean to China Chapter 5: Mixing Sport and Politics: China and the International Olympic Committee Chapter 6: "China Bashing" at the Olympic Games: Why the Cold War Continues in Sport Journalism Chapter 7: Will the Olympics Change China, or Will China Change the Olympics?

The Psychology of Morality: A Review and Analysis of Empirical Studies Published From 1940 Through 2017:

Abstract: We review empirical research on (social) psychology of morality to identify which issues and relations are well documented by existing data and which areas of inquiry are in need of further empirical evidence. An electronic literature search yielded a total of 1,278 relevant research articles published from 1940 through 2017. These were subjected to expert content analysis and standardized bibliometric analysis to classify research questions and relate these to (trends in) empirical approaches that characterize research on morality. We categorize the research questions addressed in this literature into five different themes and consider how empirical approaches within each of these themes have addressed psychological antecedents and implications of moral behavior. We conclude that some key features of theoretical questions relating to human morality are not systematically captured in empirical research and are in need of further investigation.

Going Global: New Pathways for Adolescents and Emerging Adults in a Changing World

Abstract: This article reviews theory and research on the implications of globalization for cultural identity formation in adolescence (ages 10–18) and emerging adulthood (ages 18–29). Theories of immigrant acculturation are extended to globalization to demonstrate how adolescent and emerging adult cultural identity development follows a variety of pathways in a global world. The article includes a discussion of how this opening up of plural developmental pathways comes with risks and opportunities. Here, cultural identity confusion, civic involvement, and gender equality are discussed.