The Effect Of Cultural Mixing On Ethnic Psychological Compatibility Under The Background Of "Internet +"

The development of"Internet~+"has compressed time and space,not only strengthened economic exchanges,but also made cultural mixing ubiquitous.The impetus for the development of civilization comes from innovation,and innovation is often generated through contact,mixing and interactions between different cultures.Therefore,an era of development will eventually be an era of mixing.It is extremely meaningful to examine the psychological practical effects of cultural mixing.Cultural mixing refers to the coexistence of representative symbols of different cultures in the same space at the same time.Previous related research focused on individuals'attitudes towards cultural mixing(products),and found that there are mainly two kinds of reactions:acceptance and rejection.However,as cultural mixing entails the cultural combination of two or more groups,it is likely to involve the group psychological processes and affect intergroup attitudes.Intergroup contact is one of the most effective strategies for improving the intergroup relationship.According to the theory of intergroup contact,group members are representative of the group,so contact with typical outgroup members will promote the individual's positive attitude towards the outgroup members and then generalize to the entire outgroup.This generalization of attitude may also exist in cultural mixing contacts,because both cultural symbols and group members are important carriers of group culture,and cultural symbols are also representative of groups,so exposure to cultural mixing are a possible form of indirect intergroup contact.Previous research on group contacts focusing on group members has shown that merely indirectly viewing an interaction between an ingroup member and an outgroup member is enough to promote positive intergroup attitudes by "include others in myself",but this attitude improvement from individual generalization to group largely depends on the group representativeness of the members.Because specific cultural symbols and group members are important carriers of group culture,and even the group representation of cultural symbols is more stable than group members,cultural mixing may be a potential form of indirect intergroup contact.In the same way as observing the contact between ingroup members and outgroup members,in the context of cultural mixing,observers can soberly perceive that the cultural fusion state is built between ingroup cultures and outgroup cultures.They may include the corresponding cultural outgroups in their own group and reduce the perception of the boundaries between the ingroup and outgroup,thereby improving the level of psychological compatibility.Psychological compatibility is a state of psychological readiness among individuals or groups to accept each other and be willing to live in harmony.In a group context,the level of psychological compatibility reflects the quality of the group relationship.The higher the individual's psychological compatibility,the more willing they are to identify and accept outside groups,and to hold higher evaluations and be more willing to get along with them.Psychological compatibility is actually an intergroup attitude,which includes three aspects:relationship cognition,emotional orientation,and behavioral intention.But different from the prejudices,stereotypes and discriminations that the previous research paid attention to,psychological compatibility views the relationship between groups in a positive perspective which has important practical significance for building a harmonious society.We investigated the effects of cultural mixing on intergroup psychological compatibility and their possible psychological mechanisms through three studies.In Study 1a,we developed the Guttman cultural mixing experience scale through semi-structured interviews.Study 1b measured the Yi-Tibetan cultural mixing experience of Yi undergraduates through the cultural mixing scale,and found that the richer experience of cultural mixing was related to a warmer feeling for Tibetans and greater social closeness with Tibetan;that is,higher psychological compatibility.Study 2 used a single factor between-subjects design,and randomly assigned the participants to 5 groups:Yi-Dai cultural mixing,Yi-Shui cultural mixing,Yi culture,Dai culture,or a control group.By viewing pictures to manipulate cultural mixing,the causal direction of cultural mixing and psychological compatibility was examined.It was found that compared with the other groups,exposure to Yi-Dai cultural mixing significantly promoted Yi participants‘psychological compatibility level with the Dai people.Study 3 improved the experimental procedure of Study 2,and further explored the internal mechanism of cultural mixing to promote psychological compatibility.The results showed that the Yi participants in the Yi-Dai cultural mixing feel a stronger connection with the Dai,thereby promoting their level of psychological compatibility with the Dai.In other words,perceived connection plays a mediating role in the positive effect of cultural mixing.The current study suggest that exposure to cultural mixing facilitates intergroup psychological compatibility and this beneficial effect is mediated by perceived connection.These findings extends the research scope of psychological effects of cultural mixing from cultural mixing products to corresponding cultural groups involved in mixing,and provides some guidance for group relationship management in practice.Overmore,the current research extends the theory of intergroup contact from member contact to a new kind of contact–that is,cultural mixing–as an intercultural contact experience that also can improve intergroup relationships.