Social identification in a political transition: The role of implicit beliefs

The optimal distinctiveness model posits that social identification is a so cial psychological expression of the universal needs for connectedness and differentiation. We propose that compared to individuals who believe that t he social world is malleable ("malleable theorists"), individuals who belie ve that the social world is a fixed reality ("fixed theorists") may feel mo re strongly, that people should harmonize the self with, rather than differ entiate it from, the fixed social world. Fixed theorists may thus have a re latively stronger connectedness motivation and a relatively weaker differen tiation motivation. This proposal was tested in an experimental study (Stud y, 1) and a longitudinal study (Study 2), both set in the context of the 19 97 political transition in Hong Kong, in which Hong Kong people faced the s ocial identification issue of whether to identify themselves with the more inclusive Chinese group or to affirm their. distinctive Hong Konger indenti ty. The results supported our proposal and were discussed in terms of their . implications for several theoretical models of social identification and for the social identification processes in transitional Hong Kong. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.