Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2018

 

Factors Affecting National Identity and Differences in Intergenerational Characteristics: Based on Data from the Chinese Social Survey for 2013

(Abstract)

 

Li Chunling and Liu Senlin

 

The Chinese have quite a strong national identity, but the strength of this sense of identity varies with different social groups and different generations. Economic and cultural factors and social structural factors all affect individuals’ national identity, and there are intergenerational differences in people’s sense of national identity and the factors affecting it. The survey shows that the younger generation has a weaker sense of national identity than the older generation. The older generation is more susceptible to social structural factors, while the younger generation is more susceptible to cultural and economic factors. Young people’s national identity is in the process of being formed, and patriotic education and propaganda directed at public opinion can help to enhance it. However, simple propaganda and education are not enough; if we are to strengthen young people’s sense of national identity, we must create more development opportunities for them and have them link personal development closely with national development, as old people do.