Social Sciences in China

Vol. 41, No. 2, 2020

Factors Influencing National Identity and Intergenerational Differences: Based on Data from the 2013 China Social Survey

(Abstract)

Li Chunling and Liu Senlin

On the basis of the 2013 Chinese Social Survey (CSS) data, this paper makes an in-depth analysis of the influence of social, economic and cultural factors on the national identity of the population, with a focus on the differences between the younger and the older generation. Our findings show that the sense of national identity of the younger generation is weaker than that of the older generation, and this is even more marked among the tertiary-educated younger generation. The sense of national identity of the older generation is more influenced by social structural factors, especially by their position in the social hierarchy, while that of the younger generation is more affected by cultural and economic factors. In addition, we find that in China, the sense of national identity of the privileged stratum is stronger than that of the middle and base-level strata. These findings, which run counter to Huntington and Inglehart’s view of “the weakening of elite national identity,” may be due to the different roles of the state in globalization and economic growth.

Keywords: national identity, intergenerational difference, globalization, social structure