Guanxilization or categorization: psychological mechanisms contributing to the formation of the Chinese concept of “us”

Abstract

中国社会心理学在面对急速的社会变迁中，需要以变迁与文化的视角来选择研究 问题，而中国社会文化中群己关系的社会心理机制，即“我们”概念的形成机制及其 转换的可能与条件，正是一个体现着双重视角的基本问题。对这一问题的探讨不仅有 助于解释社会凝聚力、群体行动的逻辑，讨论国家与个人、社会与个人、类别与个人 的关系；也有助于培植社会转型时期的社会心理资源和社会支持系统，从而促进社会 合作。与以往单一机制的分析框架不同，通过对两个个案的讨论，研究提出了一个 新的分析框架，即：中国人“我们”概念是在社会情境的启动和价值取向等因素影响之 下，经由相互交织的“关系化”与“类别化”双重过程形成的。 关键词: “我们” 概念 群己关系 关系 关系化 类别化 Faced with rapid social transformation, the discipline of social psychology in China needs to choose its research topics from the perspective of both change and culture. A basic issue reflecting precisely these two perspectives is that of the formation of the social psychology mechanism of individual‐group relations, namely the formation of the concept of “us” in Chinese society and culture, as well as the possibility and conditions for the transformation of this mechanism. Exploring this issue will not only help us to understand social cohesion and the logic of group behavior and to discuss the relationship between the state and the individual, society and the individual, and the category and the individual; it will also help cultivate social psychology resources and support systems at a time of social transition, and thus promote social cooperation.. Unlike previous analytical studies that focused on a unitary mechanism, this study uses the discussion of two cases to put forward a new framework for analysis: that is, the Chinese concept of “us” comes into being through the mingling of “guanxilization” and “categorization” under the influence of social context priming, value orientation and other factors.