Music and intergroup relations: exacerbating conflict and building harmony through music

This article describes the ways in which music is an important part of identity, and hence serves some similar functions to other forms of identity-related communication (e.g., language). It will describe how music is used to incite intergroup hatred (e.g., among soccer fans, military music) and to support valued identities (anthems, etc.). Relevant literature on stereotyping (including stereotyping of groups related to music) is included. The article also discusses how music is used to reduce intergroup hostility (e.g., via cross-cultural musical collaboration and contact). The article connects the various literatures from communication, social psychology, sociology, and ethnomusicology, providing a broad overview of the many connections between communication, music, and social identity. It closes with a research agenda for those interested in studying intergroup communication and music

Social identity motivations and intergroup media attractiveness

In this experiment we manipulated three features (intergroup social comparison, outgroup character stereotypicality, intergroup intimacy) of an intergroup TV pilot proposal. We examined how two underlying social identity motivations (social enhancement, social uncertainty reduction) were gratified by the aforementioned features, and whether this gratification predicted media attractiveness. Findings indicate that when social comparison was manipulated to advantage the ingroup, intergroup media gratified existing social enhancement motivations and led to audiences rating the show as more entertaining and attractive. This finding was most clearly evident in the absence of intergroup romance. The gratification of social uncertainty reduction motivations was also shown to increase audience perceptions of intergroup media attractiveness, but outgroup stereotypicality was weakly associated with the gratification of this motivation. These results are discussed in terms of both theoretical implications as well as applications to media campaigns.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Television viewing and perceptions of traditional Chinese values among Chinese college students

Permissions were not obtained for sharing the full text of this article.This study examined television's cultivation effects on perceptions of traditional Chinese values (Le., values of interpersonal harmony and hierarchical relations) among a group of Chinese college students (N = 412). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that total viewing of imported programs negatively predicted viewers' endorsement of inter- personal harmony values. Chinese music performance programming, Chinese children's education programs, imported movies, and imported sports were negative predictors of interpersonal harmony value endorsement, whereas viewing Chinese sports was a positive predictor of hierarchical relations. The findings are discussed in the context of cultivation theory and the changing socio-economic, political, and media context in China

Values in Chinese Television Commercials Modernization and Tradition in an Age of Globalization: Cultural Values in Chinese Television Commercials

The authors analyzed commercials (N = 496

Modernization and Tradition in an Age of Globalization: Cultural Values in Chinese Television Commercials

DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2004.tb02619.xCommercials (N = 496) shown on three Chinese TV stations in the summer of 2000 were analyzed to uncover the dominant value themes in the commercials. Thirteen value themes were identified as applicable in the current sample. This study found that the most dominant value themes emerged in the Chinese commercials were product effectiveness, family, modernity, beauty/youth, and pleasure indicating the prevalence of utilitarian values and the coexistence of both traditional and modern values in the world of Chinese advertising. Value themes identified in this study are compared with previous conceptualizations, and discussed in the context of globalization and Chinese cultural change

Accommodation predictors of grandparent-grandchild relational solidarity in Taiwan.

ABSTRACT Grounded in communication accommodation theory, this research examined Taiwanese grandchildren's (N = 100) and grandparents' (N = 108) perceptions of communication behavior in grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) interactions. This study investigated noncommunicative and communicative predictors of communication satisfaction, liking, and emotional closeness in the relationship. Regression analyses showed that communication accommodation behaviors accounted for significant variance in GP-GC relational solidarity. For grandchildren and grandparents, the best single predictor was their perception of their own accommodative involvement with their grandparents/grandchildren. The findings also indicated that contact frequency significantly predicted GP-GC relational solidarity. Demographic variables were not particularly effective predictors. The findings are discussed in terms of cultural differences in GP-GC relationships and communication accommodation theory. The majority of research on family communication has focused either on individuals from the same generation (e.g., interactions between spouses Journal of Social and Personal Relationship

Taiwanese young adults’ intergenerational communication schemas

Author final draft The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com doi:10.1023/B:JCCG.0000044687.83806.3eThis study extended Harwood, McKee, and Lin’s (2000) research on intergenerational communication schemas by examining young adults’ cognitive representations of communication with older adults in Taiwan. Following Harwood et al.’s (2000) procedures, forty-one Taiwanese college students (M age = 20.36) described conversations with an older adult in response to a variety of interviewer prompts. Transcripts were read and content analyzed by the first two authors. To capture the characteristics of the conversation descriptions, eleven coding dimensions were generated based on schema theory. All conversation descriptions were coded along these dimensions on a four-point Likert scale. Coding results were submitted to hierarchical cluster analysis, yielding five schemas: Mutually satisfying, helping, mixed feelings, small talk, and mutually unpleasant conversations. Results are discussed in terms of similarities and differences from Harwood et al.’s (2000) study, schema theory, intergenerational communication, and Chinese cultural norms

Perceptions of Conflict Management Styles in Chinese Intergenerational Dyads

DOI: 10.1080/0363775052000342535We examined intergenerational communication and conflict management styles in China. Older and younger Chinese adults were randomly assigned to evaluate one of four conversation transcripts in which an older worker criticizes a young co-worker. The young worker’s communication was varied across the transcripts to reflect four conflict management styles: competing, avoiding, accommodating, and problem-solving. As expected, older participants favored the accommodating style over the problem-solving style. Young adults either preferred the problem-solving style to the accommodating style, as predicted, or judged the two styles as equally positive. The results illustrate the juxtaposition of tradition and modernization/globalization in the changing Chinese cultural context, and demonstrate how such cultural changes are reflected in interpersonal communication between the generations

Reaching Across Social Divides <i>Deliberately</i>: Theoretical, Political, and Practical Implications of Intergroup Contact Volition for Intergroup Relations for Intergroup Relations

The benefits of positive intergroup contact for intergroup attitudes are well-established. Yet individual and group self-segregation practices demonstrate that opportunities for intergroup contact are not sufficient for contact uptake; and persistent institutionalized segregation reinforces and compounds this problem. Hence, we need to understand what drives people towards and away from intergroup contact and what consequences the capacity to deliberately engage or avoid contact has for individuals, groups, and communities. This paper formally introduces the concept of intergroup contact volition: our perceived personal control over intergroup contact engagement and avoidance. We demonstrate this concept’s theoretical, political, and practical significance by highlighting its embeddedness in both old and recent literatures. We document debates around volition in early intergroup contact research and note a prolonged neglect since. After discussing reasons for that neglect, we present a detailed analysis of the concept, outlining how the idea of volition itself is contested and political, as well as the ways it intersects with broader societal power and status dynamics. We then outline pathways for future research, including investigations of when taking volition away (making contact mandated) might be helpful, intersections between psychological and human geography perspectives on volition, and connections between volition and system justification. We argue that contact volition is intimately and ultimately linked to issues of social change: support of, versus resistance to, policies promoting intergroup integration. As a result, an enhanced understanding of volition is critical to developing intergroup contact research and practice into outcomes that maximize social justice