Identity, contact, and the reduction of mutual distrust: a survey of Chinese and Japanese youth

ABSTRACT

In the midst of rising tension between China and Japan, two powerful countries in Asia, the favorable attitudes of each country's citizens toward the other country have dropped to a historical low. The Taiwan issue, historical legacy, island disputes, and maritime resource competition are major obstacles in Sino-Japanese relations, but the most fundamental issue is a deep-seated mutual distrust and suspicion between the two countries, which result in rising threat perceptions. Beyond the structural and political elite-centered approaches, this study examines the evidence related to the three approaches (face-to-face contact, cross-cultural exposure, and social identity) to reduce mutual distrust and antipathy in the two countries. With a careful analysis of the survey data, this study sheds light on the conditions under which contact (a) results in improved attitudes toward outgroup, (b) has little or no effect on intergroup relations, and (c) yields more prejudice and hostility toward the outgroup. The findings of this study not only identify factors that could facilitate mutual understanding between Chinese and Japanese people and more favorable impressions of one another, but are also relevant to planning interventions to reduce prejudice and distrust among people from different races, religions, and countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Threat perception
• contact
• national identity
• civil society
• Asia
• peace
• China
• Japan

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Correction to ‘Identity, contact, and the reduction of mutual distrust: a survey of Chinese and Japanese youth’

Acknowledgments

The data used in this article are from the second wave of the Asian Student Survey (ASS) administrated by Professor Shigeto Sonoda of the University of Tokyo and his research group. The author would like to thank Professor Shigeto Sonoda for his kind permission to use the ASS data and anonymous referees for their valuable comments on previous versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

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Yida Zhai

Yida Zhai is an Assistant Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo. His research interests include political psychology, civic engagement, and East Asian comparative politics.