疾病威胁与文化信念对跨文化群际援助的影响

The Impact of Disease Threats and Cultural Beliefs on Intercultural Group Assistance

感知到外群体可能带来疾病威胁可激活人们排斥外群体的反应,此时群际关系还能否改善?实验1设置了文化会聚主义、文化本质主义两种文化信念启动情境,选取新冠病毒、诺如病毒、心脏病三种疾病威胁类型,组合成6种实验条件,比较分析了各实验条件下被试报告的捐款、志愿服务两种形式的跨文化群际援助意愿。实验2设置了文化会聚主义组与对照组,比较被试在新冠病毒、诺如病毒与心脏病三类疾病威胁条件下的跨文化群际援助意愿。结果发现:(1)新冠启动传染、死亡两类疾病威胁感知,从而抑制被试跨文化群际援助的动机;(2)文化会聚主义信念能弱化疾病威胁对群际关系的消极影响从而提升被试跨文化群际援助的意愿;(3)在疾病启动的传染威胁情境下,文化会聚主义信念对跨文化群际援助意愿的促进效应有可能受到抑制;(4)疾病威胁水平极高或文化群体之间有冲突历史的条件下,文化会聚主义对跨文化群际援助意愿的促进效应会受到抑制。

Existing research has confirmed that when people perceive the realistic threat of infection or death from out-groups,it can activate a pattern of outgroup exclusion among the local people.Is it possible to improve inter-group relations even under the situations?Experiment 1 set up the situations to prime two cultural beliefs Polyculturalism and Cultural Essentialism,and selected three types of disease threat COVID-19 infection with high infection and high death threats,Norovirus infection with high infection threat but low death,and heart disease with high death threat but no infection,which were combined into a total of six experimental conditions.Comparative analysis was conducted on the willingness levels for inter group assistance,reported by the participants under different experimental conditions.Experiment 2 set up high and low level of Polyculturalism to detect the interacted influence of cultural belief and disease threats upon the participants’willingness to help the patients from Austria,Japan,and India.The results implies Firstly,COVID-19 activated the perception of infection and death threats,so as to suppress the participants’motivation for cross cultural inter-group assistance;Secondly,Polyculturalism belief weakened the negative impact of disease threats on inter group relationships,while enhancing the willingness of participants to assist out-group members;Thirdly,in the context of infectious threat,the promoting effect of cultural convergence beliefs on cross-cultural group assistance willingness is more likely to be suppressed;Fourthly,when the level of disease threat being extremely high,or with historical memories of intergroup conflicts,the promoting effect of Polyculturalism belief on cross-cultural assistance will be suppressed.