Affiliation:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Short bio:
Sylvia Xiaohua Chen is Chair Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She also serves as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Director of the Yan Oi Tong Au Suet Ming Child Development Centre, and Associate Director of the Mental Health Research Centre. Her research primarily focuses on the social psychology of bilingualism and biculturalism, multiculturalism and globalization, personality and social behavior in cultural contexts, as well as cultural diversity and mental health. Her work has been published in leading journals such as PNAS Nexus, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychologist, Psychological Science, and Social Psychological and Personality Science. Sylvia is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Hong Kong Psychological Society. Currently, she is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Past President of the Asian Association of Social Psychology. She has received various academic awards, including the Outstanding International Psychologist Award conferred by the American Psychological Association Division 52 (International Psychology) in 2022.
Title:
Enhancing Intergroup Relations and Prosocial Behavior: From Global
Orientations to Global Consciousness
Abstract:
The escalating intergroup conflict, fueled by rising populist sentiments and the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a global concern. This presentation will delve into the theoretical framework of global orientations, exploring its applications in the domains of social behavior, well-being, and intergroup relations. The presentation will highlight our research, employing sequential explanatory mixed methods, to investigate the relationships between global orientations and attitudes towards symbolic and instrumental integration policies. Furthermore, a multicultural project will be presented, focusing on how global consciousness can predict prosocial behavior, while national consciousness can predict defensive behavior in response to COVID-19. The insights derived from these findings offer significant implications for the study of global unity and cooperation.