Historical knowledge and national identity: Evidence from China

Research & Politics

HaifengHuang¹ 

关键词: History;    knowledge;    propag;    a;    national identity;    misperception;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2053168018794352

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

How is citizens’ factual historical knowledge related to their national identity? With original data from a nationally representative survey experiment in China, we find that significantly more Chinese citizens overestimate rather than underestimate China’s objective historical achievements, and those who overestimate the achievements of ancient Chinese civilization have higher levels of national identity. To an even greater degree, citizens who underestimate Chinese historical achievements have lower levels of national identity. We also find that correcting misinformation can potentially affect individuals’ national identity, although the effects did not reach statistical significance, likely because the survey experiment was under-powered for interaction effects, and because our information treatment was brief and on a very limited number of questions. These findings shed light on the subtle relationships between historical knowledge, propaganda, and national identity, and suggest avenues for future research.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND