Effects of Social Identity and Poverty on Orientation Towards Mass Incidents in Mainland China

Abstract

This study investigated the associations between income, income-associated social identify, health and mass incidents in Chongqing, a Chinese city. A representative sample of mass-incident participants from Chongqing, aged 18 years and over, participated using a questionnaire. In addition, the public servants working in letters and visit offices were invited to participate in the study. A sample of 2,000 officers working in letter and visit offices, with 1,938 returns, represented a high response rate 96.9%. Of the 480 mass-incident participants, 465 (88%) surveys were usable. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the relationship between income and poor-to-fair health status; all individual-level variables (i.e. age, sex, marital status, education, and type of job) were included in the model.

Income displayed significant linkages to self-rated health. Most participants are farmers and most of them are from low socioeconomic areas and status; in urban area and southeast of Chongqing region, military and unemployed consisted of the majority of mass-incident participants. The sense of identity of these people is having impaired employment opportunities, having unsuitable housing arrangements and living in a deprived community with a low socioeconomic level in comparison with other areas and provinces in China.

Income is a significant predictor of poor health outcome. This is linked to the sense of identity. This deprivation can challenge the cultural identity of individuals who, they feel, they are inferior in socioeconomic terms to others who own resources, powers and wealth. Income as an indicator of social inequality revealed its significant predictive role in the occurrence of mass incidents through its impact on sense of deprivation. Further follow-up study is needed to determine the causal relationship between income and social identity.

Citation

Sun, J., Buys, N. and Wang, X. (2012), "Effects of Social Identity and Poverty on Orientation Towards Mass Incidents in Mainland China", Camp Yeakey, C. (Ed.) Living on the Boundaries: Urban Marginality in National and International Contexts (Advances in Education in Diverse Communities, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 453-464. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-358X(2012)0000008022