Basis of ethnic identification in Taiwan

Abstract

Seven hundred and twenty-six adult subjects in Taiwan categorized themselves into one of six identities: Taiwanese, Taiwanese but Chinese too, Chinese, Chinese but Taiwanese too, new Taiwanese, or general Chinese. The six identity groups had almost equally high rating scores of Taiwan on an index of social identification, but differed in their degree of identification with China. Participants who incorporated Taiwanese as a part or the whole of their self-identity were psychologically distant from China. By investigating the relationship between ethnic identities chosen by people in Taiwan and their social identification with Taiwan versus China as two categories of nationalism, the results of the present study indicate that the bases of Chinese identification are mainly cultural and have a historical connection with China, while the basis of Taiwanese identification is mainly the sharing of life space in the Taiwanese district from which the people have acquired a kind of primordial attachment, regardless of their ethnic identity.