Social Identity and Social Distance among Hong Kong Schoolchildren

In a study conducted in two Hong Kong schools, two measures of social distance were obtained with respect to descriptions of eight target children who varied systematically in sex and ethnic identity. Results on both measures clearly supported a hierarchical model of category combination in that discriminations among targets based on one category distinction were greater when the targets were members of the respondent's ingroup on the other category dimension than when they were outgroup members. The pattern of categorization effects differed, however, depending on which measure of social distance was used. For a scale of desired intimacy of interaction, target sex appeared to be the primary categorization, with ethnicity effects subordinate to gender. For a measure of perceived similarity to self, the dominance pattern was reversed, with gender effects subordinate to ethnicity. Responsiveness to target sex was not affected by whether children attended a coeducational or sex-segregated school.