Involution and Pluralistic Ignorance Amongst Chinese Adolescents

Research Article
Open access

Involution and Pluralistic Ignorance Amongst Chinese Adolescents

Victoria Yin 1*
  • 1 St. Andrew's School    
  • *corresponding author yin.victoriaw@hotmail.com
Published on 26 October 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/14/20231000
LNEP Vol.14
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-83558-053-0
ISBN (Online): 978-1-83558-054-7

Abstract

What happens when people do not feel comfortable with competition but think others feel comfortable with the competition? How does such misaligned perception relate to people’s motivation to achieve their goals and mental health? Drawing on the psychological science of pluralistic ignorance and an emerging social phenomenon of involution, I examine the relationship between perceptions of competition and the gap between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and levels of depression among Chinese adolescents. Using online survey platform, student participants (N = 313) consistently reported that when they did not enjoy competition but thought their classmates enjoyed competition, they were more likely to show higher extrinsic motivation but lower intrinsic motivation when completing educational tasks. Moreover, students who misperceived others to enjoy competition more than themselves tended to report more severe levels of depression. I discuss theoretical contributions to the pluralistic ignorance literature and practical implications for educational well-being.

Keywords:

pluralistic ignorance, involution, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, depression

Yin,V. (2023). Involution and Pluralistic Ignorance Amongst Chinese Adolescents. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,14,252-263.
Export citation

References

[1]. Liu (2021), 2021, China’s “Involuted” Generation, A New Word Has Entered the Popular Lexicon to Describe Feeling of Burnout, Ennui, and Despair, The New Yorker.

[2]. Wang, Huang, Pan, & He (2022), Modeling the Social Dilemma of Involution on a Square Lattice, d, Elsevier, vol. 158 (C).

[3]. Yuting Ye, 2020, https://www.sohu.com/a/421994908_260616

[4]. Wang, Q., & Ge, S. (2020, November 5). How One Obscure Word Captures Urban China’s Unhappiness. #SixthTone.https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006391/how-one-obscure-word-captures-urban-chinas-unhappiness

[5]. Geertz, C. (1963). Agricultural involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia (Vol. 11). Univ of California Press.

[6]. Graeber, D. (2013). On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant. Strike Magazine, 3, 1-5.

[7]. Beebe, W. (1921). Edge of the Jungle. H. Holt and Company.

[8]. Qianni Wang & Shifan Ge (2020) How one Obscure Word Captures Urban China’s Unhappiness - Anthropologist Xiang Biao explains why the academic concept of “involution” became a social media buzzword, SIXTH TONE, Fresh Voices from Today’s China.

[9]. Tauer, J. M., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2004). The Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Intrinsic Motivation and Performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 86 (6), 849.

[10]. Prentice, D. A., & Miller, D. T. (1993). Pluralistic ignorance and alcohol use on campus: some consequences of misperceiving the social norm. Journal of personality and social psychology, 64 (2), 243.


Cite this article

Yin,V. (2023). Involution and Pluralistic Ignorance Amongst Chinese Adolescents. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,14,252-263.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries

ISBN:978-1-83558-053-0(Print) / 978-1-83558-054-7(Online)
Editor:Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Enrique Mallen
Conference website: https://www.iceipi.org/
Conference date: 7 August 2023
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.14
ISSN:2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).

References

[1]. Liu (2021), 2021, China’s “Involuted” Generation, A New Word Has Entered the Popular Lexicon to Describe Feeling of Burnout, Ennui, and Despair, The New Yorker.

[2]. Wang, Huang, Pan, & He (2022), Modeling the Social Dilemma of Involution on a Square Lattice, d, Elsevier, vol. 158 (C).

[3]. Yuting Ye, 2020, https://www.sohu.com/a/421994908_260616

[4]. Wang, Q., & Ge, S. (2020, November 5). How One Obscure Word Captures Urban China’s Unhappiness. #SixthTone.https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006391/how-one-obscure-word-captures-urban-chinas-unhappiness

[5]. Geertz, C. (1963). Agricultural involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia (Vol. 11). Univ of California Press.

[6]. Graeber, D. (2013). On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant. Strike Magazine, 3, 1-5.

[7]. Beebe, W. (1921). Edge of the Jungle. H. Holt and Company.

[8]. Qianni Wang & Shifan Ge (2020) How one Obscure Word Captures Urban China’s Unhappiness - Anthropologist Xiang Biao explains why the academic concept of “involution” became a social media buzzword, SIXTH TONE, Fresh Voices from Today’s China.

[9]. Tauer, J. M., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2004). The Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Intrinsic Motivation and Performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 86 (6), 849.

[10]. Prentice, D. A., & Miller, D. T. (1993). Pluralistic ignorance and alcohol use on campus: some consequences of misperceiving the social norm. Journal of personality and social psychology, 64 (2), 243.