Investigating the effects of dually representative cultural products on ethnicity-nation associations and inter-ethnic relations in Singapore

Abstract

Multi-ethnic nations present an interesting backdrop to investigate cultural products, since cultural products can be dually representative of the superordinate nation and a subordinate ethnicity. This study made a preliminary attempt to investigate the effects of dually representative food items on Singaporean Chinese’s implicit ethnicity-nation associations, and their implicit and explicit perceptions of the ethnicities in Singapore, seeking also to extend the “American = White” effect and its related poor intergroup relations. Participants were primed with food items varying in their representativeness of Singapore (representative, not representative) and associated ethnicity (Chinese, non-Chinese). The results found an implicit “Singaporean = Chinese” association and more implicit and explicit preferences for Chinese among participants. However, the food primes had no effect on participants’ ethnicity-nation associations and intergroup perceptions, suggesting that while the cultural products were explicitly reported to be dually representative of Singapore and an ethnicity, they could not independently activate those cultures in participants’ minds. Nonetheless, the present study offers a starting point for future studies to explore the effects of dually representative cultural products, with hopes that such cultural products can potentially improve inter-ethnic perceptions and relations.