YELLOW PAPER CUEING YOUTH'S LOCALIST IDENTITY IN HONG KONG.

Localist identity or preference for local identity to national identity is likely to be susceptible to situational exposure. In the Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong, as the yellow ribbon is the icon of localism, yellow paper used in the questionnaire is likely to induce the localist identity. This inducement is the focus of the present study of 527 Hong Kong college students. Results reveal that the student given a yellow paper questionnaire reported a significantly stronger local, Hongkonger identity than did the other given a questionnaire of another color. Moreover, local and localist identities reported were significantly stronger and national, Chinese identity reported was weaker in the student from poorer family background given the yellow questionnaire than in the other. That is, family income per capita reduced the color cueing effects on identities. These results imply the situational influence of iconic color on youth's identities and resultant social impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]