Discrimination against Rural-to-Urban Migrants: The Role of the Hukou System in China

Abstract

China's rural-urban dual society system is instituted by its unique hukou system. This system causes inequalities in social status between permanent urban and rural residents, and discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants is thus prevalent. A series of studies, based on system justification theory, sought to address the impact of the hukou system on the discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants. Study 1 showed that the justification of the hukou system could predict discrimination operationalized using a social distance measure. Study 2 found that priming of the proposed abolishment of the current hukou system led to reduced social distance. Study 3, using a recruiting scenario, further demonstrated that priming of the proposed abolishment of the system led to reduced discrimination in salary decision. Consistent with our predictions, discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants could be triggered by justifying the current hukou system, while priming of the abolishment of the system serves to decrease discrimination. The present research thereby sheds light on China's reform of its hukou system to achieve social justice and equality from a psychological perspective.

Multiple Abortions and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Young Migrant Women Working in Entertainment Venues in China

“…Many female migrants experience challenges finding skilled or formal employment (Kuang & Liu, 2012), and, thus, frequently seek jobs in entertainment venues, such as bars, nightclubs, and karaoke parlors, which are common in urban settings throughout China. Patrons (mostly male) who visit these venues generally pay fees in exchange for companionship with a female employee, with whom they engage in various social activities, such as singing karaoke, gambling, and drinking (Huang et al, 2013).…”

Expected Hierarchical Integration Reduces Perceptions of a Low Status Group as Less Competent than a High Status Group While Maintaining the Same Level of Perception of Warmth

“…Participants were asked to read an article (Kuang and Liu, 2012, see in Appendix) ostensibly excerpted from newspapers. The article in the legitimate condition explained that the Hukou system, which categorizes Chinese citizens as either urban or rural, was legitimate and would not be abolished in the future (see Appendix 3).…”

“…In addition, when the social hierarchy is perceived as illegitimate, advantaged group members may feel shameful and guilty about their exhibition of ingroup favoritism on status-relevant dimensions, so they are likely to exhibit more positive outgroup evaluation and egalitarianism (Shepherd et al, 2013a,b) to make them feel better. Some research (Kuang and Liu, 2012) has revealed that advantaged group members showed less discrimination to disadvantaged group members when they were told that the social hierarchy status quo was illegitimate (versus legitimate).…”

“…Therefore, in terms of social-economic status and social reputation, the urban category is seen as superior to the rural category (Zhang et al, 2014). In recent years, the Hukou system has been reformed to facilitate social integration and these changes have challenged the legitimacy of the existing social hierarchy (Kuang and Liu, 2012) and facilitated rural-to-urban mobility (Zhang et al, 2014). This current social situation provides a natural laboratory within which to explore the influences of legitimacy and permeability on compensation in high (i.e., urban category) and low (i.e., rural category) social status group members.…”

Understanding the implementation gap of China’s urban pension scheme at the level of rural-urban migrant workers

“…Accordingly, tens of millions of migrant workers' children are left in rural hometowns because they struggle to access education in the cities (Branigan, 2014). The unfair treatment that migrant workers suffer in cities due to their lack of urban household registration also leads to social stigma and feelings of being marginalised (Kuang & Liu, 2012). The interviews revealed that migrant workers' passive physiological feelings made them less confident about joining the urban old-age pension scheme.…”