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Asian Journal of Social Psychology
Asian Journal of Social Psychology (2010), 13, 102–108 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-839X.2010.01305.x
Psychosocial ramifications of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ajsp_ 102..108
Li Liu1,2 and Ying-yi Hong3,4
1
School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University and 2Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, Beijing,
China; 3Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and 4University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-
Champaign, Illinois, USA
The Beijing Olympic Games, one of the most significant social events for contemporary China, is a milestone for
China’s efforts for globalization. ‘One World, One Dream’, the motto of the Beijing Olympic Games, is an
embodiment of the encounter between Chinese culture and Western civilization, and a symbol of integration
between China and the rest of the world. This Special Section seeks to address the psychosocial ramifications of
the Beijing Olympic Games and, thereby, to shed light on China’s domestic situation and its international
relations from a social psychological perspective. Moving beyond the psychology of athletic excellence, the four
papers included use a wide range of methods, ranging from longitudinal tracking to priming, to examining
self-construal and volunteering, to representations of China’s past and future, competition towards foreigners,
and perceived intercultural differences. Consistently found across the papers, patriotism was associated with
ingroup cohesion, whereas nationalism was associated with competition and differentiation towards outgroups.
This Special Section thereby pays tribute to the social psychological significance of the Beijing Olympic Games
to China and the world.
Key words: Beijing Olympics, group cohesion, group perceptions, intergroup relations, nationalism, patriotism.
Introduction Olympics and the world of sports a unique legacy, but also
have important sociopolitical, cultural and economic impli-
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, officially known as the cations. Once derided as the ‘sick man of East Asia’ in the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad, were a major international late Qing Dynasty and in the early Republican period (ca
multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from 8 1900–1920), and excluded from the international commu-
to 24 August, 2008. A total of 11 028 athletes from 204 nity for much of the Cold War, China regards hosting the
National Olympic Committees (NOC) competed in 302 Olympic Games as a symbol of the country’s renaissance,
events in 28 sports. China was the 22nd nation to host the showcasing its renewed strength from economic reforms
Olympic Games. It was only the third time that the Olympic and opening up to the world, as a platform to unify its
Games were held in Asia, after Tokyo, Japan in 1964 and citizens and to boost their national pride, and as a milestone
Seoul, South Korea in 1988. The spectacular opening cer- for its efforts for globalization (Brady, 2008; Zhou & Ap,
emony at the Bird’s Nest stadium was attended by more 2009). Indeed, ‘One World, One Dream’, the motto of the
than 80 state leaders, including Chinese President Hu Beijing Olympic Games, is an embodiment of East meets
Jintao, US President George W. Bush and Russian Prime West, and a symbolization of the integration between China
Minister Vladimir Putin, and it was watched by 2.3 billion and the rest of the world. From an economic perspective,
television viewers worldwide, which was probably the the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games
largest live television audience in history (Baynes, 2008, 9 reported an income of 20.5 billion yuan (3 billion US
August). At the closing ceremony, the President of the dollars) and expenses of 19.34 billion yuan (2.83 billion US
International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge declared dollars) for the Games (Xinhua, 2009, 19 June). However,
the event a ‘truly exceptional Games’ (Xinhua, 2008, 24 the economy of the Beijing Olympic Games goes beyond
August). the numbers on a balance sheet. The Games provided China
The Beijing Olympic Games, as one of the world’s a rare opportunity for long-term economic growth, urban
largest peacetime events, and one of the most significant regeneration and increased employment (Hashmi, Fida &
social events for contemporary China, not only leave the Alhayky, 2008; Li & Blake, 2009).
Despite the enormous significance of the Beijing
Correspondence: Ying-yi Hong, Division of Strategy, Manage- Olympic Games to contemporary China and the world,
ment and Organization, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang there has been a dearth of research on the impact of this
Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798. mega-event on the psychology of the Chinese people or
Email: yyhong@ntu.edu.sg people aboard. (In fact, we have only come across Gries,
Received 9 February 2010; accepted 12 March 2010. Crowson, & Sandel, 2010, on the topic.) The goal of the
© 2010 The Authors
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association2008 Beijing Olympic Games 103
present Special Section is to fill this knowledge gap. Spe- Partington, 1988), including good competitive routines,
cifically, four empirical studies presented in this Special high motivation and commitment patterns, as well as the
Section use diverse methods of large-scale surveys, day-by- ability to cope with distraction (Gould, Guinan, Greenleaf,
day cross-sectional surveys during the Olympics, longitu- Medbery, & Peterson, 1999). Interestingly, Ungar and
dinal tracking from before to after the Olympics, and Se’ver (1989) examined the attributional bias for a fallen
experimental priming, to examine the responses of partici- Olympic hero. Another stream of research is concerned
pants from Beijing, Hong Kong, and the USA. These with the emotional impact of the Games on athletes.
studies sought to address a number of questions in relation Medvec, Madey, and Gilovich (1995) examined counter-
to the psychological ramifications of the Beijing Olympic factual thinking of Olympic athletes, showing that bronze
Games. medalists appeared happier than silver medalists. McGraw,
1 Yang et al. (this issue of the Journal)—What were the Mellers, and Tetlock (2005) further found that Olympic
psychological processes underlying Beijing residents’ athletes (among others) were more likely to make counter-
unprecedented rate of volunteering during the Games? factual comparisons based on their prior expectations.
How do self-construals and patriotism play a role in More recent studies done by Matsumoto and colleagues
predicting volunteering? (Matsumoto, Olide, & Willingham, 2009; Matsumoto &
2 Cheng et al. (this issue of the Journal)—Have the Beijing Willingham, 2006) examined the (facial) emotional expres-
Olympic Games changed Chinese people’s views of their sions of athletes in the judo competitions at the 2004
own past and future? How did the Games affect Chinese Athens Olympic Games. Considered as a whole, main-
Mainlanders and Hong Kongers’ historical representa- stream psychological study of the Olympics has centred on
tions and future imaginations of China? How might these the psychological attributes of the Olympic athletics and on
affect China’s globalization? factors that contribute to athletic excellence.
3 Li et al. (this issue of the Journal)—Did the Games The Olympics is arguably one of the most prominent
increase the Chinese people’s patriotism? How did the global mega-events (Roche, 2000)—they are not only
Games affect Chinese people’s competitiveness towards ephemeral vistas (Greenhalgh, 1988), but also have long-
their Asian neighbours, such as the Japanese and South lived pre- and post-event social/cultural and local/global
Koreans? dimensions (Roche, 2003). The Olympic Games in this
4 Rosner, Li, Chao, and Hong (this issue of the sense are by no means a mere arena for athletes, but also an
Journal)—Would priming of the Beijing Olympic icon amphitheatre of disparate countries and diverse cultures, as
affect Chinese and Americans’ perceptions of intercul- the games exert pertinent effects on the domestic and inter-
tural differences? Would patriotism and nationalism national politics of the host countries. As such, social psy-
moderate participants’ intercultural perceptions? What chological research on the Olympic Games must move
are the implications for Sino-American relations? beyond the psychology of athletic excellence. In parallel,
The four studies were conducted at different time points the growth of social psychology in past decades has been
during 2008 and there were important events that happened remarkable, moving beyond an individualistic orientation
throughout the year, including riots in Tibet, disruption of and putting the ‘social’ at the centre of enquiry (Tajfel,
the Olympic torch relay in Paris, the Sichuan earthquake 1972). Indeed, social psychology is in urgent need of
and the global financial crisis set off by the bankruptcy of research that is socially and culturally relevant to the
Lehman Brothers. There are temporal overlaps between increasingly globalized world (Chiu & Hong, 2006; Hong,
these landmark events and the data collection of the four 2009). The goal of the present Special Section is to meet
studies. (See the individual papers for a discussion of how this need—it includes four papers that examine the social
these events might have affected the findings.) psychological ramifications of the Beijing Olympic Games,
addressing issues including volunteering, perceptions of the
past and future of China, competitiveness towards people
Theoretical contributions from other nations, and perceived differences between
Eastern and Western cultures. More importantly, the behav-
Most early research on the Olympics has focused on the iours studied were contextualized in particular sociocul-
qualities of the athletes and their performances in the tural milieu, meeting the urgent need of research that is
games. To begin, almost half a century ago, Kroll (1967) socially and culturally relevant.
explored the 16 personality factor profiles of wrestlers from Another unique feature is that the four empirical studies
the US Olympic team. Subsequently, the development and in this Special Section have investigated psychosocial rami-
maintenance of expert athletic performance have drawn fications of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games from the
much of the psychologists’ attention since the 1980s. Peak perspectives of group cohesion, ingroup perception and
performance in the Olympics has been identified to be intergroup relations. Two papers have specifically focused
associated with a series of psychological skills (Orlick & on the psychosocial impacts of the Games on ingroup cohe-
© 2010 The Authors
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association104 Li Liu and Ying-yi Hong sion and domestic politics, whereas the other two have opening day to the closing day of the Games. They found focused on the psychosocial impact of the Games on inter- that Mainland Chinese attributed a higher level of warmth/ national relations. morality to China’s past (in comparison to now), and a To a large extent, success of the Olympic Games depends higher level of competence to China’s future (in compari- on the host country’s ability to mobilize the populace and son to now). This reflects both a nostalgic feeling for recruit ‘corps of volunteers’ to help hosting the games (Kar- China’s past when facing rapid globalization and social katsoulis, Michalopoulos, & Moustakatou, 2005). The transition in China, and also an optimistic outlook for number of volunteers who participated in the 2008 Beijing China’s future. As the Games proceeded, the perceived Olympic Games reached 1 700 000 (Li, Gui, & Shen, 2008, compatibility of competence and warmth/morality 25 August), an astonishing number by itself. This was far increased and the ‘good old days effect’ (i.e. better warmth/ more than the sum total of volunteers who participated in morality in the past than now) diminished. The Hong Kong the four preceding Olympics. (There were 65 000 volun- participants, however, only made a higher estimate of com- teers in Athens in 2004, 47 000 in Sydney in 2000, 60 500 petence to China’s future (also known as the ‘better tomor- in Atlanta in 1996, and 35 000 in Barcelona in 1992 accord- row’ effect in Cheng et al. (this issue of the Journal)) but ing to Karkatsoulis et al., 2005.) What were the psycho- not a higher estimate of any dimensions for China’s past, logical correlates underlying Beijing residents’ suggesting that Hong Kong people do not share the same unprecedented rate of volunteering during the Games? To recollection of China’s past as their Mainland counterparts. address this question, Yang et al. (this issue of the Journal) From the perspective of intergroup relations, the Olym- conducted a large-scale survey of 972 Beijing residents pics operate within a global cultural, ideological, political from a wide range of backgrounds. The study found that and economic context. The aim of the Olympic Games is to participants’ involvements in the Olympic Games (e.g. vol- deepen understanding and friendship among nations and to unteering) were related to both patriotism and self- promote world peace. Meanwhile, the Olympics present a construal. Specifically, the link between patriotism and stage for fierce competition among nations to win medals, involvements was moderated by how Chinese people view giving nations a chance to infuse pride in their own people the boundary between their individual self and the groups when outperforming other nations in the Games (Saka- to which they belong (such as family, company, or nation). moto, Murata, & Takaki, 1999). As such, it raises an For those who construe a permeable boundary between the intriguing question: Would the Olympic Games benefit or self and the group, a higher patriotism predicted a higher harm international harmony? To address this question, Li rate of involvements in the Olympic Games because sup- et al. (2010) conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey porting the games could be seen as fulfilling one’s own from before to after the Games. They found that, in general, goals as well. By contrast, those with a rigid, non- the Beijing Olympic Games intensified Chinese people’s permeable self-group boundary did not show the modera- competitiveness towards foreigners from some nations, tion effect. especially those that have a rivalry history with China Apart from its effects on volunteering, the Olympic (Japan and South Korea). This is especially salient for Games may also affect how people of the hosting country participants who are high in nationalism (i.e. those who feel perceive their own nation. It is interesting to ask whether that China is superior to other nations). Interestingly, the Beijing Olympic Games affected Chinese people’s col- nationalism predicted competitiveness towards Japanese lective representations and future imaginations of their own and South Koreans, but did not predict competitiveness country. Did they make different evaluations of China’s towards Americans, Russians and Kenyans. past and future as the Olympic Games proceeded? Would A major goal of hosting the Olympics in China, accord- the evaluations of Hong Kong people differ from those of ing to China’s then President Jiang Zemin in his letter to the the Chinese Mainlanders? These nation-related social con- International Olympic Committee in 2000, is to facilitate structions were explored by Cheng et al. (this issue of the cultural exchanges and convergence between East and West Journal) by comparing two theoretically interesting groups (Jiang, 2000). The goal is epitomized by the motto of the of ethnic Chinese, Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese. 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: ‘One World, One Dream’. Although sovereignty over Hong Kong passed from Britain However, Gries et al. (2010) found that the Beijing back to China in 1997, some 10 years before the Beijing Olympic Games dampened Americans’ attitudes towards Olympic Games, Hong Kong people’s representations of China. This finding raises a number of important questions: China’s past could be quite different from those of the Did the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games actually succeed in Mainland Chinese (see psychological ramifications of the drawing the Western world closer to China? Why did the Hong Kong handover by Hong et al. 2003 and those of the Olympic Games lead to a significant increase in Americans’ post-handover developments by Ng & Lai, 2010). To test negative attitudes towards China? What are the implica- these ideas, Cheng et al. (this issue of the Journal) surveyed tions for Sino-American relations? By conducting a 671 Mainland and 626 Hong Kong Chinese from the priming experiment on Chinese and American participants, © 2010 The Authors © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association
2008 Beijing Olympic Games 105
Rosner et al. (2010) attempted to answer these questions. appropriate that the papers in this Special Section examined
They showed that reminding Chinese and American partici- Chinese identifications. However, the results showed that
pants of the Beijing Olympic Games (by showing the patriotism and cultural identification were related to more
Beijing Olympic Games icon) led to a heightened sense of constructive outcomes, whereas nationalism was related to
intergroup differences, rather than the feeling of interna- potentially harmful outcomes. Specifically, Yang et al. (this
tional unity, for those most identified with their respective issue of the Journal) have shown that patriotism functioned
countries. However, based on findings from Li et al. (this as an important driving force for Olympic volunteering
issue of the Journal) and others, Rosner et al. (this issue of among those who do not separate the individual self from
the Journal) argued that the perception of the disparity the collective self. Cheng et al. (this issue of the Journal)
between the two cultures could lead to different conse- found that participants with stronger Chinese cultural iden-
quences for Chinese and Americans. For the Chinese, the tification (which is more akin to patriotism than national-
perceived disparity between the cultures may open up an ism) evaluated both China’s past and its future more
opportunity to learn from the USA, and thus may eventu- favourably than did those with weaker Chinese cultural
ally make the dream ‘One World, One Dream’ come true. identification. By contrast, Li et al. (this issue of the
For the Americans, however, the perceived disparity may Journal) found that nationalism (but not patriotism) pre-
elicit adversarial feelings towards China because the dicted Beijing participants’ competitiveness towards their
Olympic Games signalled China as a rising power that may Asian neighbours, Japan and South Korea. Rosner et al.
challenge the status quo dominance of the USA. (this issue of the Journal) revealed that both nationalism
Despite the different foci of these four papers, there and patriotism predicted a larger perceived difference
are some overlaps in the psychological processes investi- between Eastern and Western cultures for both Chinese and
gated and the findings revealed are similar in some American participants.
respects but different in others. An analysis of the simi- Taken as a whole, these results showed that patriotism
larities and differences would be critical for understanding and nationalism, although closely related (and often highly
the psychological ramifications of the Beijing Olympic correlated), could function differently. Indeed, Kosterman
Games. and Feshbach (1989) differentiated patriotism and nation-
alism some two decades ago and proposed that the two
concepts predict different reactions towards outgroups.
Common threads across the studies Later research has shown that patriotism connotes a
‘healthy’ love for one’s country (Bar-Tal & Staub, 1997)
All of the studies examined the effects of Chinese identifi- and is unrelated to outgroup derogation (Brewer, 1999),
cations, in terms of patriotism (love for one’s nation), whereas nationalism is linked to feelings of superiority,
nationalism (feeling one’s nation is superior to other intergroup differentiation, and a desire for dominance over
nations), or Chinese cultural identification on various others (Mummendey, Klink, & Brown, 2001).
aspects pertaining to the Olympics. This focus has ecologi- Specifically, in the context of the Beijing Olympic
cal validity because national identities are implicated Games, patriotism seems to operate inwardly within a
heavily throughout the Olympic Games. As Hargreaves nation, as a powerful force to mobilize its people to
(1992) vividly described, competitors in the Olympics are support national goals (as shown by Yang et al., this issue
selected as part of a national team rather than as individu- of the Journal). By contrast, nationalism seems to operate
als; the opening ceremony involves marching of national outwardly toward other nations, especially those with a
teams in serried, uniformed ranks, decked in national history of rivalry, acting as a powerful force for compe-
colours, with each team preceded by its national flag. At an tition and potential conflict (as shown in Li et al., this
awards ceremony, the gold medalist stands on the top level issue of the Journal). The inward forces prompted by
of the dais above the nearest rivals, visible in ubiquitous patriotism might lead to greater perceived cohesion within
national colours. When the gold medal is placed around his the nation, and the outward forces prompted by national-
or her neck, the national flag is raised, and the winner turns ism might lead to greater perceived distance between
to it as the national anthem is played, then waves to the nations. Either way, this would accentuate perceived inter-
crowd where co-nationals applaud vociferously. All this cultural differences (as shown in Rosner et al., this issue
indicates that national identification and the Olympics go of the Journal). These results showed that Chinese iden-
hand in glove. tifications come in many forms and each could lead to
Perhaps, more importantly, the 2008 Beijing Olympic different outcomes. Whereas patriotism and cultural iden-
Games was held in the context of inflaming Chinese patrio- tification were related to more constructive outcomes,
tism, prompted by the Tibet riots that happened in March nationalism was related to potentially harmful ones.
2008, the disruption of the Olympic torch relay shortly Going forward from the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese
after, and the Sichuan earthquake in May It is therefore government may want to formulate policies that can foster
© 2010 The Authors
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association106 Li Liu and Ying-yi Hong
patriotism and Chinese cultural identification, while fulfil their own personal interests (e.g. using the company
putting a cap on nationalism. car for family outings)? This idea could be tested in future
research.
Cheng et al. (this issue of the Journal) examined the
Implications and future directions ‘good old days’ and ‘better tomorrow’ effects in the context
of the Beijing Olympic Games. These two effects capture
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were a major social- mixed psychosocial responses towards the changing cul-
cultural event for China’s globalization. Through the tural, ideological, political and economic systems (Liu,
process of globalization, China is not only relatively dis- 2008)—a nostalgic indulgence in the country’s ‘idealized
tinctive in having ‘Westernized Chinese’ bicultural indi- past’ and an optimistic aspiration for the country’s future.
viduals, it is also distinctive in many other ways that would The antithetical dyad of the good old days and better tomor-
provide a pertinent arena for the development of theories row is an innovative construct for understanding not only
and methodologies in social psychology (Liu & Ng, 2007). the ramifications of the rapid social changes in China, but
Psychosocial research into ‘mega-events’ like the Beijing also the social psychology of globalization.
Olympic Games, as Chiu (2007) argued, needs to develop The contributions by Li et al. (this issue of the Journal)
communicable theories and actionable knowledge with a and Rosner et al. (this issue of the Journal) investigated
distinctive Chinese flavour and far-reaching implications some fundamental questions related to the Beijing Olympic
for global social psychology. The studies in the present Games: Has the Games facilitated international cooperation
Special Section attempt to achieve this goal. or intensified competition? Has the Beijing Olympic
The construct of ‘boundary-permeated self’ coined by Games achieved its slogan ‘One World, One Dream’? The
Yang et al. (this issue of the Journal) is an innovatively two studies used diversely different methods but arrived
theoretical rudiment regarding Chinese self-concept. with similar findings. The findings have important implica-
Although its conceptualization overlaps with that of the tions on China’s relations with other nations. As noted, Li
self-expansion model (Aron, Aron, & Norman, 2004), and et al. (this issue of the Journal) found that high nationalism
self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, was associated with heightened competition towards targets
& Wetherell, 1987), the ‘boundary-permeated self’ model from historical rivalry nations but not those from non-
goes beyond those theories by integrating Chinese social rivalry nations. Rosner et al. (this issue of the Journal) used
structure as espoused by Fei (1947/1992) in the ‘differential a drastically different method to examine a similar theme.
mode of associations’, a structure of concentric circles with They used a cultural priming method in which Beijing and
the individual self located at the centre of the circles and American participants were randomly assigned to an
netted within layers of relationships; the boundary between experimental condition (exposure to the Beijing Olympic
an individual self and his/her relational and collective Games icon) and a control condition (no exposure). The
groups (e.g. family, work unit, nation) could be permeable. goal of exposure to the Olympic icon was to remind par-
Given the right circumstances, the individual self can be ticipants of the Beijing Olympic Games, and the pertaining
expanded to a larger self that includes these collectives. competitions among nations. As a result, a mindset to
Importantly, unique to Yang et al.’s model, the extent of the compare between nations would be activated and thus par-
permeability of the boundaries between the self and the ticipants would see more contrasts between cultures. Con-
collectives is an individual difference variable. Some sistently, it was found that participants in the experimental
people may have a higher permeability than others, render- condition perceived greater differences between Chinese
ing a fuzzy (low clarity) boundary between the ‘public’ and and Western cultures than did participants in the control
‘private’ realm. Given the low clarity between the public condition. Incidentally, the study was conducted during the
and the private, individuals with high patriotism would be dawn of the global financial crisis, which has exposed some
motivated to attain the nation’s goals as though they are severe financial problems confronting America and sig-
their own individual goals. This new concept sheds light on nalled the rising economic power of China. Indeed, Rosner
why the Chinese government was able to mobilize its et al. (this issue of the Journal) found that American par-
people on a large scale without using coercion. A similar ticipants felt that the Beijing Olympic Games symbolized
logic could be applied to understand organizational behav- China’s competitiveness in the world stage the most in
iours in the Chinese context. For example, some Chinese comparison to other meanings (e.g. ‘One World, One
employees may have a more permeable boundary between Dream’). Future studies can examine where these perceived
the self and collectives and not differentiate between the differences might lead; greater perceived differences could
‘private’ and the ‘public’ realm compared to others. Com- lead to more tension between groups, but also greater moti-
pared to those who hold a weak boundary-permeable self, vation to learn more about the other culture. Which route
would employees who hold a strong boundary-permeable China and America will take may depend on their national
self be more likely to abuse organizational resources to ideologies and their associated policies.
© 2010 The Authors
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association2008 Beijing Olympic Games 107
Concluding remarks future imaginations of China during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 13, 118–127.
This Special Section as a whole has contributed to the Chiu, C., Hong, Y. (2006). The Social Psychology of Culture. New
literature on the effects of the Olympic Games. It has met York: Psychology Press.
Chiu, C.-Y. (2007). How can Asian social psychology succeed
the need of featuring socially and culturally relevant
globally? Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 41–44.
research. Not only does it fill the knowledge gap about the Fei, H. T. (1947/1992). From the Soil. Berkeley, CA: University of
psychological and sociocultural ramifications of the California Press.
Games, it also sheds light on China’s domestic situation Gould, D., Guinan, D., Greenleaf, C., Medbery, R. & Peterson, K.
and its international relations from a social psychological (1999). Factors affecting Olympic performance: Perceptions of
perspective. China has an enormous role to play in the athletes and coaches from more and less-successful teams. The
contemporary world stage. It has one-fifth of the world’s Sport Psychologist, 13, 371–394.
population. The rapid social changes and reforms that have Greenhalgh, P. (1988). Ephemeral Vistas: The Expositions Uni-
occurred in China have made it one of the major economies verselles, Great Exhibitions and World’s Fairs, 1851–1939.
in the world. The Beijing Olympic Games served as an Manchester: Manchester University Press.
opportunity for China to showcase its accomplishments and Gries, P. H., Crowson, H. M. & Sandel, T. (2010). The Olympic
effect on American attitudes towards China: Beyond personal-
to upgrade its status to a major social and economic power
ity, ideology, and media exposure. Journal of Contemporary
in the world. China has indeed pulled the Games off beau- China, 64, 213–231.
tifully. The Beijing Olympic Games will be remembered as Hargreaves, J. (1992). Olympism and nationalism: Some prelimi-
a landmark event in China’s history for years to come. Our nary considerations. International Review for the Sociology of
Special Section pays tribute to the social and psychological Sport, 27, 119–137.
significance of the Beijing Olympic Games to China and Hashmi, S. M., Fida, B. A. & Alhayky, A. (2008). Economic
the world. impact studies of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. China–USA
Business Review, 7 (5), 27–35.
Hong, Y. (2009). A dynamic constructivist approach to culture:
Acknowledgements Moving from describing culture to explaining culture. In: R.
Wyer, C.-Y. Chiu & Y. Hong, eds. Understanding Culture:
This article was partially supported by the MOE Program Theory, Research and Application, pp. 3–23. New York: Psy-
for New Century Excellent Talents in University (R/N: chology Press.
NCET-07-0090) and by the MOE Project of Key Research Hong, Y., Chan, G., Chiu, C., et al. (2003). How are social iden-
tities linked to self-conception and intergroup orientation? The
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences in University
moderating effect of implicit theories. Journal of Personality
(R/N: 2009JJDXLX001) awarded to Li Liu; and partially
and Social Psychology, 85, 1147–1160.
supported by the Academic Research Fund (Tier 1) from Jiang, Z. (2000). ‘Letter of Support’. Candidature Files Vol. 1.
the Ministry of Education, Singapore, awarded to Ying-yi [Cited 27 Nov 2009.] Available from URL: http://
Hong. The authors wish to thank Sik Hung Ng and James images.beijing2008.cn/upload/lib/bidreport/jiang.pdf
Liu for their feedback on the earlier versions of this paper. Karkatsoulis, P., Michalopoulos, N., & Moustakatou, V. (2005).
The national identity as a motivational factor for better
performance in the public sector: The case of the volunteers
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