The "Patriotic" Hunt: Cultural Identity Negotiation and Psychological Adjustment of Chinese Adolescent Fans under Cyber-Nationalist Bullying

Abstract

This study investigates Cyber-Nationalist Bullying (CNB) in China, where adolescent fans of transnational popular culture are attacked online and their interests framed as unpatriotic. Using a mixed-methods design around two nationalist flashpoints (2012, 2016), we combine a survey (N=84) with in-depth interviews (N=18) to examine how CNB shapes identity negotiation and psychological adjustment. CNB exposure is operationalized with two page-level indicators: content hostility (slur density) and visibility configuration, metrics such as the Signal-toNoise Ratio of nationalist voices (SNR), operationalized as the ratio of nationalist replies to other replies. Higher exposure significantly predicts stronger identity conflict—lower self-evaluation, greater belonging uncertainty, and tighter expressive boundaries. Temporal coding and participant emotion timelines reveal a three-stage pathway: an immediate shame wave, a delayed anger rebound, and the sedimentation of fear/caution over subsequent days; this sequence mediates the relationship between page exposure and identity outcomes. Long-term adaptations cluster into three strategies: cautious expression, circle contraction, and public silence. Crucially, visible peer support moderates these trajectories—turning boundary management into a protective outer layer that sustains low-risk presence; in its absence, the same practices drift toward isolating contraction or complete withdrawal. The thesis advances an integrated process model linking platform mechanisms to identity outcomes and offers stance-neutral implications: diversify early on-page cues, temper high-repetition reply bursts, make re-exposure windows explicit, and build school-based, visible peer support to preserve adolescents’ limited-risk public presence.