Critical Review: The Emotional Belonging of Chinese Young Overseas Students in Hong Kong and Macao

School of Humanities and Social Science, Huai’an University, Huai’an, 223003, China

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

With the deepening of education integration in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao Greater Bay area, the scale of mainland young students’ study in Hong Kong and Macao has expanded, and they are facing unique challenges of cultural adaptation in adolescence. Based on the theory of social identity and local attachment, this paper discusses the emotional dilemma of this group under the impact of tagging, language differences and macro events. This paper shows that students often fall into the tension of “double attachment” and the anxiety of “defensive isolation”, showing a sense of cultural alienation. However, by building a local attachment to the campus physical space and relying on the social support of family and peers, it can gradually alleviate the conflict and realize the reconstruction of emotion from “tearing” to “integration”. The study reveals that emotional belonging is a negotiation process regulated by multiple factors. Based on this, it is suggested to go beyond the single academic support and build an emotional support ecology of home-school community collaboration to help them establish a positive, diverse and resilient cultural identity.