Intergroup contact and Chinese cultural identity: a three-wave study of Taiwanese students enrolled at universities in Mainland China

Objective This study addressed inconsistent findings regarding cross-strait integration and the limited application of time-lagged, mechanism-focused approaches. It examined whether intergroup contact was prospectively associated with Chinese cultural identity among Taiwanese students in Mainland China, focusing on cultural adaptation and personality traits.Method A six-month, three-wave time-lagged survey was conducted with 286 Taiwanese students at universities in Mainland China. Data were collected at three measurement points using validated self-report instruments to assess intergroup contact, cultural adaptation, openness to experience, and Chinese cultural identity. Baseline identity (T1) was controlled when predicting identity at T3. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using PROCESS.Results Positive intergroup contact significantly predicted stronger Chinese cultural identity at T3，controlling for baseline levels. Results supported an indirect association through cultural adaptation, but not a full test of longitudinal mediation. Openness to experience did not significantly moderate the association.Conclusions Sustained, high-quality intergroup contact was associated with increased cultural identity among Taiwanese youth. The observed temporal ordering is consistent with a possible indirect pathway through cultural adaptation, although the present study does not constitute a full longitudinal test of mediation. Rather than extending intergroup contact theory, the findings offer context-specific support for its applicability in an East Asian setting. Given that the sample was drawn from three universities in two provinces, generalizability is limited. The results further suggest that supportive social and educational environments may be more influential than broad personality traits in fostering integration.