Millions of young mainlanders look to Huang Han for advice on marriage
Millions of young mainlanders now tune into psychology professor Huang Han's TV show for her wise counsel on love and relationships
Huang Han is known to hundreds of millions of young people in China. Her rise to fame came after she joined If You Are the One, China's most popular dating show, in 2010 as a guest commentator. Now legions of admirers watch the show and follow her advice.
The 48-year-old social psychology professor from Jiangsu is now, to many, an expert on marriage and relationships. With her trademark perfectly coiled chignon and solid arguments, Huang has gained a following by crafting brilliant quotes, a prime example being: "In this world, besides parents, you are the person who deserves your love the most." The show has just finished auditions in Hong Kong and while in the city, Huang took time to reflect on stereotypes, young people in Hong Kong and on the mainland, love and relationships.
From the perspective of social psychology, stereotypes of certain regions will always exist. They are deep-rooted and hard to avoid. So where do these stereotypes come from? Actually, the most important contribution is the lack of understanding, especially a lack of experience in dealing with individuals. Our experience with an unfamiliar group usually comes from others - meaning indirectly - when dealing with individuals in that group. It's easy to reach very general conclusions ... and to say things like 'People there are like that'. But if you have lived somewhere for a long time, you would never say that. You would say Zhang San is like this, and Li Si is like that. But with globalisation and increased social mobility, I think these stereotypical views will gradually disappear.
I'd love to see more. It makes us see the power of love. It helps us see that love can help overcome so many obstacles, to see the warmest things buried in another human being. People can and will help one another, admire one another, and love does exist. Also, we, of course, hope to see different cultures in the world, and people in different cultures can abandon stereotypes and prejudice to express kindness and make friends. Based on these two, I'd love to see more.
It's hard to define a group. I personally picture young people in Hong Kong as those who have received a decent modern education, even a Western education. They live in a metropolis, live fast-paced lives, are busy every day, especially those who have successful careers. This is my view but, of course, it is not all right.