{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T18:06:54Z","timestamp":1784225214340,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784160000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Post-migration social integration is a pressing concern for young ethnic-minority migrants in urban China. This study examines how ethnic self-identity shapes this integration process from the migrant\u2019s own lived perspectives. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, we regard young migrants as subjects of meaning-making rather than objects to be measured. Ecological systems theory, social identity theory, and social cognitive models provide the analytical frameworks for understanding how ethnic identity is negotiated within destination-city contexts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with ethnic migrant youths from Miao, Tujia, and Zangzu (Tibetan) groups who had relocated to Wuhan, Hubei Province. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, with cross-case patterning organized through thematic procedures.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Analysis identified five interconnected experiential dimensions of ethnic self-identity that influence social integration: ethnic self-categorization, ethnic versus local language proficiency, ethnic and cultural practices, perceived ethnicity- based discrimination and bicultural identity integration.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Ethnic self-identity functions as a two-sided mechanism: it simultaneously provides psychological protection against discrimination and sustains ethnic group cohesion, yet also creates social boundaries that complicate host-community integration. These findings highlight the need for policies and interventions that address both identity-based support and structural barriers to integration.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0353655","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T17:42:22Z","timestamp":1784223742000},"page":"e0353655","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The impact of ethnic self-identity on post-migration social integration of young rural to urban migrants in China: An interpretative phenomenological analysis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2134-8916","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tianning","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0353655.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511489891.009","article-title":"Ethnic identity and acculturation","author":"K Liebkind","year":"2006","journal-title":"The Cambridge Handbook of Acculturation Psychology"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0353655.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"338","DOI":"10.2307\/2787094","article-title":"Levels of ethnic self-identification and social context","volume":"60","author":"B Kinket","year":"1997","journal-title":"Social Psychology Quarterly"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0353655.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1111\/0022-4537.00225","article-title":"Ethnic identity, immigration, and well\u2010being: An interactional perspective","volume":"57","author":"JS Phinney","year":"2001","journal-title":"Journal of Social Issues"},{"key":"pone.0353655.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"556","DOI":"10.1080\/15387216.2023.2167096","article-title":"Rural\u2013urban migration and urban identity differentiation in China","volume":"66","author":"S Xie","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eurasian Geography and Economics"},{"key":"pone.0353655.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103968","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cities.2022.103968","article-title":"Citizenization of rural migrants in China\u2019s new urbanization: The roles of hukou system reform and rural land marketization","volume":"132","author":"H Li","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cities"},{"key":"pone.0353655.ref006","first-page":"73","article-title":"Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research","author":"JS Phinney","year":"2013"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0353655.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"743","DOI":"10.1111\/cdev.12788","article-title":"Ethnic identity development and acculturation preferences among minority and majority youth: Norms and contact","volume":"88","author":"R Gonz\u00e1lez","year":"2017","journal-title":"Child Dev"},{"key":"pone.0353655.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Inozemtsev VA, Sanakoev IB, Bagramyants NL. 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