{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T05:50:00Z","timestamp":1791352200938,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":71,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Digital platforms have reshaped how traditional Chinese music circulates, yet the psychological mechanism linking user participation to cultural identification remains undertheorized. Drawing together social cognitive theory, contemporary cultural psychology, and communication theory, this study develops a four-layer architecture (input, participation, cognitive, and identity) coupled with a staged process model spanning information encoding, symbolic decoding, cognitive reconstruction, and identity internalization. A hybrid specification formalizes the mechanism, pairing structural equation modeling with attention-weighted neural aggregation; both components are estimated and validated on the same data. Empirical testing draws on 2,346 behavioral records from music, short-form video, and social media platforms, paired with 1,128 survey responses from users engaged with the guqin, Kunqu, pipa, and regional opera repertoires. Item loadings, heterotrait\u2013monotrait ratios, collinearity diagnostics, and a common-method check document measurement quality. Results indicate that digital participation (DP) shapes cultural identity (CI) mainly through social cognitive communication (SCC), with the co-creation and dissemination strata showing indirect effects that are more than three times those of passive exposure. As the direct participation-identity path remains significant, the pattern is one of partial rather than full mediation. Cultural identity also looks more like a hinge than a terminal state: a chained specification linking identification to downstream cognitive engagement returns a reliable indirect path, which is consistent with the recursive reading the framework proposes but, on single-wave evidence, cannot establish it. Community climate exerts the strongest moderating influence, exceeding both platform affordance and content polish. Since the design is cross-sectional, all of these patterns are read as associations rather than as causal effects; even so, they suggest that audience cultivation and co-creation tooling deserve at least as much investment as interface refinement in the digitization of traditional music.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1896221","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T04:50:13Z","timestamp":1791348613000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Social cognitive communication mechanism of digital participation in Chinese traditional music in the context of cultural identity and intangible cultural heritage"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Tingting","family":"Kuai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Culture and Tourism, Jiangsu Vocational Institute of Commerce, Nanjing","place":["Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Qian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Cultural Industry and Tourism Management, Sanjiang University, Nanjing","place":["Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Digital Media and Art Design, Jiangsu Vocational Institute of Commerce, Nanjing","place":["Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"665","DOI":"10.1177\/1094428115627498","article-title":"Improving our understanding of moderation and mediation in strategic management research","volume":"20","author":"Aguinis","year":"2017","journal-title":"Organ. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions","author":"Aiken","year":"1991"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1108\/978-1-83753-524-820241003","article-title":"\u201cGender across digital platforms,\u201d","author":"Amaral","year":"2024","journal-title":"Young Adulthood Across Digital Platforms"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.4324\/9781003415329-10","article-title":"\u201cAppropriating intangible cultural heritage,\u201d","author":"Angelillo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Intangible Cultural Heritage and New Methodological Frameworks"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1207\/S1532785XMEP0303_03","article-title":"Social cognitive theory of mass communication","volume":"3","author":"Bandura","year":"","journal-title":"Media Psychol."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.52.1.1","article-title":"Social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective","volume":"52","author":"Bandura","year":"","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.31274\/archivalissues.11058","article-title":"Participatory heritage, edited by Henriette Roued-Cunliffe and Andrea Copeland","volume":"39","author":"Banta","year":"2018","journal-title":"Arch. Issues"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2991\/cesses-18.2018.140","article-title":"\u201cResearch on new media protection for intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of communication,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings international conference contemporary education, social sciences and ecological studies (CESSES)","author":"Bao","year":"2018"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1173","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.51.6.1173","article-title":"The moderator\u2013mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, statistical considerations","volume":"51","author":"Baron","year":"1986","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1833","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1040.0300","article-title":"Comments on \u2018A new product growth for model consumer durables: the Bass model'","volume":"50","author":"Bass","year":"2004","journal-title":"Manage. Sci."},{"key":"B11","author":"Bolin","year":"2017","journal-title":"Media Generations: Experience, Identity and Mediatised Social Change"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1080\/09647775.2018.1559080","article-title":"Participation in heritage crowdsourcing","volume":"34","author":"Bonacchi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mus. Manag. Curatorsh."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1235","DOI":"10.1080\/13527258.2019.1578989","article-title":"Digital heritage research re-theorised: ontologies and epistemologies in a world of big data","volume":"25","author":"Bonacchi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Herit. Stud."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101286","DOI":"10.1016\/j.copsyc.2021.11.006","article-title":"Adolescent identity development in context","volume":"45","author":"Branje","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Psychol."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"908","DOI":"10.1111\/jora.12678","article-title":"Dynamics of identity development in adolescence: a decade in review","volume":"31","author":"Branje","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Res. Adolesc."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780190493028.001.0001","volume-title":"If\u2026 Then: Algorithmic Power and Politics.","author":"Bucher","year":"2018"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.5040\/9781978738362.ch-6","article-title":"\u201cCultural beliefs and everyday practices,\u201d","author":"Cantor","year":"2019","journal-title":"Tourism and Maternal Health: Customs, Beliefs, and Everyday Practices"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1326746","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2024.1326746","article-title":"The effect of Chinese vocational college students' perception of feedback on online learning engagement: academic self-efficacy and test anxiety as mediating variables","volume":"15","author":"Cao","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"823","DOI":"10.2991\/978-2-494069-97-8_104","article-title":"\u201cAnalysis of Chinese digital music in the context of new media,\u201d","author":"Cao","year":"2023","journal-title":"Proceedings 2022 4th international conference literature, art and human development (ICLAHD 2022)"},{"key":"B20","volume-title":"How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions.","author":"Centola","year":"2018"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"745","DOI":"10.1007\/s10490-023-09871-y","article-title":"Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with structural equation modeling","volume":"41","author":"Cheung","year":"2024","journal-title":"Asia Pac. J. Manag."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-032-22974-8_11","article-title":"\u201cBeyond the digital documentation: the monumental cemetery of Perugia and interpretive models for funerary heritage,\u201d","author":"Dottorini","year":"2026","journal-title":"Advances in Digital and Cultural Tourism Management"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.32614\/CRAN.package.madgrad","article-title":"\u201cmadgrad: \u2018MADGRAD' method for stochastic optimization,\u201d","author":"Falbel","year":"2021","journal-title":"CRAN: Contributed Packages"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09548963.2025.2540958","article-title":"Classical music audiences: evidence from Chile","author":"Gayo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cult. Trends"},{"key":"B25","volume-title":"The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning","author":"Gee","year":"2013"},{"key":"B26","first-page":"331","article-title":"\u201cInstant archives?,\u201d","volume-title":"The Routledge Companion to Digital Ethnography","author":"Geismar","year":"2017"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203112984","author":"Giaccardi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Heritage and Social Media: Understanding Heritage in a Participatory Culture"},{"key":"B28","volume-title":"Deep Learning","author":"Goodfellow","year":"2016"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"51716","DOI":"10.25236\/FSST.2023.051716","article-title":"Research on short video communication of intangible cultural heritage","volume":"5","author":"Guo","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Soc. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1108\/EBR-11-2018-0203","article-title":"When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM","volume":"31","author":"Hair","year":"2019","journal-title":"Euro. Bus. Rev."},{"key":"B31","volume-title":"Advanced Issues in Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling","author":"Hair","year":"2018"},{"key":"B32","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u201cWho needs identity?,\u201d","volume-title":"Questions of Cultural Identity","author":"Hall","year":"1996"},{"key":"B33","volume-title":"Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach, 3rd Edn","author":"Hayes","year":"2022"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/19312458.2016.1271116","article-title":"A tutorial on testing, visualizing, and probing an interaction involving a multicategorical variable in linear regression analysis","volume":"11","author":"Hayes","year":"2017","journal-title":"Commun. Methods Meas."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1177\/0002764219859633","article-title":"Conditional process analysis: concepts, computation, and advances in the modeling of the contingencies of mechanisms","volume":"64","author":"Hayes","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. Behav. Sci"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2016.1271900","article-title":"Exposure diversity as a design principle for recommender systems","volume":"21","author":"Helberger","year":"2018","journal-title":"Info. Commun. Soc."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1007\/s11747-014-0403-8","article-title":"A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling","volume":"43","author":"Henseler","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Acad. Mark. Sci."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/10705519909540118","article-title":"Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives","volume":"6","author":"Hu","year":"1999","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Modeling Multidiscipl. J."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-33153-9","author":"J\u00f6reskog","year":"2016","journal-title":"Multivariate Analysis with LISREL"},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-021723-063333","article-title":"Cultural psychology: beyond East and West","volume":"75","author":"Kitayama","year":"2024","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"B41","volume-title":"Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 5th Edn","author":"Kline","year":"2023"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1096","DOI":"10.2307\/2290095","article-title":"Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.), by J. Cohen","volume":"84","author":"Lachenbruch","year":"1989","journal-title":"J. Am. Stat. Assoc."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2885.2010.01360.x","article-title":"The problem of media habits","volume":"20","author":"LaRose","year":"2010","journal-title":"Commun. Theory"},{"key":"B44","volume-title":"Statistical Analysis with Missing Data, 3rd Edn","author":"Little","year":"2019"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3245","DOI":"10.31881\/TLR.2026.3245","article-title":"Empirical study on the communication effect of textile intangible cultural heritage based on digital storytelling and short video platforms","volume":"9","author":"Liu","year":"2026","journal-title":"Text. Leather Rev."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203553336","author":"Macdonald","year":"2013","journal-title":"Memorylands: Heritage and Identity in Europe Today"},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1037\/1082-989X.12.1.23","article-title":"Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation","volume":"12","author":"Maxwell","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1061\/9780784406014","article-title":"\u201cDeep foundations 2002: an international perspective on theory, design, construction, and performance,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the international deep foundations congress 2002","author":"O'Neill","year":"2002"},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1000069","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.1000069","article-title":"Exploring the multidimensional relationships between educational situation perception, teacher support, online learning engagement, and academic self-efficacy in technology-based language learning","volume":"13","author":"Pan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B50","author":"Papacharissi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Affective Publics: Sentiment, Technology, and Politics"},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-orgpsych-110721-040030","article-title":"Common method bias: it's bad, it's complex, it's widespread, and it's not easy to fix","volume":"11","author":"Podsakoff","year":"2024","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav."},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.14763\/2019.4.1425","article-title":"Platformisation","author":"Poell","year":"2019","journal-title":"Internet Policy Rev."},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.3758\/BRM.40.3.879","article-title":"Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models","volume":"40","author":"Preacher","year":"2008","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315078519","article-title":"\u201cReligion, diaspora, and cultural identity: an introduction,\u201d","author":"Pulis","year":"2014","journal-title":"Religion, Diaspora"},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.2307\/851667","article-title":"Toward the remodeling of ethnomusicology","volume":"31","author":"Rice","year":"1987","journal-title":"Ethnomusicology"},{"key":"B56","volume-title":"Bastard Culture! How User Participation Transforms Cultural Production.","author":"Sch\u00e4fer","year":"2011"},{"key":"B57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.adms.2020.10.001","article-title":"Self-efficacy and human motivation","volume":"8","author":"Schunk","year":"2021","journal-title":"Adv. Motiv. Sci."},{"key":"B58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780190666453.013.2","article-title":"\u201cSocial cognitive theory and motivation,\u201d","author":"Schunk","year":"2019","journal-title":"The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation"},{"key":"B59","author":"Smith","year":"2006"},{"key":"B60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315716404","author":"Stefano","year":"2017","journal-title":"The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage"},{"key":"B61","first-page":"55","article-title":"\u201cThe preservation paradox in digital audio,\u201d","volume-title":"Sound Souvenirs: Audio Technologies, Memory and Cultural Practices","author":"Sterne","year":"2009"},{"key":"B62","volume-title":"Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction, 2nd Edn","author":"Sutton","year":"2018"},{"key":"B63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1177\/0163443708098245","article-title":"Users like you? Theorizing agency in user-generated content","volume":"31","author":"van Dijck","year":"2009","journal-title":"Media Cult. Soc."},{"key":"B64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780190889760.001.0001","author":"Van Dijck","year":"2018","journal-title":"The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World"},{"key":"B65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1007\/s11747-015-0455-4","article-title":"Discriminant validity testing in marketing: an analysis, causes for concern, proposed remedies","volume":"44","author":"Voorhees","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Acad. Mark. Sci."},{"key":"B66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1266009","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2023.1266009","article-title":"The relationship between online learning self-efficacy, informal digital learning of English, and student engagement in online classes: the mediating role of social presence","volume":"14","author":"Wu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"B67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.2478\/amns.2023.2.00629","article-title":"Digital transmission of intangible cultural heritage based on empirical modal analysis in a multicultural perspective","volume":"9","author":"Wu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Appl. Math. Nonlinear Sci."},{"key":"B68","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"990030","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.990030","article-title":"How do aesthetics and tourist involvement influence cultural identity in heritage tourism? The mediating role of mental experience","volume":"13","author":"Yang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B69","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.31022\/OT005","volume-title":"Celestial Airs of Antiquity: Music of the Seven-String Zither of China","author":"Yung","year":"1997"},{"key":"B70","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1086\/651257","article-title":"Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: myths and truths about mediation analysis","volume":"37","author":"Zhao","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Consum. Res."},{"key":"B71","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.23977\/jsoce.2024.060418","article-title":"Research on the new path of inheritance and development of Chinese fine traditional culture in the new era","volume":"6","author":"Zhu","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Sociol. Ethnol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1896221\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T04:50:42Z","timestamp":1791348642000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1896221\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"references-count":71,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1896221"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1896221","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"article-number":"1896221"}}