scholarly journals Attitudes Toward Multiculturalism and Assimilation and Contact with Members of Outgroup

Author(s):  
Sheruze Osmani Ballazhi ◽  
Safet Ballazhi

Multicultural societies face the challenge of advancing intergroup relations. The group status in the society determines the presence of attitudes as well as mutual intergroup relations. The outgroup contact is one of the opportunities that assists the advancement of relations in the society.The goal of this study is to examine the differences of attitudes toward multiculturalism and assimilation in the majority and minority groups, and to which level we can predict the attitudes toward multiculturalism and assimilation based on the ethnic identity and contact with outgroup members. In this esearch, 361 youngsters are included. They are eighth and ninth grade students from five elementary schools in the city of Tetova, R. Macedonia. Of them, 166 study in Macedonian language, 195 in Albanian. To see the difference between the majority and minority group regarding the multicultural and assimilation attitude, t-test was used; for the prediction of intergroup attitudes, we used regressive analysis. The findings show that the minority group favors more multiculturalism while the majority group favors assimilation. As strong predictors of intergroup attitude, except ethnic identity, ethnic identification and outgroup contact appear as well. In order to advance the intergroup attitudes and relations as well as develop a multicultural society, the presence of outgroup members contact is important.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy R. Tavitian ◽  
Michael Bender ◽  
Fons J. R. Van de Vijver ◽  
Athanasios Chasiotis ◽  
Hrag A. Vosgerichian

How people deal with adversity, in terms of threats to their social or ethnic identity has been extensively investigated. However, most studies have focused on samples (e.g. minority groups) from prototypical Western contexts. It is unclear how individuals perceive and deal with identity threats within non-Western plural contexts characterized by intergroup conflict. We therefore assess whether self-affirmation by recalling a past success can buffer against identity threat in the plural, non-Western context of Lebanon. In two studies we investigate how threats are negotiated at a national (Lebanon) (Study 1) and ethnic minority (Armenian) level (Study 2). In Study 1, we show that in a context characterized by a history of intergroup conflict, a superordinate national identity is non-salient. When investigating the content of memories of a sectarian group in Study 2, we find a hypersalient and chronically accessible ethnic identity, a pattern specific to Armenian Lebanese. We suggest that this hyper-salience is employed as a spontaneous identity management strategy by a minority group coping with constant continuity threat. Our findings point to the importance of expanding the study of identity processes beyond the typically Western contexts and in turn, situating them within their larger socio-political and historical contexts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (06n07) ◽  
pp. 1850017 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREAS FLACHE

Polarization between groups is a major topic of contemporary societal debate and research. Formal models of opinion dynamics try to explain how intergroup polarization arises from simple first principles of social interaction. In existing models, intergroup attitudes affect social influence in the form of homophily or xenophobia, fixed tendencies of individuals to be more open to influence from ingroup members or distance themselves from attitudes of outgroup members. These models generate polarization between groups, but they neglect a central insight from empirical research. Intergroup attitudes are themselves subject to social influence in interactions with both in- and outgroup members. A model is proposed in which the attitude which is subject to social influence is also an intergroup attitude. It affects in turn the influence process itself. Furthermore, it is shown how this changes model predictions about process and conditions of polarization between groups. More complex patterns of intergroup relations emerge than in a model with fixed xenophobia. Especially, a renegade minority (‘outgroup lovers’) is found to have a key role in avoiding mutually negative intergroup relations and even elicit reversed polarization, resulting in a majority of individuals developing a negative attitude towards their ingroup and a positive one for the outgroup.


Author(s):  
Teuku Kemal Fasya

This study examines the understanding of the concept of diversity (pluralism and multiculturalism) in the city of Banda Aceh; the capital city of Aceh Province which is now more than 800 years old. Can the city be classified as a diversity-friendly city as it is embedded for Pematang Siantar, Manado, Kupang, or Bali, which are among the most diversity friendly regions and are tolerant to other religions and beliefs? This study adopts socio-qualitative with an ethnographic approach to present arguments about the diversity in the city of Banda Aceh. The analytical instrument seeks to empathize with Banda Aceh's value of inductivity, as well as its "particularistic" dimension so that it can be understood emphatically. This article seeks to test the hypothesis of whether or not Banda Aceh City government has sufficiently promoted the culture of minority groups, not only protecting them from violence and granting the right to live and do business. By using observation and in-depth interview techniques, this paper also shows the enigmatic side of minority groups, including the exclusion of “subaltern” groups: the weakest minority and can be called the minority of the minorities. The most apparant of this minority group is the Chinese gets a wider portion of the discussion, compared to other minorities. This is because of the complexity that this community enjoys which shapes their lives with other minority groups and builds the concept of encounters with local communities in Banda Aceh. The diversity values of this city experienced a dynamic change. In the last fifteen years, the diversity was best promoted in the city of Banda Aceh during the governance period of Mawardy Nurdin who served as mayor of Banda Aceh from 2007-2014.


1976 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 905-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman I. Fainstein ◽  
Susan S. Fainstein

The nature of community control ideology, its relation to more general political consciousness, and its social correlates are explored. The primary data are drawn from two main sources: a survey of the attitudes of 362 civic and political leaders in seven districts of New York City conducted in 1972 using a combination of structural and reputational indicators to identify the sample; and intensive participant observation in three of these districts during 1973–74, along with 175 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals in district-level voluntary organizations, interest groups, political parties, poverty boards and agencies, and “street-level” bureaucratic roles.Both quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest that the great majority of leaders subscribes to a democratic rather than a race-conflict rationale for community control, but that there is a strong independent relationship between minority group status and operational support for community control. Possible explanations for this finding include the present interests of minority groups in American cities, the functional inadequacies of the political party structure, and the developmental history of the civil rights movement and its ideology. The relationship between race and community control may fade, however, if community control ceases to be a useful vehicle for advancing the interests of minority groups. One crucial determinant will be the identifications and beliefs of minority group members who are recruited into urban bureaucracies. Another is whether experience with decentralized city agencies indicates that movement toward increased community involvement in government leads, in fact, to enhanced power and patronage for minorities. The data point to a continuing attachment to the community control ideology but also a recasting of it in a more qualifiéd and complex form.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1937-1962
Author(s):  
Mauricio Palmeira ◽  
Shahin Sharifi

Purpose This paper aims to investigate consumer reactions to minority retail employees. The paper argues that despite the persistence of racism and homophobia in society, the vast majority of the population is strongly against these forms of discrimination. Because of the profound negativity of such behavior, the study hypothesizes that consumers will be motivated to see themselves unequivocally as individuals free of prejudice. As a result, rather than treating all people equally, the study proposes that consumers will overcompensate and exhibit favoritism toward a retail employee when the latter is a member of a minority group. Design/methodology/approach This study presents ten studies in which participants evaluated employees who were a member of a minority or majority group. Studies 1a–1d use sexual orientation to contrast reactions to majority or minority bank managers in four countries (USÀ, Germany, Italy and South Korea), whereas Studies 1e and 1f use ethnicity (White vs Black) to examine the same question (UK and Canada). Study 1g offers a single-paper meta-analysis, testing the robustness of the observed effect. Studies 2 and 3 examine the roles of political ideology and its associated values, and Study 4 examines choice of an advisor in an online, but consequential setting. Findings Across several contexts and countries, the study finds a consistent pro-minority bias in evaluations of service employees. The study show that, in the USA, this bias is prevalent among liberals, but not among conservatives. This difference in the impact of political ideology is explained by adherence to traditionalism. Research limitations/implications This paper investigates consumer reactions to gays and Blacks and do not test for consumer reactions to other minority groups. Regarding employees’ sexual orientation, the findings of this study are limited to gay men only. Practical implications To elicit favorable evaluations from customers, managers may consider the match between employees’ sexual orientation or ethnicity and consumers’ liberal beliefs. In particular, managers may want to hire people from those minority groups in areas known for their liberal values. On the other hand, the findings suggest that managers should not worry about their new recruits’ sexual orientation and ethnicity in conservative areas, because the results suggest that conservatives show no favoritism toward employees in response to their group status. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first paper in marketing investigating consumer reactions to employees who belong to minority groups. The study reports a pro-minority bias that holds across samples and countries, thereby attesting to the population validity of the hypotheses. Further, the study identifies boundary conditions of the effect of employees’ group status by identifying managerially relevant moderators (i.e. political ideology and traditionalism).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
A.M. Dawd ◽  
F.Y.K. Oumar ◽  
C.S. Cukur

Objectives. Developing a comprehensive model to understand intergroup relationship through integrating two constructs usually used to be examined discretely; self-stereotyping and stereotyping. Background. Today’s understanding of intergroup behavior is firmly grounded in concepts related to stereotypes. In literature, apparently, there are, two dominant approaches in studying stereotype’s effect on intergroup relations. The first approach focuses on the effect of dominant group’s stereotype on intergroup relation, while the second approach focuses on studying the impacts of self stereotyping on victims. Furthermore, minority groups’ self-sterotyping is considered to be derived from the dominant groups’ stereotype. As a result, the prevailing approaches are insensitive to the dynamics in self-stereotype and its implication to the intergroup relationship. In this article, it is claimed that the etiology of intergroup behavior could be better understood by considering a mutually interacting groups’ perspective. Methodology. Systematic approach of reviewing the prevailing literature pertaining to stereotyping and self-stereotyping and integrative analysis method to develop new perspective. Conclusion. Intergroup relation involves the interaction of two or more groups each of them having stereotypes regarding their own group and outgroup. Thus, in this paper, we argued that, the etiology of intergroup behavior cannot be adequately understood without employing the belief system of mutually interacting groups. Hence, we integrated self-stereotyping and other’s stereotypes and the behaviors that emerge during intergroup relations is predicted using the dynamics in the content/valence of minority group members’ self-stereotyping simultaneously with the dominant groups’ stereotype. The integration of these two approaches appears to offer the most adequate explanation for the complex nature of intergroup behavior.


2021 ◽  
pp. e021024
Author(s):  
Olga Baykova ◽  
Olga Obukhova ◽  
Yulia Berezina ◽  
Galina Porchesku ◽  
Natalia Kryukova

The article aims at identifying the attributes of ethnic identity and ethnic concepts of minority groups living in the territory of the Russian Federation, in particular, the Russian Germans living in the city of Glazov and the Vyatka-Kama region. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to understand and to study the shared characteristics of the ethnic identity of the German ethnic group: national self-awareness, preservation and revival of the ethnic culture and traditions, language preservation. The materials of the research are the tape recordings of unprepared German and Russian speech which were made during dialectological and ethnographic expeditions to Glazov. The speech of three informants is analyzed in the study. Nine main parameters of the ethnic identity are examined in relation to the Russian Germans of Glazov: common history, common territory, religion, living environment, family background, folklore, behavior standards, mentality of the ethnic group, and the common language. The language is described in more detail in the study. The results of the study suggest that the ethnic identity of the Russian Germans in question is a changing dynamic category. In our opinion, the language is the most important consolidating factor of the cultural integrity of an ethnic group, an instrument for sharing culturally important information and experience; so it is one of the core parameters of ethnic identity of the Russian Germans living in Glazov. This article will be of interest to researchers in the field of German dialectology and German speech islands.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pyong Gap Min

Approximately 1.8 million Koreans are settled in China and some 700,000 Koreans are located in Japan. The Korean minorities in two neighboring Asian countries make an interesting contrast in adjustment and ethnicity. Whereas the Koreans in China have maintained high levels of ethnic autonomy and positive ethnic identity, the Korean Japanese have lost much of their cultural repertoire and have suffered from negative ethnic identity. This paper provides a comparative analysis, explaining why the Koreans in two countries have made the different adjustments. It focuses on the basic differences in minority policy between China and Japan, the difference in the context of migration, the existence or absence of a territorial base, and the differential levels of influence from Korea. This comparative analysis is theoretically valuable because it has demonstrated that the physical and cultural differences between the majority group and a minority group are not necessary conditions for prejudice and discrimination against the minority group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göksu Celikkol ◽  
Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti ◽  
Tuuli Anna Renvik ◽  
Raivo Vetik ◽  
David Lackland Sam

Purpose: By utilizing data from Estonia, Finland, and Norway, this study explores how the perceptions of personal and group realistic threats, namely perceived ethnic discrimination and economic insecurity among national majorities, predict their unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of Russian-speaking minority groups.Background: Previous research on collective action to promote minorities’ rights and social standing has focused either on minorities’ own actions or factors promoting the willingness of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minorities. In contrast, factors explaining the reluctance of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minority groups have remained less explored. For example, studies have then ignored that the majority members may also feel threatened and may be economically insecure. Furthermore, the possible discrepancy between perceived personal vs. in-group’s situation may influence majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of a minority group.Method: We employed polynomial regression with response surface analysis to analyze data gathered among national majority members in three countries (N = 1,341).Results: Perceived personal and group realistic threats were associated with heightened unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of the Russian-speaking minority. Furthermore, participants were more unwilling to confront injustice when they perceived more group than personal threat.Conclusion: We found that majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of the minority is related to how secure they perceive their own and their group status. Our results contribute to previous research by pointing out the important drawbacks of majorities’ support for minorities’ wish for social change.


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