Ethnocultural identification and naturally occurring interethnic social interactions: Muslim minorities in Europe

Abstract

This study examined relationships between ethnic identification and ethnic minority members' interactions with majority group members. Members of Muslim minority groups, ethnic Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands and Chechens in Poland, described the social interactions they had for two weeks using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record (RIR). They also completed measures of ethnocultural identification that distinguished involvement with and attachment to their ethnic minority culture and to the majority culture. Relationships between ethnic identification and contact with the majority group varied as a function of the dimension and source of identification and the aspect of interaction (quantity or quality) being considered. Across the samples, involvement with the ethnic minority culture was negatively related to the quantity of contact with majority group members, whereas emotional attachment to the majority culture was positively related to the quality of interactions with majority group members. Attachment to the ethnic minority culture was not related to either the quantity of interaction with majority group members or to the quality of these interactions. These results suggest that when studying interethnic contact, it is important to distinguish different dimensions and sources of ethnic identification and different aspects of interethnic contact.

Do “they” threaten “us” or do “we” disrespect “them”: Majority perceptions of intergroup relations and everyday contacts with immigrant minorities

“…The relationship between the quality of intergroup contact and perceptions of intergroup relations may best be thought of as bidirectional. On the one hand, the idea that majority members' perceptions of intergroup relations shape contact experiences fits well with the logic of multilevel analyses-often, higher order measures are assumed to be causes of lower order measures (Schaafsma, Nezlek, Krejtz, & Safron, 2010). It is also consistent with the theoretical notion that ideas about intergroup relations impact majority members' intergroup behavior (cf.…”

Cross‐cultural differences in emotion suppression in everyday interactions

“…The length of stay of Chinese participants in the Netherlands varied from 7 months to 3.7 years ( M year = 1.69, SD = 1.11). In terms of their cultural identification (assessed with an adjusted version of the Psychological Acculturation Scale, Schaafsma, Nezlek, Krejtz, & Safron, ), Moluccans and Chinese identified more strongly with their culture of origin ( M = 5.33, SD = .94 and M = 4.07, SD = 1.04, respectively) than with Dutch culture ( M = 4.57, SD = .92 and M = 5.86, SD = .1.03, respectively), t s > 17.08, p s < .001.…”

Exclusion, intergroup hostility, and religious fundamentalism

“…There is also evidence that ethnic minorities feel less and less accepted in the Netherlands and tend to withdraw into their own ethnic groups (e.g., Gijsberts & Dagevos, 2005;Vermeulen & Penninx, 2000). For example, the frequency of social contacts between Turkish and Moroccan minorities and native Dutch has been declining over the past few years (e.g., Gijsberts & Dagevos, 2005) and daily diary data show that Muslim minorities feel less accepted during interactions in which a Dutch majority group member is present than during intraethnic interactions (Schaafsma, Nezlek, Krejtz, & Safron, 2010). In the past few years, an increasing number of Moroccan-and Turkish-origin adolescents also appear to have become more susceptible to the call of orthodox Islam (e.g., Buijs et al, 2006;Slootman & Tillie, 2006).…”