Framing interethnic ideology: Effects of multicultural and color-blind perspectives on judgments of groups and individuals.

Abstract

In 3 experiments, White American college students received a message advocating either a color-blind or a multicultural ideological approach to improving interethnic relations and then made judgments about various ethnic groups and individuals. Relative to a color-blind perspective, the multicultural perspective led to sU'onger stereotypes, greater accuracy in these stereotypes, and greater use of category information in judgments of individuals. This increase in between-category differentiation occurrexi both for attributes that favored the in-group and for attributes that favored the out-group and was also paired in some cases with greater overall positivity toward the out-group. The findings lead us to question the implicit assumption driving the majority of social psychological efforts at prejudice reduction: that the categorization process leads to prejudice, and that the relevance of social categories must therefore be de-emphasized. The historical idea of a unifying American identity is now in peril .... Instead of a transformative nation with an identity all its own, America in this new light is seen as preservative of diverse alien identifies .... The multiethnic dogma abandons historical purpose, replacing assimilation by fragmentation, integration by separatism. It belittles unum and glorifies pluribus .... One wonders: Will the center hold? Or will the melting pot give way to the Tower of Babel. (Schlesinger, 1992, pp. 16-18) Ethnic lines will not disappear in the foreseeable future. In many parts of the world strong forces are drawing those lines more sharply. Ethnic groups in conflict mutually reinforce their antagonistic identifies. In the midst of collapsing states and empires, old dreams of their own nation-state become vivid for many long-suffering ethnic minorities. In less conflictual settings, the continuing need for a more personal identity in a culturally complex and rapidly changing world persists .... At this period in history, it is not a matter of assimilation versus ethnicity, but of assimilation and ethnicity.

The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]

“…More specifically, the other major contribution of the present research is in showing that not all cultural worldviews are equally impactful in a given setting. The rationale behind our propositions in this regard comes from an analysis of 15 years of research using the experimental paradigm developed by Wolsko, Park, Judd, andWittenbrink (2000, see Sasaki &Vorauer, 2013 for a review). Wolsko et al (2000) were the first to suggest that one could study the effect of broad cultural ideologies on cognition and behaviors in the laboratory setting.…”

“…The rationale behind our propositions in this regard comes from an analysis of 15 years of research using the experimental paradigm developed by Wolsko, Park, Judd, andWittenbrink (2000, see Sasaki &Vorauer, 2013 for a review). Wolsko et al (2000) were the first to suggest that one could study the effect of broad cultural ideologies on cognition and behaviors in the laboratory setting. In their paradigm, participants are randomly allocated to a condition stressing the value of multiculturalism or colorblindness in the management of intergroup relations.…”

Political Tolerance and Prejudice: Differential Reactions Toward Muslims in the Netherlands

“…In a study conducted in the Netherlands, Verkuyten (2005) found that the more Dutch participants endorsed the idea of multicultural recognition, the more likely they were to evaluate the Muslim Turkish out-group positively. Some experimental studies have further shown a causal positive effect of multiculturalism on automatic and explicit forms of racial attitudes (e.g., Richeson & Nussbaum, 2004;Wolsko, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2000). Furthermore, in the context of New Zealand, Ward and Masgoret (2006) found that the endorsement of multicultural recognition was associated with decreased perceptions of group threat, which in turn led to more positive attitudes toward immigrants.…”

“…Individuals who endorse multiculturalism appear to feel less threatened by minority groups and multicultural ideology involves the acceptance of diversity and equal opportunities. Multiculturalism can provide and promote positive evaluative contexts (Hogan & Mallott, 2005;Wolsko et al, 2000). However, multicultural interventions should be sensitive to the danger that they can lead to reified and essentialist group distinctions that promote group stereotyping and that endangers social unity and cohesion in particular settings (e.g., Verkuyten, 2006;Vogt, 1997).…”

Ingroup Identification Increases Differentiation in Response to Egalitarian Ingroup Norm under Distinctiveness Threat

“…Discriminatory) design. Each questionnaire contained a measure of ingroup identification, the manipulation of ingroup norm and intergroup similarity, and a representativeness estimate task (see below; see also Wolsko, Park, Judd & Wittenbrink, 2000). The questionnaire also contained manipulation-checking questions.…”