Multiculturalism and group status: The role of ethnic identification, group essentialism and protestant ethic

Abstract

The present research, which was conducted among ethnic minority (N ¼ 109) and majority (N ¼ 649) adolescents in the Netherlands, examined the endorsement of multiculturalism in relation to ethnic ingroup identification, perceived group essentialism and protestant ethic ideology. The results revealed that ethnic minorities were more in favour of multiculturalism than Dutch participants. Furthermore, ethnic identification, group essentialism and protestant ethic were independently related to multiculturalism. However, these relations were all moderated by ethnic group status. High ethnic identification, essentialist beliefs about minority groups, and protestant ethic were related to lower endorsement of multiculturalism among the majority group. In contrast, high ethnic identification and essentialist beliefs about one's own ethnic minority group were related to stronger endorsement of multiculturalism among the minority groups, but not protestant ethic. Perceived essentialism of the majority group showed no effects. It is concluded that social psychology is able to make a valuable contribution to issues related to the management of cultural diversity.

Migration and Multiculturalism

“…The perception of essentialized migrant groups is thus threatening for majority groups, while it backs claims for recognition and social change among minority groups. A similar pattern of results was evidenced in a study on ingroup identification, showing that the more migrants identified with their group, the more they supported multiculturalism, while higher ingroup identification by majority members led to opposition to multiculturalism (Verkuyten & Brug, 2004;Verkuyten, 2005b). These findings suggest that ingroup identification by minority groups is associated with identity affirmation and the support of group-differentiated policies.…”

“…Support for multiculturalism has also been examined as a function of perceived essentialism of migrant groups. Verkuyten and Brug (2004) showed that greater perceived essentialism of migrant groups reduced the support for multiculturalism among majority groups, while the opposite was true for minority groups: The more they perceived migrant groups as authentic and permanently different from majority groups, the more they supported multiculturalism. The perception of essentialized migrant groups is thus threatening for majority groups, while it backs claims for recognition and social change among minority groups.…”

Multiculturalisms: An overview of multicultural debates in western societies

“…In contrast, majority group members generally prefer that the minority be assimilated (Zagefka et al, 2007). The more the majority group members identify with their in-group, the more they can be expected to try to protect their group interests and status (Verkuyten & Brug, 2004). Older, less educated people and extrinsic believers -characterized by an instrumental approach to religion -generally show less favourable attitudes towards cultural diversity.…”

Multiculturalisms

“…In contrast, majority group members generally prefer that the minority be assimilated (Zagefka et al, 2007). The more the majority group members identify with their in-group, the more they can be expected to try to protect their group interests and status (Verkuyten and Brug, 2004). Older, less educated people and extrinsic believers -characterized by an instrumental approach to religion -generally show less favourable attitudes towards cultural diversity.…”