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Testing the Multiculturalism Hypothesis: Perceived Threat and
Cultural Ideologies as Predictors of Attitudes toward Ethnic Out-groups in a
Plural Society
Colleen Ward, Malia Tatafu, Adrienne Girling and Jessie Wilson
Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research
Victoria University of Wellington
At the core of Berry’s multiculturalism hypothesis is the notion that
confidence and security, including economic and cultural security, lead to greater
acceptance and intergroup respect (Berry, Kalin, & Taylor, 1977). Acceptance in
these terms generally includes endorsement of cultural ideologies that reflect
valuing of diversity and equity across ethno-cultural groups, as well as
decrements in prejudice and discrimination. Conversely, perceived threat to
identity or “place” in society results in hostility towards and rejection of
threatening out-groups. While there is an abundance of research that examines
the positive and negative impacts of security and threat on intercultural
perceptions and relations, there are limited studies undertaken from the
perspective of non-dominant groups. The Mutual Intercultural Relations in
Plural Societies (MIRIPS) Project aims to address this gap by investigating
multiple perspectives across a range of ethnic groups to gain a more
comprehensive understanding of intercultural relations in culturally plural
societies.
Based in New Zealand, this study examines attitudes held by a nondominant immigrant group (Tongans) toward the country’s two charter groups:
New Zealand Europeans (Palagi) and Maori, the indigenous peoples. Relations
between Maori and their British colonizers have a chequered history of war,
peace, cultural assimilation and renaissance, and although the 1840 Treaty of
Waitangi laid the groundwork for a bicultural partnership between these two
groups, the symbolic status and recognition accorded to Maori have not
effectively addressed their social and economic disadvantage. Nevertheless,
newer immigrant groups sometimes fail to understand not only the position of
Maori as the country’s indigenous peoples, but also the meaning and significance
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of the country’s bicultural foundation; consequently, they may feel that their
place in the evolving multicultural nation is ill-defined and insecure.
Against this social, historical and political background we examine threat
and cultural ideologies as predictors of attitudes toward ethnic out-groups. We
focus on the attitudes towards Maori and New Zealand Europeans (Palagi) as
held by Tongans, a group of Pacific Island immigrants who compose less than 2%
of the New Zealand population. More specifically, we investigated out-group
target (Maori/Palagi), threat and cultural ideologies (bicultural and
multicultural) as predictors of out-group attitudes. Drawing on theory and
research relative deprivation and testing the multiculturalism hypothesis, we
hypothesized that: 1) attitudes toward Palagi, the more powerful, advantaged
ethnic group, would be more negative than attitudes toward Maori; 2) threat
would negatively predict out-group attitudes; and 3) bicultural and multicultural
ideologies would positively predict out-group attitudes. We also expected that
these main effects would be qualified by significant interactions so that: 1)
bicultural ideology would buffer the negative effects of threat on attitudes
toward Maori, but not Palagi. Finally, we posed a research question: Does the
influence of multicultural ideology on attitudes toward ethnic out-groups vary as
a function of target or target by threat interactions?
Two hundred and twenty-four New Zealand Tongans completed a survey
that assessed bicultural and multicultural ideologies, threat and out-group
attitudes towards either Maori or Palagi. Hierarchical regression analyses were
conducted to predict out-group attitudes with separate equations for bicultural
and multicultural ideologies. The analyses revealed that there were no
significant differences in attitudes toward Maori and Palagi; however, there was
a significant interaction between threat and target, which demonstrated that the
negative relationship between threat and out-group attitudes was stronger for
Maori than Palagi targets. Furthermore, there was a significant 3-way interaction
that indicated that bicultural ideology was associated with more positive
attitudes toward Maori and was unrelated to attitudes toward Palagi, but only
under conditions of high perceived threat. Finally, multicultural ideology
predicted positive attitudes toward ethnic out-groups; however, an interaction
effect indicated that this trend was limited to attitudes toward Palagi.
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The findings are generally in line with the multicultural hypothesis and
demonstrate that cultural ideologies affect attitudes toward out-groups and can
buffer the negative effects of threat. However, in the New Zealand context, the
type of cultural ideologies, whether bicultural or multicultural, can have groupspecific effects. The findings are interpreted in relation to Berry’s (2013)
theorizing on acculturation and intercultural relations, and their extension and
relevance to the international context are considered.
References:
Berry, J. W. (2013). Research on multiculturalism in Canada. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37, 663-675.
Berry, J. W., Kalin, R., & Taylor, D. (1977). Multiculturalism and ethnic attitudes in
Canada. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services.