Dienst van SURF
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We focus in the current study on associations between personality, multicultural attitudes, and perceived ethnic outgroup distance in the Netherlands. Data were collected among four different ethnic groups (from low to high in terms of ethnic hierarchy): Turkish/Moroccan-Dutch, Antillean/Surinamese-Dutch, Mixed Western immigrants, and Dutch majority group members. We found support for a mediation model in which in all groups multicultural attitudes mediate the relation between personality traits, education level, and age as antecedents, and outgroup distance as outcome; age was the only antecedent that also had a direct effect on outcome. Education was positively related to multiculturalism in the groups high in the hierarchy and unrelated in the groups low in the hierarchy. The association between multicultural attitudes and outgroup distance was negative and stronger for the groups higher in the ethnic hierarchy; hierarchy was unrelated to outgroup distance. Groups higher in the hierarchy scored lower on multicultural attitudes. It was concluded that multicultural attitudes and outgroup distance are important for understanding intergroup dynamics in ethnically diverse societies.
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Intergroup contexts of classrooms have an influence on mainstream and ethnic belonging of youth of immigrant descent. Based on the normative reference group theory, a higher level of ethic identification is expected in classrooms with a higher proportion of co-ethnic youth and, based on constrict theory, a lower level of mainstream identification is expected in ethnically more diverse classrooms. However, these relations between ethnic composition and cultural belonging may differ between countries due to differences in multicultural policies and colonial histories. Using two waves of data from CILS4EU survey, we conduct a cross-national comparison of the relation between intergroup contexts of classrooms and cultural belonging. The results imply that both theories cannot be generalized across national contexts, and other factors vary as well across countries. Therefore, research and policy in this area should pay more attention to the national context in terms of policies and histories.