1. How do we form impressions of people?
- Author
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Kashima, Emiko S, Ruby, Matthew, and Virgona, Ariane
- Subjects
Social Psychology ,polyculturalism ,acceptingattitudes ,groups ,australia ,socialidentity ,multiculturalism ,ethniclabels ,Social and Behavioral Sciences ,FOS: Psychology ,primes ,socialidentitytheory ,groupy ,groupness ,Psychology ,belonging ,selfcategorisationtheory ,entitativity - Abstract
Research on the link between Covid-19, stigmatisation and prejudice has shown that group categorisation, ingroup identification, and consequentially outgroup prejudice has risen (Roberto et al., 2020), which is aggravating the already groupist view of culture embedded in modern-day Australia (Mansouri & Modood, 2021). Therefore, as the number of individuals residing in Australia are born overseas and have mixed identities (bicultural or multicultural; Benet, 2012), it is worth questioning how multiculturalism alone can continue to foster and elevate positive intergroup relations (see Whitely & Webster, 2019 for meta-analysis). Multiculturalism, views cultural groups as static and fixed, focusing upon groupness and group essentialism (Rosenthal & Levy, 2010; Ryan et al., 2007). Multiculturalism is highly endorsed in Australia (85% say Multiculturalism has been good for Australia; The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, 2019, p. 67) due to its emphasis on integration (Elias & Mansouri, 2020; Elias et al., 2020) and its deemphasis on hierarchical relations between majority and minority groups (Dandy & Pe-Pua, 2010). A novel cultural ideology, polyculturalism, that views cultures as interconnected and encourages individuals to see cultures as mutually influencing each other over time (Kelley, 1999; Prashad, 2001; Rosenthal & Levy, 2010), may provide support to multiculturalism in increasing meaningful two-way exchange. Polyculturalism focuses on what is commonly shared amongst people and cultural groups through the emphases on fluid cultural boundaries (Prashad, 2001). Research on the effects of polyculturalism has been found to be most effective in countries where intercultural contact is commonplace (Bernardo et al., 2013). Generally, polyculturalism focuses on interconnectedness to a greater degree than multiculturalism (Rosenthal et al., 2015) and has been associated with increased quality intergroup contacts (Bernardo et al., 2013; Rosenthal et al., 2016; Virgona & Kashima, 2021), reduced prejudice towards marginalized groups (Australian studies; Healy et al., 2017, Pedersen et al., 2015; Rosenthal et al., 2015), flourishing outcomes (Virgona & Kashima, 2021) and intercultural mixing with foreign cultures (Cho et al., 2017; Cho et al., 2018; Rosenthal et al., 2019), due to its association with increased reflexivity (Rosenthal et al., 2012). The social psychology approach to groups suggests that as humans aim to impose order on the external environment through categorisation, individuals form their self-identity through group membership and belong to many different groups from which they draw resources (Hogg & Abrams, 1988). The knowledge of belonging to specific social group or groups, usually accompanied by emotional and value significance placed upon group membership, is the foundation of Social Identity Theory (SIT; Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Intercultural ideologies, such as multiculturalism and polyculturalism, profoundly influence the process of group membership through providing norms on how to categorise diverse others and are integral to social identity formation. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying how this categorisation of diverse others occurs has not been explored to date. The present study aims to understand how group categorisation differs between polyculturalism and multiculturalism (e.g., to what degree are ethnic descriptors used, and how much do people focus on similarities vs. differences?). It will investigate how polyculturalism could potentially assist with reducing out-group ethnic prejudice.
- Published
- 2022
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