Dimensions of Group Identification and Out-Group Attitudes in Four Ethnic Groups in New Zealand

Abstract

Sumner's (1906) ethnocentrism hypothesis suggested that group identification would be inversely correlated with out-group attitudes, but empirical studies have reported widely varying relations. In this research, we investigated the relationship between 3 dimensions of ethnocultural group identification and attitudes to ethnic out-groups in four New Zealand ethnic samples (Asian, Maori, Pacific Islanders, Pakeha\\European). The findings indicated that Ethnocultural Involvement and Attachment had no or little independent association with out-group attitudes, whereas Ethnocultural Evaluation (in-group attitude) was most consistently associated with out-group attitudes, but the association could be positive, negative, or zero. The pattern of in-group and out-group attitude relations seemed consistent with theories of intergroup competition, similarity-dissimilarity, or superordinate categorization.