Abstract
In Croatia, four minority groups practice their right to education in their respective mother tongues. Relations between the majority and minority groups in the four multiethnic communities have developed under different historical circumstances. Thus, in some regions the different language of the minority and the majority group can be perceived as a threat to identity and result in intergroup prejudice and discrimination, whereas in others it might not. In this study, we wanted to examine: (a) the mediating effect of perceived threat on the relationship between in-group identification and intergroup orientation, (b) whether those relationships are moderated by the group status, and (c) contextual specificities, that is, we wanted to test the model in four different contexts. Results showed that ethnonationalism (rather than ethnic identity) is detrimental for intergroup relations, partially due to its connection to the perception of the out-group as a threat. Model tests in different contexts revealed some contextual differences.
Highlights
Ethnic diversity and multilingualism become norms in modern societies (Chun, 2016; Darvin & Norton, 2017)
Drawing on SIT and ITT perspectives in the context of minority education in Croatia, we looked at the mediating effect of symbolic threat and intergroup anxiety in the relationship between in-group identification, and negative and positive out-group orientation
We argue that introducing both measures of ethnic identification and ethnonationalism simultaneously would separate their unique contribution to intergroup behaviour, and that ethnic identification might even be associated with positive out-group outcome via lesser perception of symbolic threat and intergroup anxiety
Summary
Ethnic diversity and multilingualism become norms in modern societies (Chun, 2016; Darvin & Norton, 2017). We look at the role of perceived threat on the relationship between in-group identification and indicators of intergroup relations in four multi-ethnic communities in Croatia where minority groups practice education in their mother tongues. Recent studies show that language or even accent can be a source of prejudice and discrimination (Hansen & Dovidio, 2016; Hansen et al, 2014) Whether such negative outcomes will take place in a specific community probably depends on the strength and type of own group ethnolinguistic identification. A meta-analysis showed that in-group identification was more strongly related with the perception of symbolic than to realistic threat (Riek et al, 2006) This finding was supported in post-conflict settings of Croatia corroborating symbolic threat as an important correlate of the in-group identification (Löw Stanić, 2014). In each of the regions a single minority has been more concentrated than others: in Vukovar these are Serbs (15.5% vs. 80.2 % of Croats), in Istria Italians (6.03% vs. 83.82% of Croats), in Osijek region Hungarians (2.7% vs. 87% of Croats), and in Daruvar region Czechs (5.25% vs. 86.82% of Croats)
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