Skin-tone discrimination by Whites and Africans is associated with the acculturation of African immigrants in Norway.

Jonas R Kunst,Esther N Phillibert

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209084

Jonas R Kunst, Esther N Phillibert

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209084

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Dec 13, 2018
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Oslo, Yale University

Abstract

It is well-established that experiences of discrimination influence immigrants’ acculturation. Yet, whereas a large body of research has demonstrated the role of discrimination by members of the dominant societal group, surprisingly little is known about how being discriminated by members of one’s own group relates to the way immigrants acculturate. With a sample of 162 African first- and second-generation immigrants living in Norway, the present research investigated the relationship between both types of discrimination, acculturation and psychological well-being. It did so, focusing on discrimination based on one’s skin tone, a type of discrimination Africans can experience from White as well as African individuals. Results showed that skin-tone discrimination by Whites was associated with a lower host culture orientation. By contrast, skin-tone discrimination by Africans was associated with a lower heritage culture orientation. Mediation analyses showed that the positive relationship of skin-tone discrimination by Whites and Africans with life satisfaction was mediated by a lower host and heritage culture orientation respectively. This indirect relationship did not reach significance with self-esteem as dependent variable. Participants’ actual skin tone was unrelated to experiences of skin-tone discrimination. We discuss our results in light of previous research and highlight potential limitations.

Highlights

When immigrants move from one cultural sphere to another, they face the question of how they want to relate to their heritage culture they moved from, and the culture of the host country they moved to [1,2,3]
We did so with a sample of African immigrants living in Norway and focused on discrimination based on one’s skin tone, which is a form of discrimination Africans can experience from both groups
Whereas previous research has shown that discrimination by members of the dominant societal group affects how immigrants acculturate, there is a lack of research on the additional role that discrimination from one’s own ethnic group may play

Summary

Introduction

When immigrants move from one cultural sphere to another, they face the question of how they want to relate to their heritage culture they moved from, and the culture of the host country they moved to [1,2,3]. One of the most established factors predicting immigrants’ acculturation is the experience of discrimination from members of the dominant societal group, typically predicting less involvement in the host culture [4, 5, 8]. Skin-tone discrimination and acculturation of African immigrants dominant societal group and of members from their own ethnic groups [9]. Because this has received little attention in previous research, we in this study investigated how discrimination by the dominant societal group as well as by member of one’s own broader ethnic group relate to immigrants’ acculturation orientations and psychological well-being. We did so with a sample of African immigrants living in Norway and focused on discrimination based on one’s skin tone, which is a form of discrimination Africans can experience from both groups

Methods

Results

Conclusion