The impact of ethnic affirmation and belonging on other-group orientation: The mediating role of personality traits and values in different ethnic groups

Abstract

This study aimed to test multiple roles of personality traits and values on the relationship between ethnic affirmation and belonging (EAAB) and other-group orientation (OGO). This study included 1047 participants from an ethnic minority area in southwest China. The results showed that EAAB was positively associated with OGO in both majority and minority groups. However, the relationship of EAAB and OGO was mediated by different mechanisms in majority compared to minority groups. In the majority ethnic group, self-transcendence and self-enhancement values, and agreeableness, partially mediated the relationship, where OGO was positively correlated with agreeableness and self-transcendence values and negatively correlated with self-enhancement values. In the minority ethnic group, conservation values and extraversion partially mediated the relationship, where OGO was positively correlated with extraversion and conservation values. Different mediating mechanisms suggest that future studies on motivational forces (values) of intergroup contact attitudes should consider factors of ecological and cultural diversity.