Majority Members Research Articles

Living together: An integrated acculturation–contact strategy to promote ethnic harmony between young British Muslims and Anglo-Britons

Acculturation theorists have proposed that minority and majority members’ endorsement of the cultural integration orientation should positively impact their mutual intergroup relations. To examine this claim, the study develops and experimentally tests a vicarious intercultural contact strategy designed to promote integration endorsement among a sample of 379 British youths (aged between 18 and 21 years), of whom 172 were British Muslims and 207 were White British. In line with theoretical expectations, results revealed that integration attained through vicarious contact, relative to a control condition, reduced respondents’ negative emotions, increased their positive emotions and inclusion of the other in the self (IOS), and improved their outgroup attitudes. These effects were only present in the Muslim group. Integration effects on outgroup attitude outcomes were mediated by intergroup emotions and IOS. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Politeness in Parliamentary Discourse: An Analysis of the Hansard of the Parliament of Ghana

This study investigates politeness in parliamentary discourse in Ghana. Using politeness theory as framework and the parliamentary Hansard as source of data, the study examines the politeness strategies employed by parliamentary actors, the implications of the frequency of the usage of the politeness strategies, and how the Standing Orders of Parliament determine the choice of a politeness strategy. Findings of the study show that political actors in the Parliament of Ghana use the bald on-record, the positive, the negative and the off-record politeness strategies in varied proportions. The study further reveals that the negative politeness strategy is the most frequently used politeness strategy with the Speaker being the highest user of the negative and the bald on-record politeness strategies. Again, the study found out that the off-record politeness strategy is the least used strategy. The Majority Members in Parliament use the highest frequency of the positive politeness strategies while the Minority Members of Parliament employ more negative politeness strategies. The study concludes that parliamentary discourse in Ghana employs more of the direct explicit polite expressions than the indirect implicit expressions of politeness. The study recommends that researchers should pay critical attention to the politeness phenomenon in parliamentary discourse.

Supplemental Material for Majority Members Misperceive Even “Win-Win” Diversity Policies as Unbeneficial to Them

Supplemental Material for Majority Members Misperceive Even “Win-Win” Diversity Policies as Unbeneficial to Them

Ethnic Stereotype Formation and Its Impact on Sojourner Adaptation: A Case of "Belt and Road" Chinese Migrant Workers in Montenegro.

Ethnic stereotypes are cognitive markers that are formed and modified because of intercultural contact with a new cultural group. There is now much empirical evidence that explicates how stereotypes of ethnic groups can impact individuals’ acculturation experiences. However, what is unknown is how previously nonexistent ethnic beliefs are formed as a result of contact with the local culture. One hundred and seventy-four (N = 174) overseas Chinese construction workers were contacted through the Chinese Consulate in Montenegro and agreed to participate in the present study. The online questionnaire asked workers to describe Montenegrin majority members in terms of five characteristics. These traits formed the stereotype markers that were classified as positive, neutral, or negative. Sojourners also answered questions that measured perceived cultural distance, social exclusion, knowledge of Montenegrin culture, feelings of social exclusion, and their sociocultural adaptation. Results show that both positive and negative stereotypes are correlated with less social exclusion and better socio-cultural adaptation. Perceived cultural distance, knowledge of host culture and length of stay was mediated by stereotypes on adaptation outcomes. Interestingly longer sojourn did not lessen the type of stereotype, nor did it reduce cultural distance. Contribution to the stereotype literature and practical understanding of how Chinese sojourners see majority members will be discussed.

I’ll be there for you? Effects of Islamophobic online hate speech and counter speech on Muslim in-group bystanders’ intention to intervene

Online hate speech is very common. This is problematic as degrading social groups can traumatize targets, evoke stress, and depression. Since no reaction of others could suggest the acceptability of hate speech, bystander intervention is essential. However, it is unclear when and how minorities react to hate speech. Drawing from social identity theory and research on in-group intervention, we inquire how Islamophobic online hate speech and counter speech by majority or minority members shape Muslims’ willingness to intervene. Thus, in an online experiment ( N = 362), we varied the presence of Islamophobic online hate speech and counter speech by a (non-) Muslim. Results showed that Islamophobic online hate speech led to a perceived religious identity threat which, in turn, increased the personal responsibility to intervene and resulted in higher intentions to utter factual counter speech. In addition, counter speech by both majority and minority members directly reduced Muslims’ intentions to counterargue hatefully.

COVID-19 Testing for Underserved and Vulnerable Populations: The NIH Rapid Acceleration Of Diagnostics (RADx) Initiative, Experiences from the field

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Disparities in COVID-19 are stark: in California, incidence and mortality rates in Hispanics range from 50% higher to triple those of non-Hispanic whites. In fall, 2020, the US National Institutes of Health funded existing Centers to address these gaps domestically, under the RADx-UP program (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations), which focuses on COVID testing in underserved or vulnerable communities. In collaboration with community organizations, our aim is to overcome barriers to testing among Hispanics in four California counties, increase testing, and reduce viral spread. METHODS: Community members identified barriers and strategies were devised to address them. The UC Davis RADx-UP team deployed mobile COVID antigen test sites, targeting predominantly Hispanic areas in the California central valley. All tests are free, drop-ins are welcome, and no health insurance information is collected, addressing economic, internet, and uninsured status barriers. A majority bilingual UCD staff and members of trusted community organizations open testing on weekends and evenings, when most test sites are closed. The rapid antigen test provides results within 15 minutes, which vastly increases potential to curtail asymptomatic spread by the recent contacts of an individual who tests positive. We also provide public health education, post-test counselling, and referrals for services. RESULTS:During ramp-up we conducted 744 tests, with 82% Hispanic, 53% females, and a mean age of 39, range: 1 to 89. Current positivity rate is 4.6%, with one-fourth being asymptomatic. On two occasions, one person tested positive and called family and friends who showed up to be tested, thereby identifying clusters of cases. We are also partnering with vaccine providers and encouraging vaccine uptake. CONCLUSIONS:Targeted testing and education is expected to help narrow the disparities in COVID-19 incidence and mortality. With the vaccine roll-out, continued efforts will strive to reduce the disproportionate casualties among Hispanics. KEYWORDS: Disaster response, health disparities, community partnerships

Minorities & Networks: How stereotypes influence network utilization, position and evaluations

The aim of this symposium is to understand, through the lenses of social identity theory and stereotypes theory, how network utilization and alters’ evaluations vary for members of minority and majority groups. Furthermore, the symposium also aims to explore how these theories contribute to explaining differences in the outcomes that members of majority and minority groups achieve even though they occupy similar network positions.

Do We Stand Together? The Role of Perceived Personal and Group Threats in Predicting the Majority's (Un)willingness to Confront Injustice on Behalf of a Minority.

Purpose: By utilizing data from Estonia, Finland, and Norway, this study explores how the perceptions of personal and group realistic threats, namely perceived ethnic discrimination and economic insecurity among national majorities, predict their unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of Russian-speaking minority groups.Background: Previous research on collective action to promote minorities’ rights and social standing has focused either on minorities’ own actions or factors promoting the willingness of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minorities. In contrast, factors explaining the reluctance of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minority groups have remained less explored. For example, studies have then ignored that the majority members may also feel threatened and may be economically insecure. Furthermore, the possible discrepancy between perceived personal vs. in-group’s situation may influence majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of a minority group.Method: We employed polynomial regression with response surface analysis to analyze data gathered among national majority members in three countries (N = 1,341).Results: Perceived personal and group realistic threats were associated with heightened unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of the Russian-speaking minority. Furthermore, participants were more unwilling to confront injustice when they perceived more group than personal threat.Conclusion: We found that majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of the minority is related to how secure they perceive their own and their group status. Our results contribute to previous research by pointing out the important drawbacks of majorities’ support for minorities’ wish for social change.

The role of optimal conditions and intergroup contact in promoting positive intergroup relations in and out of the workplace: A study with ethnic majority and minority workers

A field study was conducted with majority and minority group members to test whether the effects of optimal contact conditions and of intergroup contact generalize across situations, and extend to the support of intergroup equality in terms of agreement with social policies benefitting the minority group. Participants were 163 Italian and 129 immigrant workers in three corporate organizations. Results from structural equation modelling analyses revealed that, for the majority group, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was indirectly associated, via reduction in negative stereotypes, with more positive behavior that generalized across situations. For both majority and minority groups, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was associated with less negative stereotypes, and in turn with greater support for social policies favoring the minority. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, also in relation to the significance of the present results for research investigating the relation between intergroup contact and social change.

Majority group perceptions of minority acculturation preferences: The role of perceived threat

Recently, there has been growing focus on the intergroup influences of acculturation preferences, and in particular majority members’ perceptions of how minority members want to acculturate. This paper contributes to this emergent literature by examining the extent to which majority members in the UK perceive that minority members’ preferences for heritage culture maintenance and majority culture adoption are conflicting, and whether this is moderated by perceived threat. One hundred and sixty-three participants who self-reported being white British completed an online survey. Participants were asked about their perceptions of minority acculturation preferences for two target groups living in the UK: Pakistani and German minority groups. Overall, perceived culture maintenance and perceived culture adoption were weakly negatively associated for both groups. Moreover, results confirmed the pre-registered hypotheses, but only for the Pakistani target group. At higher levels of perceived threat, perceived culture maintenance was related to less perceived culture adoption. However, when threat was low, there was no association between perceived heritage culture maintenance and perceived culture adoption. For the German target group, threat did not moderate the relationship between perceived culture maintenance and perceived culture adoption. Findings suggest that depending on levels of perceived threat and the minority group in question, majority members perceiving that minority members maintain their heritage culture has different consequences. Results are discussed in relation to implications for integration, intergroup relations in culturally plural societies, and the need to focus on specific minority groups when studying acculturation processes.

Ethnic Enclaves, Economic and Political Threat: An Investigation With the European Social Survey.

This article examines the labor market outcomes and political preferences of majority, minority, or migrant individuals who report that they live in an ethnic enclave—a neighborhood with few majority residents. Politicians often proclaim that ethnic enclaves are problematic, but there is little rigorous examination of these claims. The ethnic composition of a local residential area can affect its inhabitants negatively by increasing conflict and competition (real or perceived) between groups. Majority members may feel their economic and political power questioned and think that the resources to which they are entitled have been usurped by newcomers. Migrants and minorities can be negatively impacted by isolation from the mainstream society, and their integration attempts can be hindered in ethnically concentrated local areas. Using data from the 2002 and 2014 waves of the European Social Survey, enriched with contextual data, we examine the impact of ethnic enclaves accounting for selection and compositional differences. We do not find evidence that minority concentrated areas impact negatively upon the economic outcomes of majority members, not even of those in precarious positions. We do however find that residence in enclaves is associated with greater propensity to vote for the far right and dissatisfaction with democracy for the majority group. Furthermore, there is an economic enclave penalty associated with the labor market insertion of migrants and the job quality of the second generation, and ethnic enclaves also increase the dissatisfaction with democracy among the second generation. We discuss our findings in light of the threat and contact literature.

Internal and external motivation to respond without prejudice: a person-centered approach

ABSTRACT With a person-centered approach, the constellations of internal motivation and external motivation to respond without prejudice within individuals are examined, and how these relate to directly and indirectly reported levels of prejudice. Using latent profile analysis, we identified four subgroups of motivated individuals among large national samples of majority members in Germany (N = 1745) and in the Netherlands (N = 1645). With one exception, these subgroups differed in the proportion of prejudiced individuals as well as the average level of self-reported prejudice. Our findings make a contribution to the literature by highlighting the importance of considering how internal and external motivations are organized within individuals for understanding their prejudicial responses.

The Different Faces of Social Tolerance: Conceptualizing and Measuring Respect and Coexistence Tolerance

In the theoretical literature on tolerance a distinction is proposed between coexistence and respect tolerance. In three studies with four national samples of Dutch majority members, we demonstrate that these two forms of tolerance can be distinguished empirically in relation to different immigrant target groups. The findings of all studies further show that the more principled respect tolerance was negatively associated with prejudice towards immigrants, and positively associated with the acceptance of concrete minority practices, above and beyond prejudice. However, the positive association between respect tolerance and acceptance of practices was weaker for people who were more strongly concerned about the continuity of their national cultural identity. Overall, the more pragmatic coexistence tolerance was found to have no independent association with prejudicial feelings and with the acceptance of minority practices. The findings indicate that stimulating respect tolerance might be particularly helpful for improving intergroup relations in culturally diverse societies.

Rising Violence Against Muslims in India Under Modi and BJP Rule

While communal violence has been an ongoing and unfortunate reality for post-colonial and post-partition India, there’s no sidestepping the fact that attacks and hate crime incidences against the country’s Muslim minority by members of the Hindu majority have occurred in greater frequency and ferocity in the years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), came to power in 2014 –on the back of a Hindu nationalist agenda, one in which anti-Muslim animus and discrimination features in mainstream political discourse and government policy. These realities have brought Muslims to the brink of genocide in India and Kashmir.

Articulating a Succinct Description: An Applied Method for Catalyzing Cultural Change

Articulating a Succinct Description uses ethnographic data to create case study interventions facilitated with people who belong to the culture with whom the ethnographer is engaged. We do so in order to disseminate research findings, address problems presented in the case, and collect additional data for further collective analysis. Further, Articulating a Succinct Description is designed as a means of intervention for underrepresented group members to be heard and gain support and promote equity engagement among majority members in efforts to create more inclusive cultures. In this paper, we validate this method using findings from its application with engineering students at a public university. This method allowed us to view engineering culture not as monolithic, but rather as one with multiple sets of cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors. In particular, we noted a behavior among students we’ve called Swing Staters, who expressed meritocratic beliefs, yet, who we argue, may be critical to reducing bias in engineering education. These findings, analyzed along interwoven threads of race and gender, demonstrate the efficacy of the Articulating a Succinct Description method and contribute to efforts in engineering education to advance pedagogical tools to reduce bias and exclusions in these fields.

Forgiving a Genocide: Reconciliation Processes between Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda

The purpose of this research was to study the interviewees’ experience of their reconciliation process and the influence of the Amataba Workshops on their healing process. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with five pairs ( N = 10) of Tutsi survivors of the Rwandan genocide and their perpetrators, members of the Hutu majority; they had all participated in an intervention to promote reconciliation. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method was chosen to study the transcripts. Analysis resulted in nine main relevant categories that should be taken into account while designing a reconciliation-oriented intervention, including truth, listening to each other, justice, repairing the damage, and collaboration on joint projects. The results of this research show how these processes can occur when reconciliation-oriented interventions are facilitated. For some interviewees, these workshops have become a crucial turning point and helped them set aside the hatred and pain.

Is an outgroup welcome with open arms? Approach and avoidance motor activations and outgroup prejudice.

We examined the dynamics through which temporary motor cues of approach or avoidance directed to an outgroup member affect attitudes of majority members toward the minority outgroup. In Study 1 participants activated and maintained either arm flexion or arm extension, while facing a picture of an outgroup person wearing religious trappings. Thereafter, they filled a questionnaire which measured outgroup prejudice. Study 2 replicated this procedure while including a control condition of the arm, and measured intergroup anxiety in addition to prejudice. In the first study outgroup prejudice was significantly higher following arm extension in comparison with arm flexion. The second study revealed that the source of the arm activation effect was due to arm extension increasing prejudice rather than arm flexion reducing it. Moreover, a mediation effect was found: Arm extension (vs. control) increased intergroup anxiety, which in turn was related to higher prejudice toward the outgroup. The results reveal embodiment effects by which temporary motor cues are related to visual religious cues leading to subsequent bias toward the outgroup. Multimodal representation accounts and theories explaining the psychological processes involved in perceiving threat-cues in intergroup relations are discussed. Practical implications of the observed embodied effects are also considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Religiosity and Mental Wellbeing Among Members of Majority and Minority Religions: Findings From Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study.

It is unclear whether links between religiosity and mental health are found in contexts outside the United States or are causal. We examined differences in mental wellbeing and associations between mental wellbeing and religiosity among the religiously unaffiliated, White and non-White Christians, Muslims of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and other ethnicities, and other minority ethnoreligious groups. We used 4 waves of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009–2013; n = 50,922). We adjusted for potential confounders (including socioeconomic factors and personality) and for household fixed effects to account for household-level unobserved confounding factors. Compared with those with no religious affiliation, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims and members of other minority religions had worse wellbeing (as measured using the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and General Health Questionnaire). Higher subjective importance of religion was associated with lower wellbeing according to the General Health Questionnaire; associations were not found with the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. More frequent religious service attendance was associated with higher wellbeing; effect sizes were larger for those with religious affiliations. These associations were only partially attenuated by adjustment for potential confounding factors, including household fixed effects. Religious service attendance and/or its secular alternatives may have a role in improving population-wide mental wellbeing.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE IN MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE: INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CULTURAL ORIENTATION, SOCIAL GROUP IDENTITY, COPING STYLE, AND SOCIAL CONFORMITY

Social influence is a broad term used to understand how and why the presence of others changes individuals' attitudes, behaviors, or beliefs. It takes a variety of forms and one of them is social conformity. The present study was conducted to clarify the relationships between cultural orientation, social group identity, and coping style as potential predictors of social conformity among adults in Malaysia and Singapore. Participants completed self-report measures of cultural orientation, social group identity, coping style, and social conformity. Preliminary results showed that social conformity was negatively associated with vertical individualism and emotion-based coping. Social group identity was found to be positively associated with various forms of cultural orientation but not with social conformity. In addition, individuals were more likely to report higher group identity when their personal opinions were consistent with majority members in a social group. Finally, emotion-based coping was the most significant predictor of social conformity, with vertical individualism as another significant predictor. In the context of social influence, the current research unravels the relationships between cultural orientation, social group identity, coping style, and social conformity. The findings also illuminate that collectivist cultures are not generally more prone to conform to majority opinions.

Correlates of international students’ intergroup intentions and adjustment: The role of metastereotypes and intercultural communication apprehension

The present study aimed to examine the link between metastereotypes of international students and their intergroup intentions and adjustment within the receiving country, considering the role of intercultural communication apprehension with host majority members. Participants were 191 international PhD students in Italy. All of them completed a questionnaire measuring positive and negative metastereotypes referred to their group (i.e., international students), intercultural communication apprehension, psychological adjustment, self-disclosure, and contact intentions with Italian majority members. Path analysis showed that the effects of positive and negative metastereotypes were not completely symmetrical. Positive metastereotypes were directly linked to self-disclosure and intended contact, while negative metastereotypes presented a direct link to psychological adjustment. Nevertheless, both of them were related to intercultural communication apprehension, which in turn was associated with psychological adjustment and willingness to communicate personal information and to have contacts with Italians. These findings proved that metastereotypes can be implicated in international students’ intergroup relations and adjustment, with some differences between negative and positive beliefs. It is also the latter that interventions should address to improve international students’ psychological well-being and intergroup relations within the receiving country.