Search

Following the March 15th Christchurch terrorist attack, members of our research team have been repeatedly asked to comment or provide summary statistics from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) on prejudice toward Muslims. As the curators of the NZAVS, we think that these findings should be in the public domain and accessible to as wide an audience as possible. In this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive summary of what we know from the NZAVS about attitudes toward Muslims and prejudice in New Zealand more generally. From 2012 onwards, the NZAVS included a feeling thermometer rating of people's level of warmth toward Muslims. Here, we summarize what we know from the NZAVS about levels of warmth toward Muslims in the New Zealand population. We describe the distribution of thermometer ratings of warmth toward Muslims annually from 2012 onward, and compare these with thermometer ratings of a range of other groups that we also track. We present a regression model documenting the extent to which a broad range of demographics and aspects of personality are associated with low levels of warmth toward Muslims, and present a parallel model assessing warmth ratings toward immigrants as a comparison. Finally, we present a series of growth curve models outlining the relative level and rate of change over time in warmth toward Muslims and other groups from 2012-2018. Results from these analyses indicate that over the 2012-2018 period, levels of warmth toward Muslims in New Zealand were comparatively low relative to warmth ratings of other groups. However, warmth toward Muslims has also been steadily but gradually increasing over time in New Zealand. Keywords: Prejudice, Muslim, Christchurch Terrorist Attack, Feeling Thermometer, Introduction The shock and horror of the March 15th 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch will shape our nation for many years to come. With 51 Muslim men, women, and children [...]

Previous research suggests that for Maori (the Indigenous peoples of New Zealand), Cultural Efficacy is associated with increased life satisfaction and may act as a buffer against stressful events and factors that can cause psychological distress. Here, we test a mediation model derived from this general culture- ascure kaupapa (theme) using data from Maori who participated in the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 676). Our model indicates that Cultural Efficacy, or one's confidence to competently engage in te ao Maori (the Maori world), was significantly linked with Self-Esteem and that this positive association was partially mediated by the negative association between Cultural Efficacy and rumination. Our model suggests that this protective or buffering effect occurs--at least in part--because Maori with a higher Cultural Efficacy tend to experience lower levels of rumination, and a lower level rumination is, in turn, linked with increased Self-Esteem. These findings support a general culture-as-cure kaupapa for Maori, and add to the emerging literature linking Cultural Efficacy and active identity engagement with positive psychological and health outcomes for Maori. Keywords: Maori, Cultural Efficacy, Culture as Cure, Rumination, Self-Esteem, Mediation., 'Toi tu te kupu, toi tu te mana, toi tu te whenua' --Tinirau of Whanganui In the above whakatauki (proverb), Tinirau of Whanganui implored Maori, the Indigenous peoples of New [...]

The Multidimensional Model of Maori Identity and Cultural Engagement (or MMM-ICE2) is a self-report questionnaire that measures seven distinct dimensions of one's subjective identity as Maori. Prior research indicates that the scale performs well psychometrically and predicts a wide range of outcomes for Maori peoples. However, the measurement equivalence of the MMM-ICE2 is yet to be assessed. That is, the extent to which the scale provides comparable measurement of the same aspects of identity for all Maori, for instance, across different age groups, for Maori men and women, and for Maori living in different urban or rural regions. Here, we address this gap in the validation of the MMM-ICE2 using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis to assess the configural, metric, and scalar equivalence of the scale across different demographic groups. We test our models using data from Maori participants who completed the MMM-ICE2 as part of the broader New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 696). Results indicate that the scale has reasonable measurement equivalence over metric, configural, and scalar assessments across most demographic comparisons. In sum, the results indicate that the MMM-ICE2 provides a valid assessment tool for Maori across a range of contexts, but nevertheless points to ways in which the scale could be improved in future. Keywords: Maori; Identity; Indigenous; Measurement Equivalence, The field of quantitative identity research has undergone somewhat of an emic (by the people of the culture, for the people; Berry, 1989) revolution in recent years. The addition of [...]

We test the factorial equivalence of the Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale--Revised (PIWBS-R) across the four largest Pacific Nations groups in New Zealand (Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue). Using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis (N = 684) we show that the PIWBS-R exhibits similar properties within each Pacific group. Results indicate that across the four groups, the PIWBS-R shows the same basic factor structure, item factor loadings and intercepts. We also compare the group means for the individual factors of the PIWBS-R, whilst statistically adjusting for demographic covariates. Results showed a small but significant difference in Religious Centrality and Embeddedness, where Tongan participants scored higher relative to both Cook Island and Niuean participants. These results mirror population proportions of religious affiliation within Pacific groups in NZ. There were no other significant differences between groups in the other factors of the PIWBS-R. Together, these results provide strong evidence of the PIWBS-R as a valid tool for research with Pacific peoples at a general level, and within specific Pacific ethnic groups. Keywords: Pacific Nations, Identity, Wellbeing, Measurement Equivalence, Introduction Quantitative research on Pacific identities and wellbeing is a growing area of interest for Pacific researchers (Savila, Sundborn, Hirao & Paterson, 2011). One advancement in this area is the [...]

The Stereotype Content Model states that stereotypes express generalised evaluative beliefs that vary according to the degree of warmth and competence ascribed to group members. The present study applied this model to examine the societal stereotypes (or meta-stereotypes) of Pakeha, Maori, Pacific Nations, and Asian New Zealanders using a national random postal sample (N = 246). Pakeha (or New Zealanders of European descent) were viewed as highly warm and highly competent relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Nations New Zealanders were mixed, however. Asian New Zealanders were seen as highly competent (comparable to Pakeha), but low in warmth relative to other ethnic groups. Pacific Nations peoples, in contrast, were seen as highly warm (comparable to Pakeha), but low in competence relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Maori exhibited a strikingly different pattern, and indicated that Maori as a social group were seen as low-to-moderate in both warmth and competence, relative to other ethnic groups. These different mixed stereotype combinations have important implications for understanding how socio-structural characteristics of ethnic group relations (competition and status) foster fundamentally different forms of legitimizing ideology, prejudice and discriminatory behaviour toward different ethnic groups in the New Zealand context., New Zealand (NZ) is a fairly small nation by international standards, with a total population currently approaching 4. 3 million. The NZ population is diverse and, like many nations, is [...]