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In general, diversity beliefs are beliefs about the instrumentality of diversity for the functioning of groups. Focusing on a societal level, recent social-psychological research addressed pro-diversity beliefs as individuals’ beliefs that diversity is beneficial for the progress of society. Despite the growing interest in societal pro-diversity beliefs, no systematically validated scale measuring pro-diversity beliefs is available to date. We addressed this shortcoming and studied the reliability and validity of the newly developed Pro-Diversity Beliefs Scale (PDBS) across four samples. Results indicate that the PDBS is reliable, adequately distinct from related and established scales, and valid in predicting external criteria such as outgroup attitudes or intergroup threat.

Instrumentality-based pro-diversity beliefs (i.e., beliefs that diverse groups outperform homogenous groups in terms of group functioning) have been shown to improve intergroup attitudes. However, such valuing of diversity due to its expected instrumentality holds the risk that outgroups may be devalued in situations when diversity ends up being detrimental to group functioning. Across four experiments, we studied the interplay between instrumentality-based pro-diversity beliefs, actual instrumentality of ethnic diversity, and outgroup attitudes. Our results do not reveal a robust interaction effect between instrumentality-based pro-diversity beliefs and actual instrumentality of diverse groups. Some evidence, however, supports the assumption that instrumentality-based pro-diversity beliefs yielded a weaker positive or even a negative effect on ethnic outgroup attitudes when ethnic diversity was perceived as non-instrumental (i.e., when diversity was perceived as having a negative impact on group functioning). Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

While some research suggests that ethnic and cultural diversity hinders societal cohesion, other studies show that it promotes intergroup contact opportunities, which, if exploited, help to overcome intergroup prejudice. Recently, however, intergroup contact theory has been criticized for neglecting the wider social context as well as for ignoring potential demobilizing contact effects for minority members. Using two cross-sectional general population surveys (European Social Survey in 22 countries, Swiss MOSAiCH), we address these criticisms by examining whether ethnic majority members' positive contact influences ethnic minority members' support for ingroup rights at the social context level. Applying multilevel path analysis, we show that minority members are more likely to support anti-discrimination laws and immigrant rights when living in social contexts in which majority members have positive intergroup contact experiences. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed for understanding how minority groups are affected by the climate of the social context they reside in.

Positive neighborhood norms, such as strong local networks, are critical to people's satisfaction with, perceived disadvantage of, and intentions to stay in their neighborhood. At the same time, local ethnic diversity is said to be detrimental for these community outcomes. Integrating both frameworks, we tested whether the negative consequences of diversity occur even when perceived social norms are positive. Study 1 ( N = 1,760 German adults) showed that perceptions of positive neighborhood norms buffered against the effects of perceived diversity on moving intentions via neighborhood satisfaction and perceived neighborhood disadvantage. Study 2 ( N = 993 Dutch adults) replicated and extended this moderated mediation model using other characteristics of diversity (i.e., objective and estimated minority proportions). Multilevel analyses again revealed consistent buffering effects of positive neighborhood norms. Our findings are discussed in light of the ongoing public and political debate concerning diversity and social and communal life. ispartof: PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN vol:44 issue:5 pages:700-716 ispartof: location:United States status: published

We studied the influence of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) on the relationship between a multicultural ideology and attitudes about ethnic diversity and immigrants. We hypothesized that a multicultural ideology poses a threat to authoritarian individuals, which leads to a decrease in positive diversity beliefs and an increase in prejudice toward immigrants. On the basis of representative survey-data from 23 European countries, we showed that the negative relationship between RWA and positive diversity beliefs was stronger the more a country engages in multiculturalism (Study 1). In addition, in two experiments we demonstrated that RWA moderated the relationship between a video promoting multiculturalism (Study 2) or a picture showing a multicultural group (Study 3) and attitudes toward immigrants and diversity. As expected, for high-RWAs, both stimuli led to an increase in prejudice. In Study 3, perceived threat mediated the relationship between a multicultural norm and prejudice for people high in RWA.

The paper examined the effect of positive beliefs about the value of ethnic diversity (i.e. diversity beliefs) on discrimination due to foreign sounding names. It was hypothesized that pro-diversity beliefs reduce discrimination. Results from two studies (N = 29 and N = 104) confirmed this hypothesis. Practical implications of our results are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ethnic diversity poses a threat to authoritarians, as it indicates non-conformism to group norms and poses a threat to group conformity. According to authoritarian dynamic theory, threats elicit authoritarian reactions in people with authoritarian predispositions. In the present article we tested a mediation model derived from authoritarian dynamic theory in a sample of 171 students. As expected, authoritarian predisposition negatively predicted diversity beliefs. This effect was fully mediated by an authoritarian manifestation, that is, authoritarian aggression. The two other components of right-wing authoritarianism, authoritarian submission and conventionalism, did not mediate the effect. Results confirm contemporary research on authoritarianism and the differentiation of authoritarian predispositions and its manifestations.