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Discrimination has a negative impact on minority group members’ wellbeing, particularly immigrants. Yet, empirical research investigating coping mechanisms against perceived discrimination among immigrants remains scarce. The present study examined the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and eudaimonic (psychological and social) wellbeing among immigrants by assessing the role of intergroup (downward and upward) and intrapersonal (temporal) comparisons as coping mechanisms in this association. Using a representative sample comprising five foreign-born immigrant groups (N = 1250) in Spain, we found that immigrants tend to engage in more favorable downward and upward intergroup comparisons in response to perceived discrimination, but lower temporal intrapersonal comparisons. Downward intergroup comparison was related to lower psychological wellbeing and upward intergroup comparison was associated with higher psychological wellbeing. Temporal intrapersonal comparison was predominately predictive of psychological and social wellbeing. We further discuss specific indirect effects and the important roles of intergroup and intrapersonal comparisons for immigrants’ wellbeing.

Background: Despite the growing body of research concerning affective relationships between teachers and ethnic minority students, very little is known about student-teacher relationship (STR) quality for religious minority students. Many Islamic schools have a mixed workforce consisting of both Muslim and non-Muslim teachers. This means that the quality of religiously congruent and religiously incongruent STRs can be directly compared. Aims: We investigated whether the quality of the STR experienced by Dutch Islamic school students depended on the religious background of their teacher (Muslim vs. non-Muslim). We also examined the role of teachers’ implicitly measured attitudes towards Muslims as a possible explanation for differences in relationship quality. Sample: Participants were 707 students (56.9% female) from 35 classes (Grade 3–6) (Mage = 10.02 years, SD = 1.25) and their 35 teachers (85.7% female; Mage = 32.94 years, SD = 6.37). Methods: Students reported on the quality of the relationship with their teacher (closeness, conflict, and negative expectations), and teachers’ implicit attitude towards Muslims (vs. non-Muslims) was measured with an Implicit Association Test. Results: Students reported relatively high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict and negative expectations for both Muslim and non-Muslim teachers. Conflict was slightly higher in religiously incongruent STRs, but only when teachers’ implicitly measured attitude towards Muslims (vs. non-Muslims) was included in our model. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that religious incongruence does not play a major role in STR quality in Islamic primary education.

Using data collected with a factorial survey experiment in Norway and Switzerland, we analyze how employers react to unemployment spells when screening job applications. Our focus is on whether unemployment scarring varies depending on the applicants’ level of education and the duration and timing of the unemployment spell. We find unemployment scars of similar size in the two countries. Interestingly, education moderates the strength of unemployment scarring: in the Swiss context, graduates from vocational education and training (VET) programs are the most severely affected by unemployment, even years after regaining employment; this is not the case in Norway. We contribute to the unemployment scarring literature and to comparative scholarship on school-to-work transitions by exposing a trade-off of dual VET systems, which are known to provide a safety net from unemployment. Our findings show that these same systems can cause scars that are particularly long-lasting to VET graduates who fall into unemployment.

Social identity exploration is a process whereby individuals actively seek information about their group membership and show efforts to understand its meaning. Developmental theory argues that exploration-based ingroup commitment is the basis for outgroup positivity. We tested this notion in relation to national identity and attitudes towards immigrants. The results of five experimental studies among German adolescents and early adults ( N = 1,146; 16–25 years) and one internal meta-analysis suggest that the positive identification–prejudice link is weaker when participants are instructed to explore the meaning of their identity (Study 1). This is not mediated via self-uncertainty (Study 2), but via a reduction in intergroup threat (Study 3) and an increase in deprovincialization (Study 4). In addition, identity exploration enabled strong identifiers to oppose descriptive ingroup norms (Study 5). We conclude that identity exploration can contribute to a further understanding of the identification–prejudice link.

Increases in cultural and religious diversity have led to calls for toleration of differences, although it is unclear how calling for toleration impacts people’s affective and attitudinal responses. The present research conducted in a small western nation examines if calling for toleration of Muslim minority practices elicits an aggressive backlash against the group amongst those relatively conservative, using relative left frontal EEG activity to examine the motivational processes involved. Non-Muslim participants from New Zealand (N = 172) self-reported their political orientation before being randomly assigned to a toleration or control condition involving writing and reflection tasks about Muslims. Participants then evaluated various groups including Muslims while EEG was recorded. Results revealed that among those relatively conservative, toleration produced higher levels of relative left frontal activity, which in turn led to more negative evaluations of Muslims (relative to control participants). However, for those relatively liberals, toleration had no impact on neuropsychological or attitudinal responses relative to controls. Collectively, these findings suggest that intergroup toleration may backfire amongst those relatively conservative, undermining its intended purpose.

Although several studies have examined outgroup empathy, the link between trait empathy and outgroup attitudes has been underinvestigated. In the present study this link was investigated among two samples of ethnic Dutch preadolescents (N = 335, Mage = 10.83 years, SD = 0.94; 53% girls; N = 326; Mage = 10.53 years, SD = 1.03; 48% girls). It examined children’s parallel empathy in relation to their ethnic attitudes, and the moderating role of perceived peer norms. Results (partly) support the hypotheses that empathy is associated with more outgroup positivity and less ingroup bias (ingroup minus outgroup attitude). The negative link between empathyand outgroup bias was stronger when peers were perceived to be more biased against the outgroup.

Among a national sample of Dutch respondents (N = 1,155), this study examined whether the belief configuration of personal political orientation differs for individual level of education, and how it is related to negative attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups and refugee policies. In agreement with the ideological sophistication perspective, the endorsement of social conformity and the acceptance of group-based inequality were found to be more strongly part of the political orientation of higher compared to the lower educated participants. Furthermore, the endorsement of social conformity and acceptance of group-based inequality were associated with more negative feelings toward immigrants and more negative attitudes toward policies in relation to refugees. These findings add to the existing literature that has predominantly examined education and political orientation as two independent correlates of anti-immigrant and refugee attitudes.

Various diversity ideologies including assimilation, colorblindness, and multiculturalism have been promoted with mixed results about their costs and benefits. In the current research, we consider the impact of a new diversity ideology, interculturalism, discussed and debated by political philosophers and policy-makers as the “way forward.” Across three experiments ( N = 1230) in two ethnically diverse nations, we examined the causal impact of promoting interculturalism on intergroup relations. Data revealed that interculturalism reduced outgroup prejudice, increased willingness to engage in intergroup contact, improved implicit attitudes, and increased behavioral trust and cooperation relative to controls. Reductions in essentialist beliefs partially mediated the impact of interculturalism, highlighting one psychological mechanism underlying the benefits of interculturalism. However, interculturalism was found to be no better than multiculturalism in its impact on intergroup relations in two of three experiments. Collectively, these studies suggest that interculturalism may be a promising new diversity strategy for improving intergroup relations.

Intergroup toleration is a requirement for living with diversity and actively promoted by local, national, and international bodies. However, although psychological researchers have extensively considered the implications of being discriminated, little is known about the psychological consequences of being tolerated. In this article, we argue that beyond the freedoms implied by tolerance, being “merely” tolerated also implies social identity threats that compromise specific psychological needs (belongingness, esteem, control, certainty). We further consider the psychological consequences of being tolerated at the personal, interpersonal, and intergroup levels and consider factors that may moderate the impact of being tolerated for minority outcomes. Taken together, this work provides the first theoretical argument and overview of what it means to be tolerated by considering the negative implications of toleration in diverse nations.

Disapproval of others’ beliefs and practices is an inevitable consequence of living with diversity, and the ability to tolerate, or put up with, these differences is crucial to maintain a functional society. Considering reasons to condone what one disapproves of is considered a key aspect of tolerance. Across three national samples (N = 1,708), the current research examines how recognizing arguments to support practices that one disapproves of increases tolerance. Studies 1–2 demonstrate that when participants generate arguments to support Muslim minority practices (Study 1) and Orthodox Protestant minority practices (Study 2), they disapprove of, they show increased tolerance towards such practices in society. In Study 3, the importance of considerations is experimentally extended by demonstrating that perceiving objectionable behaviour as more reasonable increases tolerance. Collectively, these studies demonstrate the importance of engaging in and perceiving reasonable considerations to enhance tolerance of dissenting beliefs or practices.

Background In the past decades, Western European countries have become increasingly religiously diverse; furthermore, a growing share of their population is now youth with a migration background. Little is known about the role religion plays in social ties among children of native and immigrant origins. Purpose This study examines religious group boundaries among youth in secondary schools in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. To this end, it describes to what extent youth’s positive and negative ties in the classroom are segregated along religious lines. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of structural opportunities and religious in-group preferences in the formation of religious boundaries in the social networks of youth. Methods The data come from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), which contains more than 18,000 adolescents (aged 14–15) in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. First, we describe overall religious segregation in the social ties of youth by using the full survey data. Second, we test our hypotheses by analyzing the complete social networks of 5236 students in 247 classes. Results The analysis reveals that friendships are more likely between classmates with similar religious affiliations than classmates with different religious affiliations. In particular, in terms of friendships, there is clear segregation between non-religious and Christian youth on the one hand and Muslim youth on the other. This segregation is partly driven by structural forces that constrain intergroup meeting opportunities. However, group segregation goes beyond the patterns expected from opportunities alone. The results show strong preferences for intrareligious friendships and a tendency to avoid ties between Muslim and non-Muslim youth. Conclusion and Implications There are religious boundaries in the social relationships of youth in ethnically and religiously diverse school classes in Western Europe. In particular, social boundaries between Muslim and non-Muslim youth are the strongest. Creating opportunities for positive intergroup contact, such as the promotion of religiously diverse schools, apparently is not sufficient to avoid religious boundaries among youth. To reduce segregation along religious lines, interventions would also need to address the factors that shape youth’s preferences for intrareligious friendships.

There is evidence that in more economically unequal societies, social relations are more strained. We argue that this may reflect the tendency for wealth to become a more fitting lens for seeing the world, so that in economically more unequal circumstances, people more readily divide the world into “the haves” and “have nots.” Our argument is supported by archival and experimental evidence. Two archival analyses reveal that at times of greater inequality, books in the United Kingdom and the United States and news media in English-speaking countries were more likely to mention the rich and poor. Three experiments, two preregistered, provided evidence for the causal role of economic inequality in people’s use of wealth categories when describing life in a fictional society; effects were weaker when examining real economic contexts. Thus, one way in which inequality changes the world may be by changing how we see it.

Tolerating or condoning practices that one finds objectionable is typically considered a positive way to negotiate intergroup differences. However, being the target of tolerance might harm well-being, which we examined in three studies (a survey and two experiments) among a total of 1,054 members of various racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. In Study 1, we found that perceiving oneself to be tolerated on the basis of one’s ethnic group membership was associated with more negative well-being. In Study 2, we found that bringing to mind experiences of being tolerated results in less positive and more negative affect than thinking about experiences of acceptance, but more positive and less negative outcomes than thinking about overt discrimination experiences. In Study 3, we replicated the results of Study 2 while demonstrating that threat to social identity needs mediates the tolerance–well-being link. These results suggest that being tolerated is related to minority targets’ well-being in ways that are intermediate between being treated with outright discrimination and full acceptance, but that being tolerated follows a pattern closer to discrimination.

Anti-immigrant attitudes are often explained in terms of ethnic boundaries in which a categorical distinction between the ethnic ingroup and immigrant outgroup is made. However, these attitudes might also result from contrasting cultural worldviews. We examined the importance of ethnic categorisation and perceived cultural worldview difference in explaining behavioural intentions towards immigrants. Using an experimental survey design with a national sample of ethnic Dutch respondents (N = 832), we studied two positive and two negative behavioural intentions towards either immigrants with a contrasting cultural worldview or co-ethnics with such as worldview. Our findings indicate similar behavioural intentions towards both target groups. Furthermore, except for “the intention to learn” there were no differences in behavioural intentions towards both target groups for respondents with lower and higher authoritarian dispositions. Overall, this pattern of findings is theoretically most in line with a worldview conflict perspective rather than an ethnic boundary perspective.

Schools can be important for the development of national belonging in students with immigrant backgrounds. Following Contact Theory and prior research on diversity norms, this cross-sectional survey study examined if intergroup contact and perceived diversity norms of teachers and classmates predicted national belonging in ethnic minority (i.e., Turkish [n = 95], Moroccan [n = 73], and Surinamese [n = 15]) versus majority students (n = 213) living in the Netherlands (Mage = 10.53 years; 50.3% female). Minority students reported less national belonging than their ethnic Dutch classmates. Multilevel analyses indicated that their national belonging was affected by the presence of ethnic Dutch classmates and the relationship with their teacher. These results indicate that minority students’ national belonging could be promoted by reducing school segregation and stimulating positive teacher-student relationships.

Little is known about the religious development of youth in Europe. In light of the growing ethnic diversity of Western European populations, this paper examines two groups of youth with an immigrant background, i.e. Christian and Muslim youth, and compares their religiosity to that of Christian native youth. We differentiate between three indicators of religiosity, namely, subjective importance of religion, frequency of service attendance, and praying frequency. In addition to comparing the changes in the mean of religiosity between groups, we also investigate variations within groups over time. We employ the first three waves of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), which were collected between 2010 and 2013 with adolescents residing in 958 classes within 480 schools in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Multiple group linear growth models show that there is an overall slight decrease in subjective importance of religion, frequency of service attendance and praying frequency for Christian youth, while Muslim youth do not experience any significant change on these accounts. Furthermore, the changes in service attendance and praying frequency vary significantly between youth within all groups, while the change with regard to subjective importance of religion varies most within Christian youth and least within Muslim youth.

Teachers’ interpersonal behavior in class is important for teacher and student emotions. Often the same rater (either teacher or students) is used to assess both perceptions of teacher behavior and emotions, which makes it vulnerable to common-method bias. Including other perspectives on teacher behavior has been proposed as a solution, but it is unclear to what extent different perspectives are correlated and how to separate their shared and unique variance in explaining emotions. Behavior of 80 teachers was rated from three perspectives (observers, students, and teachers) in terms of Agency (i.e., social influence) and Communion (i.e., friendliness). The three perspectives overlapped more strongly for teacher agency than for communion. Especially for students, teacher communion was a stronger predictor of emotions than agency. Our innovative statistical approach showed that the strong association between ratings of teacher behavior and emotions of the same rater are unlikely to result from common-method bias only.

Collective nostalgia is a bittersweet emotion that reflects sentimental longing for valued aspects of the past of one’s group. Given that conservatism is typically associated with a general desire to preserve the societal status quo or return society to its traditional way of being, nostalgia has been theorized to be characteristic of those on the political right (i.e., conservatives). In the current work, we proposed and tested the hypothesis that collective nostalgia is experienced by both conservatives and liberals, but the content of their nostalgizing differs. Across three studies in three socio-political contexts—United States (Study 1, MTurk, N = 352), Canada (Study 2, student sample, N = 154), and England (Study 3, online panel, N = 2,345)—we found that both conservatives and liberals experienced collective nostalgia for a more homogenous and open society. However, conservatives experienced more homogeneity-focused collective nostalgia, whereas liberals experienced more openness-focused collective nostalgia. Replicating previous findings, homogeneity-focused nostalgia emerged as a positive, whereas openness-focused nostalgia emerged as a negative, predictor of intergroup attitudes. The results have both theoretical and practical significance for understanding political attitudes and behaviors. To the point, variance in the conservative and liberal political agendas is, in part, a function of a difference in their respective predisposition to nostalgize about and thus desire the return of a particular aspect of the in-group’s past.

Divergent cultural, religious, and ideological beliefs and practices are often challenging to contemplate and difficult to accept when they conflict with an individual’s own convictions and way of life. The recognition that children and adolescents grow up in an increasingly diverse world has led to a general interest in fostering tolerance. In this article, we discuss three central questions on tolerance and related research. First, we consider age‐related patterns of responses toward tolerance of diversity and whether they depend on the type of dissenting beliefs and practices children are asked to tolerate. Second, we focus on how and why children are asked to be tolerant. Third, we discuss the boundaries of tolerance—the reasons and conditions that make tolerance less likely. Overall, we conclude that tolerance and intolerance can occur at all ages and depend on what, how, why, and when individuals are asked to tolerate belief discrepancy and dissenting practices.

In culturally diverse societies, ethnic minorities are faced with the challenge of negotiating between their national and ethnic identification. Diversity ideologies address this challenge in different ways, by prioritizing national identification in the case of assimilation, and ethnic identification in the case of multiculturalism. However, existing research has highlighted the risks and drawbacks of both ideologies, presenting polyculturalism and interculturalism as new alternatives which construe identities as more complex, dynamic, and interconnected between groups. Given that little is known about these ideologies from the minority perspective, the present study investigated their endorsement among ethnic minorities, as well as associations with their ethnic and national identification in the USA. Results show that, in general, pro-diversity ideologies (multiculturalism, interculturalism, and polyculturalism) are all supported by ethnic minorities, in contrast to assimilation. Moreover, ethnic identification is associated with support for multiculturalism, national identification is associated with support for assimilation, and both are associated with polyculturalism. For interculturalism, associations with ethnic and national identification depend on its subcomponents, which seem to address and bring together the other three ideologies. Interculturalism may therefore be a promising way forward to minimize the risks of assimilation, multiculturalism, and polyculturalism, while also maximizing their benefits to minorities and societies at large.

Ethnic minorities tend to develop dual identities and therefore can face identity denials from two groups. We examine in two studies the relation between dual identity and experiences of dual identity denial as misgivings or a manifested mistrust of one’s group membership from both majority and minority group members. Based on identity integration and threat literature, identity denial represents a threat to dual identity which means that stronger dual identity denial can be expected to be associated with lower dual identity (a negative association). In contrast, based on identity enactment literature, stronger expression of one’s dual identity can be expected to elicit stronger identity denial (a positive association). These two contrasting hypotheses were examined in two studies (Study 1 = 474; Study 2 = 820) among ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. The results from both studies offer greater support for the identity enactment model and illustrate the complexities associated with having a dual identity.

The increasing use of smartphones around the world provides new opportunities for network data collection using smartphone surveys. We investigated experimentally whether the use of smartphones and of a recall aid affects the number of reported names in a network name generator question. In a German online access panel (N = 3891), respondents were randomly assigned to answer the survey on their PC or on their smartphone and were randomly assigned to receive an open-ended recall aid question before the name generator question or after. Results showed that respondents on PCs and smartphones reported the same number of network contacts. This suggests that smartphone surveys have no negative effect on the network sizes in ego-centered network studies. However, requiring people to answer on smartphones resulted in a selection bias due to non-compliance, which may have led to an overrepresentation of persons with larger network sizes. The recall aid question did not lead to more reported names, but it proved to be an indicator of respondents’ motivation and response quality. In sum, the study suggests that smartphones can effectively be used for network research in tech-savvy populations or when respondents can choose to complete the survey on another device.

Purpose This study aims to examine how prisoners’ early release affects other citizens’ perceived insecurity and their attitudes towards those released prisoners, and how citizens’ political orientation influences these variables. Design/methodology/approach A total of 383 Portuguese participants were presented with a recommendation from the United Nations for the release of prisoners because of COVID-19 and then asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring their political orientation, support for the early release of prisoners, perceived insecurity regarding such measure and their attitudes towards the released prisoners. Findings Results showed that support for the release of prisoners during COVID-19 is associated with perceived insecurity and both, in turn, predicts inclusive attitudes regarding these prisoners, while only perceived insecurity is associated with an agreement with an intensification of social control measures. Right-wing participants were found to express the negative side. The more participants felt insecure, the more they believed released prisoners should not have the same rights as common citizens and the more they should be left out of the community. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this study concerns the sample: the authors collected answers from Portuguese participants exclusively, most of which held a university degree. Practical implications At least two major implications can be drawn from this study’s results. These implications deal with prisoners’ entrance in what can be considered a cycle of exclusion and the promotion of their social reintegration once they are released from prison. Social implications The findings point out the necessity to firstly put an effort in deconstructing the insecurity perception that results from the prospective of having prisoners back into society – that is to understand why it happens and how it can be reduced – promoting efficacy in the inclusion of these prisoners and preventing the emergence of controlling or protective approaches directed to these individuals in their return to society by enhancing people’s awareness that the social reintegration of ex-prisoners will benefit the whole community. Originality/value The authors present a different perspective of the impact that managing COVID-19 in prisons has on society.

Research has shown that adolescents’ intergroup attitudes are subject to friends’ influence, but it remains unknown if certain friends are more influential than others. Popular adolescents may be especially influential of their friends’ intergroup attitudes because they can set peer norms. We examined several indicators of popularity in social networks as possible determinants of social influence: sociometric popularity, prestige popularity, being a clique leader, and frequency of contact with friends. Longitudinal analysis of adolescents’ friendship networks (12–13 years, N = 837) allowed estimating influence of friends on adolescents’ intergroup attitudes, while controlling for the tendency of adolescents to befriend peers with similar intergroup attitudes. Results showed that adolescents’ intergroup attitudes changed in the direction of friends’ intergroup attitudes. Only peers who are popular in terms of having many friends (sociometric popular) were especially influential of their friends’ intergroup attitudes. These findings may inform future interventions aiming to reduce prejudice.

According to liberal nationalists, sharing a national identity offers a solution to the growing concern that increasing diversity within Western societies might erode solidarity. Based on the national identity framework, a positive relation between peoples’ support for redistribution and their national identification is expected. Partially confirmed among majority group members, the aim of this study is to broaden the perspective and investigate the redistributive attitudes of people with a migration background. Since the social identification of people with a migration background is more complex and tends to be based on belonging to both the nation of residence and a specific ethnic group, we additionally consider the role of ethnic identification. We perform multivariate analyses on data from the Belgian Ethnic Minorities Election Study 2014 (BEMES), a survey conducted among Belgians of Turkish and Moroccan descent. The results confirm our hypothesis about the positive role of national identification. Ethnic identification, on the contrary, is negatively related to support for redistribution and particularly the combination of a low attachment to the country of residence and strong attachment to the country of origin is associated with lower levels of support for redistribution. ispartof: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY vol:30 issue:1 status: Published online

In many Western democratic societies, the far-right has considerable popular support and is often perceived as the winner of political debates. This raises the important question of how other politicians try to manage the far-right. We use parliamentary debates to examine how politicians define the identity of Member of Parliament (MP) in response to Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. The analysis shows that politicians made relevant the shared responsibility of MPs to solve societal problems, by using inclusive language, asking for concrete proposals, and emphasizing engagement in debate. These identity-related features question the parliamentary role performance of the far-right. In response, Wilders stressed the MP's responsibility of representing the ordinary people. The politicians used three strategies to challenge this defence: Questioning that the far-right actually fulfils their self-ascribed representative role; challenging the notion that only the far-right would represent the people; moving into a more populist position. Implications for social psychological research on marginal group members are discussed.

Political participation is an important aspect of the integration of Muslim citizens into western societies. However, Muslims’ formal political participation is often met with resistance from the majority population. In two studies, we investigated among national samples of majority Dutch whether the level of resistance to the democratic political organizations of Muslim citizens is associated with political orientation and level of education. Furthermore, we examined whether these associations are mediated by the endorsement of multiculturalism. Findings from both studies show that the higher educated and politically left-wing individuals are more supportive of Muslim political organisation and that this association is (partly) explained by the endorsement of multiculturalism. Additionally, in Study 2 it is found that attitudes toward cultural tradition and group equality mediate the relations between education and political orientation with multiculturalism.

The present research investigated positive and negative behavioural intentions towards Syrian refugees in Turkey. The behavioural intentions were examined in relation to national identification, perception of threat, and humanitarian concerns. A questionnaire was conducted among Turkish participants (n = 605) and the results showed that respondents made a distinction between negative and positive behavioural intentions towards Syrian refugees. Further, higher national identification was associated with more negative and less positive behavioural intentions, and perception of threat was responsible for these associations. In addition, humanitarian concern was associated with more positive behavioural intentions and less negative ones. Additionally, stronger humanitarian concern weakened the association between threat perceptions and negative behavioural intentions but also strengthened the association between higher threat and lower positive behavioural intentions.

Autochthony belief ("that a country is owned by its first inhabitants") can be an acceptable reason for claiming collective ownership of a territory and this claim can have negative consequences for newcomers. Children might reason that a place belongs to their in-group because "we" were here first and therefore have negative out-group attitudes. In three studies among Dutch majority group children (N = 879; Mage = 10.13 to 10.84, SD = 0.82 to 0.98; 49.7 to 54.5% girls), the expected negative association between autochthony beliefs and attitudes was found for different measures of ethnic attitudes, and was robust across gender, age, immigrant target group, ethnic identification, perceived multicultural education and classroom composition. Additionally, the association was especially strong among ethnic majority children who felt less at home in their own country but at the same time cared about being Dutch. It is concluded that a focus on autochthony belief makes a novel and relevant contribution to the intergroup developmental literature and to our limited understanding of children's attitudes toward immigrant groups and newcomers more generally.

Using cross-sectional (n = 340) and longitudinal data (n = 208) collected during the European refugee crisis of 2015, this study examined elementary school teachers' role in the supportive attitudes toward refugees of their students. We focused on teachers' self-reported multicultural attitudes, students' reports of teachers' anti-prejudice norms and their relational closeness to the teacher. Using multilevel analyses, we found that teachers' multicultural attitudes predicted more supportive attitudes toward refugees in October 2015 and an increase in supportive attitudes by February 2016 (Wave 3). We also found cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence for a positive effect of perceived closeness to the teacher. We did not find positive cross-sectional effects of teachers' anti-prejudice norms, and we found negative relations over time. These relations were stronger in classrooms with relatively more non-majority students, presumably due to increased threat perceptions. It is very important for teachers to be aware of such possible adverse effects.

The 21st century has highlighted major dilemmas on how to best manage diversity in our increasingly plural societies. Various strategies for managing diversity have been promoted to address this challenge including assimilation, colorblindness, and multiculturalism. However, empirical evidence has revealed that each poses weaknesses for intergroup relations. As a result, policy-makers and political theorists have promoted interculturalism as an alternate strategy that addresses new and emerging realities revolving around superdiversity, cultural fusions, and mixed forms of identity. In the current paper, we explore interculturalism as a pro-diversity ideology that takes a more dynamic view of cultural identity where individuals belonging to different social groups are supported to interact and influence each other leading to new and complex self-understandings. We consider the meaning and conceptualization of interculturalism, its psychological correlates, its implications for intergroup relations, and how minority group members perceive interculturalism. Given that empirical research on interculturalism is in its infancy, we further consider gaps in our understanding of the topic and suggest avenues for future research.

In the aftermath of an intergroup conflict, along with instrumental reparations, victims may request an apology on behalf of the perpetrators, yet such political apologies are often not given. Whereas we know a lot about the motivations of the victims, less is known about when and why the perpetrators are willing to apologize. In this study, from the perspective of the perpetrator group, we simultaneously examined and compared support for a political apology and for instrumental reparations (e.g., financial support and other forms of assistance) offered to both former colonies and colonial-origin minorities living in the country responsible for the past colonization. We considered the indirect role of positive and negative representations of the colonial past via feelings of group-based guilt. Using a community sample of the native Dutch population ('N' = 763), we showed that the Dutch were more supportive of instrumental reparations than of political apology. They also agreed with both the positive and negative aspects of their colonial past, but they did not experience much collective guilt. Agreement with positive representations of the Dutch colonial past was, via weaker feelings of group-based guilt, related to less support for both political apology and instrumental reparations. In contrast, negative representations of the past were, via higher guilt, related to more support for these reconciliatory outcomes. These processes were similar for higher and lower in-group identifiers. Importantly, the association between guilt and support for political apology was twice as large as the one between guilt and support for instrumental reparations, suggesting that political apology is more effective in restoring the in-group’s moral self-image.

Even though there is growing awareness that economic inequality is harmful for people's health, the way that such inequality affects social behavior and political attitudes remains poorly understood. Moving beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality, we review research that examines how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies, addressing the questions why, when, and for whom inequality affects social behavior and political attitudes. On the basis of classic social identity theorizing, we develop five hypotheses that focus on the way inequality shapes the fit of wealth categorizations (H1), intergroup relations (H2), and stereotypes about wealth groups (H3). We also theorize how the effects of inequality are moderated by socio-structural conditions (H4) and socio-economic status (H5). Together, these hypotheses provide a theoretically informed account of the way in which inequality undermines the social fabric of society and negatively affects citizen's social and political behavior.

Social psychological research has distinguished between ethnic and civic conceptions of citizenship and examined the differential associations of these conceptions with perceived out-group competition and threats to explain attitudes towards immigrants. In contrast, the current study examines two dimensions of group indispensability: functional indispensability and identity indispensability. In a survey study conducted among a national sample of native Dutch we found that the endorsement of ethnic citizenship is related to weaker support for immigrants’ social rights because of a lower sense of functional indispensability and of identity indispensability. In contrast, the endorsement of civic citizenship was associated with higher acceptance of immigrant rights because of a stronger sense of functional and identity indispensability of immigrants.

Direct contact between members of ethnic groups is proven to reduce intergroup prejudice. Recent research, however, explores the effects of alternative types of contact, amongst them via social networks in virtual space. This is especially important for e.g. post-conflict societies in which there is limited opportunity for direct contact between the groups. Drawing from a sample of 374 ethnic majority students from three such societies Serbia, Croatia, and Cyprus, we tested if the number of online interethnic friends predicted more positive out-group attitudes over and above the effect of face-to-face contacts. This relationship testified to the added value of online ties. We also tested if intergroup anxiety and perceived ethnic threat would mediate the relationship between online friendships and out-group attitudes. Results from the combined sample showed clear mediation effects. This suggested that the mechanisms through which online contact reduces prejudice are comparable to the mechanisms detected for face-to-face contact. Yet the mediation was not convincingly replicated at the country level. Further research could make use of this simple measure of alternative contact, as well as test a different set of mediators to identify mechanisms that are possibly unique to online contacts. Interethnic online contact via social networks has potential to reduce prejudice.Online contact reduces prejudice by reducing anxiety and perceived intergroup threat, similar to direct contact.The effects of online contact were investigated in three post-conflict societies: Serbia, Croatia and Cyprus.Online friendships predicted more positive out-group attitudes over and above direct interethnic contact.Mediation was found for the combined sample, but not consistently for separate countries.

A developmental approach provides a unique vantage point for understanding the origins, acquisition, and nature of change regarding intergroup attitudes and behavior. Developmental research has focused predominantly on understanding and addressing negative intergroup attitudes and behaviors. We assert that group identity and group dynamics do not have to lead to discriminatory and prejudicial behavior but can actually contribute to an inclusive orientation. Moreover, these orientations do not occur in a vacuum but depend on the broader social context and the specific group distinctions. A broader social and cultural approach is important for understanding the implications of intergroup attitudes for healthy social development as well as the creation of a fair and just society.

This study investigated how students’ ethnic pride was related to variation in ethnic composition between classrooms as well as within the same classroom over time. Predictions derived from optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) were tested among 13- to 14-year-old ethnic majority and minority students ( N = 1,123). Lending support to ODT, a curvilinear relation between the share of same-ethnicity classmates and students’ ethnic pride was found in a cross-sectional analysis, with ethnic pride peaking in classrooms with approximately 50% same-ethnicity classmates. In line with ODT, longitudinal analyses revealed ethnic pride decreased for students who moved away from a share of 50% same-ethnicity classmates. Contrary to ODT, however, ethnic pride also decreased for students who moved closer to this point of optimal distinctiveness.

This study investigates the psychological processes by which national language usage predicts immigrants’ national identification. We proposed that national language usage, as a key aspect of behavioral participation, signals to immigrants their closeness to fitting the national prototype (operationalized as perceived similarities with receiving country and acceptance as national co-member). This in turn fosters stronger national identification. Additionally, we tested whether perceived language competence strengthens the link between language usage and closeness to the prototype. The hypotheses were tested using a cross-national survey (N = 3794) of Muslim migrants in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. The results (using structural equation modeling) generally supported the predictions, offering evidence for the psychological mechanisms by which behavioral participation encourages identification with new groups.

In recent decades, a norm of tolerating group differences has been promoted by laypeople and leaders as a way to manage cultural and religious diversity. But whether such a policy is beneficial for the targets’ sense of group belonging and well-being is unknown. This research investigates how being tolerated differs from being discriminated against and being accepted in its associations with affective well-being and ethnic and national identification of ethnic minorities. We test whether being tolerated is related to well-being through its association with both group identifications. With a sample of ethnic minority group members in the Netherlands (N = 518) we found that being tolerated is related to higher well-being through increased national identification, but not as strongly as being accepted. Being tolerated is different from experiencing discrimination against and being accepted, and its relations to well-being and group belonging often fall between those of discrimination and acceptance. Toleration is associated with higher well-being, but only to the extent that its targets feel included in the overarching national category.

Collective psychological ownership refers to people’s perception that an object, place, or idea belongs to their own group. We considered this concept in the context of territorial conflicts and proposed that (1) collective psychological ownership is distinct from place attachment, (2) higher ingroup identifiers are more likely to claim collective ownership and feel attached to the territory, yet (3) only ownership claims are related to lower support for reconciliation. These hypotheses were tested in two studies using structural equation modelling. Study 1 addressed the Kosovo conflict, based on Serbian participants living in Serbia (N = 264). We found that collective psychological ownership and place attachment were distinct. Moreover, higher Serbian identifiers had a stronger sense of collective ownership of Kosovo and were more attached to it. Those with stronger feelings of collective ownership supported reconciliation with Albanians less, while place attachment did not hinder reconciliation. Study 2 replicated these findings among a new sample of Serbs in Serbia (N = 173), among Serbs in Kosovo (N = 129), and in two other conflict settings: among Greek Cypriots in Cyprus (N = 135) and Jews in Israel (N = 109). Altogether, we provide evidence that collective psychological ownership can represent an obstacle to reconciliation in conflict regions.

Intolerance appears to be commonplace worldwide. There are near-daily reports of intolerance toward refugees and immigrants, people from different religious and ethnic groups, and people who hold ideologically differing viewpoints. However, not all forms of intolerance are the same. In the present work, we discuss the psychology of three understandings of intolerance that are concealed within the literature: (a) prejudicial intolerance based on rigidity, closedmindedness, and antipathy toward a group of people; (b) intuitive intolerance involving disapproval of out-group beliefs or practices based on unreflective responding; and (c) deliberative intolerance, which involves interfering with specific beliefs or practices that are considered to violate moral principles and values. We argue that these three understandings have different implications for (a) how to respond to intolerance and (b) how disagreements on interpretation of examples of intolerance can result in irreconcilable differences among cultural, religious, and ideological groups.

Immigrants experience identity shifts; they can identify with the new cultural group and, sometimes, identify less with their group of origin. Previous research suggests that participation in the new cultural group predicts these two identity shifts. However, these studies have exclusively used correlational methodologies. Furthermore, previous research ignored that when a group is negatively valued, individuals may not identify with it, even after participating in it, to preserve a positive social identity. This article tests with an experimental methodology whether participation recreated the identity shifts previously identified (greater identification with the new group and lower identification with the group of origin when perceiving dissimilarity). Furthermore, it tested how a group's value impacted these identity shifts following participation. Immigrants in Quebec (N = 184) either participated in Quebec's culture (watched hockey) or did not (watched basketball). Quebec's value was manipulated by changing whether Quebec won, tied, or lost the game. Compared to watching basketball, watching Quebec's team win or tie showed the hypothesized identity shifts, illustrating the importance of the new group's value when participating.

Although research has shown that school context has consequences for intergroup attitudes, few studies have examined the role of teacher qualities, such as teacher support. In addition, previous research has paid limited attention to the mechanisms that could help to explain teacher effects. This 5-wave study (2010–2015) examined the effects of perceived teacher support on the anti-immigrant attitudes of Swedish majority youth (N = 671, M age = 13.41, 50.2% girls, 34 classrooms). It also tested whether social trust would mediate these effects. The results of multilevel analyses showed that perceived teacher support was associated with less prejudice at all levels of analysis. At the within-person level, fluctuations in teacher support were related to fluctuations in youth prejudice: in years when, on average, adolescents perceived their teachers as more supportive, they reported lower prejudice. At the between-person level, adolescents who perceived their teachers as more supportive compared to their peers reported lower prejudice. Similarly, classrooms where students shared an experience of teacher support were lower in prejudice than classrooms with weaker teacher support. The results also showed that social trust explained teacher effects: adolescents who experienced their teachers as more supportive displayed higher levels of trust and, in turn, lower levels of prejudice than youth with less supportive teachers. These findings suggest that teachers can counteract the development of prejudice and facilitate social trust in adolescents by being supportive of them.

Immigrants and their descendants typically identify with ethnic, national, religious, and/or regional groups, in various combinations and with varying degrees of compatibility or conflict. Research and theorizing on these patterns of identification, as represented in this issue, suggest guideposts for future research and domains for policy development. Here, we identify some of the issues that warrant additional research and we consider implications of existing research on dual (or multiple) identification for the development and implementation of policies related to immigrants. Examples of the former include the need for careful specification of concepts, the consideration of multiple dimensions of identity, deeper examination of identity meanings, methodological extensions in time and space, and greater theoretical integration. Policy development will require greater attention to various identity combinations, advocacy for national inclusivity, the promotion of sites for positive intergroup contact, and maximizing the potential for immigrants with multiple identities to help bridge intergroup gaps.

Discussions about diversity and multiculturalism are commonplace in education, organizations, and all levels of public policy and government. The current paper discusses new developments in the psychological literature on the implications of diversity and multiculturalism for intergroup relations by considering: (a) demographic diversity, (b) national policies on diversity and multiculturalism, and (c) ideological beliefs and discourse about diversity and multiculturalism. After considering the nuanced effects of diversity and multiculturalism for intergroup relations, we consider the nature and implications of interculturalism, a new and emerging diversity approach that has received little attention in the psychological literature. We conclude by highlighting the importance of studying diversity across multiple levels of analysis, perspectives, and intergroup outcomes.

Immigrants and their descendants make up a growing share of the population in countries across Europe, North America, and Oceania. This large-scale immigration challenges once relatively stable notions of ethnic, national (or regional), and religious identities. Immigrants and their children confront the task of defining themselves in a new and unfamiliar context. Questions regarding immigrants’ identifications with their ethnic and national groups—but also with local, religious, and supranational groups—have animated national policy debates. This special issue brings together research on migrants’ sense of a “being both,” and the research and policy implications of this particular form of multiple identification. This introductory article discusses the conceptualisation of multiple identification, the importance of group dynamics for the adoption of dual identities, as well as the implications of identification with multiple social groups for immigrants and their receiving societies.

In this paper we discuss the social identity processes by which discrimination can have an impact on ethnic-racial minority group students’ academic engagement. After considering the forms, targets and sources of discrimination, we argue that discrimination implies social identity threat. Threats to ethnic/racial identity compromise specific social identity needs (belongingness, esteem, control) which relate to important motives for academic engagement and performance. Minority students seek to cope with their threatened ethnic/racial identity, and increased engagement as well as protective disengagement with the academic domain, at both the individual level and the group level, are discussed as coping strategies. We also briefly consider the possible moderating roles of individual differences in the subjective importance of one’s ethnic or racial group membership, and of three classroom characteristics: classroom composition, student–teacher relation, and multicultural education. We conclude by providing directions for future research and consider some practical implications.

During the recent inflow of asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe, the native population in Greek frontier islands largely offered humanitarian assistance to these immigrants, while support for their permanent settlement in the area was low. To explain this discrepancy, we investigated whether sympathy toward asylum seekers, perceptions of threat posed by asylum seekers, and asylum seekers’ perceived societal contributions relate differently to native Greeks’ self-reported provision of humanitarian assistance and to their support for asylum seekers’ permanent settlement in Greece. Using data from a representative sample of 1,220 Greek participants, we found that Greeks who showed more sympathy toward asylum seekers were more likely to report having offered humanitarian assistance. Further, participants who felt more sympathy and those who perceived higher asylum seekers’ contributions were more positive toward asylum seekers’ permanent settlement, whereas participants who perceived more threat from asylum seekers showed less support for their permanent settlement. We conclude that policies geared toward motivating people to provide humanitarian aid to asylum seekers should focus on generating sympathy, whereas policies geared toward increasing long-term acceptance of asylum seekers need to additionally consider lowering threat perceptions and highlighting asylum seekers’ contributions.

In the last few years, the number of unaccompanied youths arriving in Europe has increased steadily. During their settlement in host countries, they are exposed to a great variety of vulnerabilities, which have an impact on their mental health. This research examines the effects of participation in a mentoring programme on the psychological and educational outcomes among unaccompanied migrant youths who live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Data in this mixed-methods study were obtained from 44 surveys with mentored (treatment group) and non-mentored (control group) male youths who had recently turned 18, as well as through thirty semi-structured interviews with mentored youths, their adult mentors, and non-mentored youths. Our findings indicated that participation in the mentoring programme improved the mentored youths’ self-esteem, resilience, and hope, as well as their desired or expected educational outcomes in this new context. We conclude that well-targeted and problem-specific mentoring programmes have positive and marked effects on unaccompanied migrant youths’ mental health. The social and political implications of these outcomes are also discussed, providing information on how interventions can offer effective networks of support for the settlement and social inclusion of unaccompanied migrant youths This study is part of the Project RECERCAIXA2017UdG, Applying Mentoring: Social and technological innovations for the social inclusion of immigrants and refugees, funded by the RecerCaixa programme, a collaboration of “La Caixa” Welfare Projects and the Catalan Association of Public Universities

Ethnic minority parents are often less involved with their children's schooling, and this may hamper their children's academic success, thus contributing to ethnic educational inequality. The authors aim to explain differences in parental involvement, using nationally representative survey data from the Netherlands of parents of primary school-aged children of Dutch, Turkish, and Moroccan origin. Descriptive findings show lower levels of parental involvement across several domains among ethnic minority compared to Dutch majority parents. Moreover, mothers are significantly more involved than fathers. To explain ethnic and gender gaps in parental engagement, the authors draw on parents' skills and household resources, parenting goals, and self-efficacy as important antecedents for their motivation to become involved. The model explains substantial portions of the variance in parental involvement and succeeds in fully explaining ethnic discrepancies by parents' levels of education and language proficiency. However, the gender gap in parental involvement remains unexplained.