THE ASSIMILATION ORIENTATION OF IMMIGRANTS AND AUSTRALIANS.

In this paper three orientations were distinguished: monism, interactionism, and pluralism, but the last was held by only a few of the subjects. Interactionism, which advocates that immigrants and host group should tolerate each other and should gradually converge as a result of interaction, was more often preferred to monism, which advocates complete assimilation as quickly as possible. Monism among Australians was higher for males than for females and was associated with unfriendly attitudes towards immigrants. Among immigrants, monism was associated with being more highly assimilated and with being intolerant of ambiguity. The evidence suggests that monism is more likely to be a result of assimilation than a cause of it. A study was also made of the mutual perceptions of' the orientation of Australians, of British, and of non-British immigrants. These perceptions and misperceptions reflect the attitudes of the subjects towards these groups, per ceived interactionism being a sign of a favourable attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]