Cultural Diversity

Cultural Diversity: Its Social Psychology shows how social psychology can contribute to contemporary debates about immigration and multiculturalism. Shows how social psychology can contribute to contemporary debates about immigration and cultural diversity. Helps readers to understand the processes that have shaped modern societies and the diversity issues they are facing. Reviews research into the socio-psychological factors facilitating or hindering the emergence of plural societies. Focuses on intergroup relationships – what happens when people migrate, how they adapt, and what changes are produced by their presence. The issues discussed are contextualised within the traditional accounts of the nation-state, European integration and North American and Australian experiences. Student-friendly features include boxes, summaries, lists of key words, suggestions for further reading and a glossary.

Foreword by Serge Moscovici vii Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv What is Social Psychology About? xvi Social Psychology and the Study of Multicultural Societies xviii Cultural Memberships and Understanding of the Social World xx Beliefs About Acculturation: The Coexistence of Different Cultures Under the Same Political and Social Organization xxiv 1 Moving Into New Environments: The Perspective of People Belonging to Non-Dominant Cultural Groups 1 Managing Change, Unfamiliar Environments, and Experiences: Acculturation as a Major Life-Change Event 4 Transmitting and Retaining One’s Cultural Values, and Challenges to Perceptions of the World and of the Self 12 Becoming a Member of the ‘‘New Society’’: Dealing with Devalued/Minority Identities, Prejudice, and Discrimination 20 2 Receiving Immigrants, Perceiving the Other: Reactions of People Belonging to Dominant Cultural Groups 33 Social Psychological Theories of Prejudice 35 Representations of Groups: Stereotypes and Social Categorization 42 Prejudice Linked to Racial Differentiation 45 Constructing ‘‘Otherness’’: Extreme Problematizations of the Outgroup 52 Feeling Threatened: Identity, Change, and Resources 60 3 Living Together in Culturally Diverse Societies 66 Reducing Prejudice: Contact and Categorization Issues 67 Relationships Between Groups: Issues of Negative and Positive Interdependence and Power 73 Superordinate Memberships: The Battle for Group Beliefs 85 4 Towards Cultural Diversity: Representations, Identity, and Social Influence 97 The Nation-State: A Powerful Ingroup 99 Supranational Groups, Multiple Identities, and Founding Myths: Developing New Projects 112 In the Name of Identity: Self-Knowledge and the Politics of Rights, Claims, and Recognition in Culturally Diverse Societies 121 Theoretical Snapshots 128 References 181 Index 209