Cultural distance, perception of multiculturalism, and prejudices against immigrants in France

By Yara Mahfud, Constantina Badea, Serge Guimond, Nolwenn Anier, Andreea Ernst-Vintila
English

Two studies conducted in France with members of a group—the majority of whom are French—are presented. A first correlational study questioned participants about their perception of a cultural distance between different immigrant groups and the majority French group, about their personal support of multiculturalism and assimilation, about their level of prejudice toward each minority group, and about their perception of multiculturalism as a threat toward national identity. In a second, similar study, we experimentally manipulated cultural distance. In agreement with our hypothesis, French people who perceive multiculturalism as a threat display more prejudice toward immigrants than French people who perceive multiculturalism as less threatening. Results also showed an interaction between cultural distance, the perception of multiculturalism as threatening, and personal support toward integration models. On the one hand, French people who personally support multiculturalism and perceive this model as threatening express more prejudice, regardless of their perception of cultural distance. On the other hand, French people who personally support assimilation and perceive multiculturalism as threatening express more prejudice when they perceive a large cultural distance than when they perceive a small one.

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