Andreas Zick

Acculturation and Prejudice in Germany: Majority and Minority Perspectives

This article explores the connections between prejudice and specific attitudes toward acculturation in Germany. Results of surveys confirm the hypothesis that prejudice is related to ideologies of assimilation and segregation among majority- group members. Moreover, experimental and correlational studies indicate that these attitudes are linked to discriminatory behavior. Further analyses of studies with ethnic minorities prove that prejudice and acculturation are linked within minority groups as well. Additionally it is shown that prejudice is functional in order for minorities to acculturate. These studies confirm the impression that there is a close link between macrosocial and microsocial levels of coping with migration.

Outgroup prejudice in western Europe.

Outgroup prejudice has been a major area for social psychological applications. Yet European social psychology has not widely studied prejudice against the continents new minorities. These groups provide a useful comparison with which to test generalizations concerning prejudice derived largely on African-Americans. This chapter advances two interrelated hypotheses: (1) The universality hypothesis predicts that social psychological factors operate in similar ways across nations and target groups though the macro-contexts vary widely; (2) the mediation hypothesis predicts that key social psychological predictors of prejudice serve as critical mediators of the effects on prejudice of social factors. We test these hypotheses and more specific phenomena with analyses of the rich data of the 1988 Euro-Barometer 30 survey. We find considerable support for both hypotheses. There are remarkable consistencies, with some distinctive features, in prejudice phenomena that operate across nations and outgroups. The ch...

Secondary Transfer Effects of Intergroup Contact: A Cross-National Comparison in Europe

This article examines so-called secondary transfer effects of intergroup contact, a phenomenon whereby positive intergroup contact experiences can influence attitudes not only toward encountered (primary) outgroups but also toward other (secondary) outgroups that were not initially involved in the intergroup encounter. The current study relies on a unique cross-sectional sample of the general population drawn from eight European countries (N = 7,042) to examine the relationship between intergroup contact with immigrants and attitudes toward primary (immigrants) and secondary (homosexuals and Jews) outgroups. Results showed that intergroup contact was not only directly related with primary outgroup attitudes but also indirectly associated with secondary outgroup attitudes, via attitude generalization. These relationships occurred primarily for individuals low in social dominance orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to understanding secondary transfer effects of contact as well as the role of social dominance orientation as a moderator of such effects.

Sozialpsychologische Analysen und Erklärungen von Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung: Dargestellt werden empirische Untersuchungen, vornehmlich aus der Sozialpsychologie, zu Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Deutschland. Die Einstellungen zu ethnischen Minderheiten sind im eu...

Inverse gender gap in Germany: Social dominance orientation among men and women

Across cultures studies show that men score higher on social dominance orientation than women. This gender gap is considered invariant, but conflicting explanations are discussed: Some authors refer to evolutionary psychology and perceive the gender gap to be driven by sociobiological factors. Other authors argue that social roles or gender-stereotypical self-construals encouraged by intergroup comparisons are responsible for attitudinal gender difference. In Study 1 we analyzed sex differences in social dominance orientation in three German probability surveys (each n > 2300). Unexpectedly, the analyses yielded an inverse gender gap with higher values for social dominance orientation in women than in men. Interactions with age, education, political conservatism, and perceived inequity indicated that the inverse gender gap can be mainly attributed to older, conservative, (and less educated) respondents, and those who feel they get their deserved share. In Study 2 we replicated the well-known gender gap with men scoring higher than women in social dominance orientation among German students. Results are interpreted on the basis of biocultural interaction, which integrates the sociobiological, social role, and self-construal perspectives. Our unusual findings seem to reflect a struggle for status by members of low-status groups who consider group-based hierarchy the most promising option to improve their status. While younger women take advantage of a relational, feminine self-construal that leads to lower social dominance orientation in young women than in young men, older women are supposed to profit from an agentic self-construal that results in stronger social dominance orientation values. Specific characteristics of the culture in Germany seem to promote this strategy. Here, we discuss the female ideal of the national socialist period and the agentic female social role in the post-war era necessitated by the absence of men.

Understanding the devaluation of vulnerable groups: A novel application of Institutional Anomie Theory

Prejudices legitimize the discrimination against groups by declaring them to be of unequal, especially of less, worth. This legitimizing power is highly relevant in social conflicts of modern societies that are governed by market-oriented value systems. However, prejudice research has yet to be linked to sociological discourses on the marketization of society. We argue that Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT), a theory originally developed to explain crime rates, offers a fruitful macro-sociological framework for a better understanding of micro-social prejudices that emerge along with processes of marketization. Extending IAT to explain prejudices in a German study based on survey data offers a first attempt to underpin our theoretical hypotheses with empirical data. Although the results need to be interpreted with due caution, they suggest that the extended IAT model can be usefully applied to explain how a marketized mentality is related to different forms of institutional integration, and how it is conducive to specific prejudices that emerge in market-dominated societies against purported economically burdening social groups.

Reducing aggressive intergroup action tendencies: Effects of intergroup contact via perceived intergroup threat

Two studies tested the prediction that more positive intergroup contact would be associated with reduced aggressive intergroup action tendencies, an effect predicted to occur indirectly via reduced intergroup threat perceptions, and over and above well-established effects of contact on intergroup attitudes. Study 1, using data based on a cross-section of the general population of eight European countries (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and the UK; N = 7,042), examined this hypothesis in the context of aggressive action tendencies towards immigrants. Study 2, using longitudinal data obtained from a general population sample in Northern Ireland, considered effects on aggressive action tendencies between ethno-religious groups in conflict. Both studies confirmed our predictions, showing that while perceived threat was associated with greater intergroup aggressive tendencies, positive intergroup contact was indirectly associated with reduced aggressive action tendencies, via reduced intergroup threat. Findings are discussed in terms of the theoretical contributions of this research for understanding the relationship between intergroup contact and intergroup aggression.

Anomie, marketization, and prejudice toward purportedly unprofitable groups Elaborating a theoretical approach on anomie-driven prejudices

This paper discusses systematically different concepts of anomie as an explanation of Group-focused Enmity (GFE) against selected groups in society. The GFE research programme has demonstrated the utility of applying the concept of ‘anomia’ – an individual reaction to disruptions in the normative order – to explain prejudices against vulnerable groups. This paper extends the GFE research programme by incorporating insights from Institutional Anomie Theory, a theoretical perspective originally introduced in the criminological literature. Drawing upon this, it develops a theoretical model that links perceptions of weakened non-economic institutions with prejudices against groups that are readily seen as being ‘unprofitable’. These perceptions are theorized to affect prejudices against such groups via a pathway of ‘marketized’ attitudes and orientations, net of any influence of anomia. This paper’s theoretical model was assessed with data from a representative survey of the German population (n = 840). The results of Structural Equation Modelling support most of the main hypotheses, revealing the additional value for prejudice research of measuring the individual experience of anomie not only as anomia but also with respect to processes of marketization.

Rechtsextremismus Erscheinungsformen, Strategien und Ursachen

Der Beitrag erortert Facetten und Ursachen des Rechtsextremismus und stellt diese Analyse in den Kontext von Einstellungen und Taten. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass rechtsextreme Orientierungen auf Ideologien der Ungleichwertigkeit und Gewalt basieren, die sich mit nationalistischen Dominanzanspruchen verbinden. Beschrieben werden Ausmase und Erscheinungsformen des aktuellen Rechtsextremismus sowie Strategien rechtsextremer Gruppen. Zudem wird die Frage gestellt, warum Menschen rechtsextreme Orientierungen ausbilden. Die Ubersicht ergibt, dass rechtsextreme Gruppen dann besonders attraktiv fur Menschen sind, wenn sie in einem spezifischen Kontext soziale Motive erfullen. Gesellschaftlich problematisch ist das besonders dann, wenn rechtsextreme Gruppen mittels spezifischer Strategien der Bedrohung Kontrolle uber soziale Raume gewinnen.

Misleading Images. Results from Interviews with Media Producers, Journalists and Consumers on Muslims and Islam in German Media

As part of the multi-methodological and explorative project ‘Muslims in the European Mediascape’, we conducted focus group interviews with media users of Muslim background. The analysis shows that Muslims in Germany tend to mix media sources in order to get a balanced view on news and current affairs. A large share uses German mainstream media as well as specialized media that cater to the needs and interests of Muslims. The fear of a so-called ‘parallel media society’ of Muslims appears unjustified; however, focus group participants as well as journalists that were also interviewed during the project observed a radicalization of Muslims who were previously indifferent to their religion. Some Muslims seem to have developed a stronger sense of a Muslim identity and loyalty to Muslim communities because they were pushed and encouraged by the often prejudiced media coverage on Muslims and Islam. In this survey of Muslims and non-Muslims we show how the estimation of stereotyped and unbalanced coverage on Muslims and Islam differs among Muslim and non-Muslim media users.