Borja Martinovic

Social Identity Complexity and Immigrants’ Attitude Toward the Host Nation The Intersection of Ethnic and Religious Group Identification

Social identity complexity refers to individual differences in the interrelationships among multiple ingroup identities. The present research conducted in the Netherlands examines social identity complexity in relation to Muslim immigrants’ national identification and the attitude toward the host majority. Three studies are reported that focused on the interrelationship between ethnicity and religion and examined social identity complexity in different ways. Study 1 showed that lower social identity complexity is associated with lower national identification. Studies 2 and 3 examined the interaction between ethnic and religious group identification. For Muslim identifiers, higher ethnic identification was related to lower national identification and higher ingroup bias (Studies 2) and lower endorsement of national liberal practices (Study 3). In contrast, for those who did not strongly identify with Muslims, higher ethnic identification was associated with higher national identification, stronger endorsement of Dutch liberal practices, and more positive stereotypes about the Dutch outgroup (Study 3).

Host National Identification of Immigrants in the Netherlands

This study examines immigrants’ identification with the host country. We use survey data of more than 1,700 Turkish and Moroccan immigrants and more than 2,200 natives in the Netherlands. We answer four main questions in this study. First, do immigrants have lower national identification than natives? Second, does the level of national identification differ between immigrant groups? Third, do economic and social integration similarly affect national identification among immigrants and natives? And fourth, what are important additional determinants of national identification among immigrants? The results show that, compared to Dutch natives, Turkish but not Moroccan immigrants have lower national identification. Being employed and socially integrated is associated with higher national identification among immigrants as well as natives, but only among immigrants is higher occupational status associated with higher national identification. For immigrants, Dutch language proficiency, perceived discrimination, and contact with natives proved to be important conditions for national identification.

Acquisition of Cross-Ethnic Friends by Recent Immigrants in Canada: A Longitudinal Approach.

This paper examines the development of inter-ethnic friendships between immigrants and Canadians. It uses longitudinal data from three waves of the Canadian LSIC survey, in which newly arrived immigrants were followed during the first 4 years of settlement. It is found that pre-migration characteristics play an important role in the development of inter-ethnic friendships: immigrants who arrive at a younger age and for economic reasons, as well as those who are highly educated and have a cross-ethnic partner at the moment of arrival, establish more inter-ethnic friendships over time. In addition, post-migration characteristics affect the formation of inter-ethnic friendships. Such friendships are more common among immigrants who embrace Canadian traditions and acquire the host-country language, as well as among those who work in international settings and inhabit ethnically mixed neighborhoods. The effects of pre-migration characteristics are partially mediated by post-migration characteristics. Our findings point out that economic, cultural, and spatial integration are all conducive to inter-ethnic friendships.

The integration paradox: level of education and immigrants' attitudes towards natives and the host society.

The so-called integration paradox refers to the phenomenon of the economically more integrated and highly educated immigrants turning away from the host society, instead of becoming more oriented toward it. The present study examined this paradox in the Netherlands among a large sample (N = 3,981) of immigrants, including 2 generations and 4 ethnic groups. The assumed negative relationship between level of education and attitudes toward the host society and the native population was expected to be mediated by two indicators of perceived acceptance by the native majority: discrimination and subgroup respect. Results show that higher educated immigrants perceive more discrimination and less respect for minorities, and these perceptions, in turn, relate to less positive evaluations of the native majority and the host society. This pattern of associations is quite similar for the 2 generations and for the 4 migrant groups.

Longing for the country's good old days: National nostalgia, autochthony beliefs, and opposition to Muslim expressive rights

Four studies tested the prediction that feelings of national nostalgia (i.e. nostalgia on the basis of ones national ingroup membership) result in more opposition towards expressive rights for Muslim immigrants, because they strengthen the belief that a place belongs to its original inhabitants, and that they are therefore more entitled (i.e. autochthony). Study 1 found that national nostalgia can be distinguished from personal nostalgia, and that national (rather than personal) nostalgia was related to more opposition to Muslim rights via stronger endorsement of autochthony. This latter result was replicated in another survey study (Study 2) and in an experiment (Study 3) in which national nostalgia was manipulated. Study 4 provided preliminary evidence that the salience of autochthony increases opposition to Muslim rights.

The Multicultural Jigsaw Puzzle Category Indispensability and Acceptance of Immigrants’ Cultural Rights

This research introduces and examines the relatively novel concept of category indispensability. It is examined whether the perception of subgroup indispensability for the identity of a superordinate category is associated with majority members’ acceptance of minority rights. We investigated the role of perceived national category indispensability of immigrants for native’s acceptances of immigrants’ expressive cultural rights. The general hypothesis tested is that higher perceived category indispensability of immigrant groups is associated with higher acceptance. Results from four studies provide support for this hypothesis among native Dutch participants living in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the relationship was found to be mediated by a sense of common dual belonging and by deprovincialization beliefs.

Behind the ethnic–civic distinction: Public attitudes towards immigrants’ political rights in the Netherlands

Public opinion research has sought to distinguish between ethnic and civic conceptions of citizenship and examined the differential associations of these conceptions with policy preferences in the realm of immigration. What has not been examined empirically is why exactly these conceptions are related to peoples preferences. In two survey studies conducted among national samples of native Dutch we tested the proposition that the endorsement of ethnic citizenship is related to lower acceptance of Muslim immigrant rights (Study 1) and their political participation (Study 2) because of a weaker normative sense of common national belonging and higher adherence to autochthony (primo-occupancy) beliefs. In contrast, the endorsement of civic citizenship was expected to be associated with higher acceptance of Muslim immigrant rights and their political participation because of a stronger sense of common belonging and lower belief in autochthony. The findings of the two studies are similar and in support of these expectations.

A Longitudinal Study of Interethnic Contacts in Germany: Estimates from a Multilevel Growth Curve Model

Interethnic ties are considered important for the cohesion in society. Previous research has studied the determinants of interethnic ties with cross-sectional data or lagged panel designs. This study improves on prior research by applying multilevel growth curve modelling techniques with lagged independent variables, which provide better estimates of causal relationships than methods previously applied. Longitudinal data are used from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), covering a 15-year period. The study analyses within- and between-person differences in contacts with native Germans for Turkish, (ex)Yugoslav, Spanish, Italian and Greek immigrants in Germany. Immigrants who learn the German language and get employed are more likely to subsequently establish contacts with Germans. Furthermore, immigrants who intend to settle permanently in Germany develop more interethnic ties than those who intend to return. No evidence is found for investments in education. The multilevel growth curve models not only confirm some of the earlier established determinants, but also question the causal impact of others.

Mobilising mosques? The role of service attendance for political participation of Turkish and Moroccan minorities in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT Religious service attendance has been identified as an important source of political participation among Christians and Muslims in the USA. In Europe, where religion is seen as a barrier rather than a bridge to Muslims’ integration, the role of mosque attendance for the political participation of Muslims remains understudied. This study asks whether the politically mobilizing role of service attendance extends to Muslim minorities in Europe. We examine direct and indirect effects of the frequency of religious service attendance on organizational participation, political trust and voting intentions among large nationwide samples of Turkish and Moroccan minorities in the Netherlands using multi-group structural equation modelling. Our results show that service attendance relates positively to engagement in both co-ethnic and mainstream organizations. These two forms of civic engagement translate into a greater intention to vote among Turks, but not Moroccans.

Collective Psychological Ownership and Intergroup Relations

Whereas much social psychological research has studied the in-group and out-group implications of social categorization and collective identity (“we”), little research has examined the nature and relevance of collective psychological ownership (“ours”) for intergroup relations. We make a case for considering collective psychological ownership as an important source of intergroup tensions. We do so by integrating theory and research from various social sciences, and we draw out implications for future social psychological research on intergroup relations. We discuss collective psychological ownership in relation to the psychology of possessions, marking behavior, intergroup threats, outgroup exclusion, and in-group responsibility. We suggest that the social psychological processes discussed apply to a range of ownership objects (territory, buildings, cultural artifacts) and various intergroup settings, including international, national, and local contexts, and in organizations and communities. We conclude by providing directions for future research in different intergroup contexts.