Edwin Poppe

Competence and morality dimensions of national and ethnic stereotypes: a study in six eastern-European countries

AbstractTo investigate the role of competence and morality in stereotypes, a cross-nationalresearch was set up in six eastern-European countries. Study 1 measured theperceived desirability of stereotype attributes in ingroup versus outgroup members.Across countries, biopolar Competence and Morality components emerged. It wasfound that the perceived desirability of ingroup attributes was primarily competence-based, while desirability perceptions of outgroup attributes were mostly morality-based. In Study 2, participants in the six countries rated the occurrence ofcompetence- and morality-related stereotype attributes among 10 national and ethnictarget groups. Study 2 also assessed general evaluative attitudes and perceptions ofpower and conflict in inter-nation relations. Competence and morality dimensionsfully explained the evaluative structure of national and ethnic stereotypes, generatinga four-fold typology of sinful–loser, sinful–winner, virtuous–loser and virtuous–winnerstereotypes. This typology was strongly related to perceptions of power and conflictbetween national groups. # 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 27: 703–723 (1997)No. of Figures: 3 No. of Tables: 2 No. of References: 41CCC 0046–2772/97/060703–21

In-group favouritism and the reflection of realistic dimensions of difference between national states in Central and Eastern European nationality stereotypes

17.50 Received 4 July 1996#1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 4 November 1996European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 27, 703–723 (1997)

Political Tolerance and Prejudice: Differential Reactions Toward Muslims in the Netherlands

This study examines the content of European nationality stereotypes held by adolescents from six Central and Eastern European countries and in-group favouritism on the dimensions underlying these nationality stereotypes. It was found that the content of nationality stereotypes reflects a competence and a morality dimension, and that each dimension is related to perceived structural or relational features of nation states. The attribution of competence-related traits to out-group nationalities is strongly related to the perceived economic power of the nation states and the attribution of morality-related traits to the size of the nation states, as well as perceived conflicts of interests, nationalism and economic power. The participants did not blindly favour their in-group over all foreign nationalities on competence or morality. The tendency to perceive Western European nationalities as more competent than the in-group reflects a social reality constraint due to lower economic status. Furthermore, in-group favouritism on competence decreased as a function of the economic status and size of out-groups, while in-group favouritism on morality increased as a function of economic status and size of out-groups. These results are interpreted in terms of self-categorization theory and social identity theory.

Mobilizing opposition towards Muslim immigrants: National identification and the representation of national history

The aim of this study was to explain political tolerance for Muslims from an intergroup perspective. Explanatory mechanisms were derived from integrated threat theory, social identity theory, and the contact and multiculturalism hypotheses. Our results, based on survey data among Dutch youth and by using structural equation modeling, revealed that endorsement of multiculturalism and perceived symbolic and safety threat were the main determinants of political tolerance. Furthermore, we compared the explanatory model for prejudiced and nonprejudiced participants. Perceived safety threat was not associated with tolerance judgments among the nonprejudiced participants. All other relationships were similar for the two groups of participants.

How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present Historical Tolerance and the Acceptance of Muslim Expressive Rights

This research, conducted in the Netherlands, investigates whether people who do not feel strongly committed to their national in-group (i.e., lower identifiers) can be mobilized against expressive rights of Muslim immigrants when specific historical representations of the nation are made salient. Three experimental studies were conducted to examine whether a national identity presented as rooted in Christianity results in comparable levels of opposition towards Muslim expressive rights for lower and higher identifiers. Results in all three studies show that higher identifiers were more likely to oppose Muslim rights than lower identifiers when a tolerant or neutral historical national identity was salient. Yet, no differences in levels of opposition between lower and higher identifiers were observed in the Christian condition. These findings underline the importance of historical representations of the nation to understand the relationship between national identification and opposition to ethnic out-groups.

Support for Separatism in Ethnic Republics of the Russian Federation

Three studies, conducted in the Netherlands, examined the relationship between a tolerant representation of national history and the acceptance of Muslim expressive rights. Following self-categorization theory, it was hypothesized that historical tolerance would be associated with greater acceptance of Muslim expressive rights, especially for natives who strongly identify with their national in-group. Furthermore, it was predicted that the positive effect of representations of historical tolerance on higher identifiers’ acceptance could be explained by reduced perceptions of identity incompatibility. The results of Study 1 confirmed the first hypothesis, and the results of Study 2 and Study 3 supported the second hypothesis. These findings underline the importance of historical representations of the nation for understanding current reactions toward immigrants. Importantly, the results show that a tolerant representation of national history can elevate acceptance of immigrants, especially among natives who feel a relatively strong sense of belonging to their nation.

Intergroup Conflict in Russia Testing the Group Position Model

Abstract This study examines popular support for separatism among Russians and non-Russian titular nationalities (titulars) in 10 ethnic republics of the Russian Federation: Karelia, Komi, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Adygea, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Sakha-Yakutia and Tuva. A survey was carried out in the urban regions of these republics in 1999 and 2000 in which 5,233 Russians and 4,703 titulars participated. We found that perceived negative inter-group relations significantly contribute to support for separatism among titulars, but reduce support for separatism by Russians. In contrast, indicators of prosperity of the republic and prior separatist elite-activism predict support for separatism among both titulars and Russians.

Ethnic and Republic Identification in the Russian Federation and Ukraine: A Social Dominance Perspective

The group position model (Blumer 1958; Bobo and Tuan 2006) assumes that attempting to secure a privileged position for the ingroup is a main determinant of perceived intergroup conflict. This assumption is tested with survey data collected in 1999 and 2000 among eight titular groups in autonomous republics of the Russian Federation. The survey included an experiment that was aimed at disentangling the effects of perceived threat and the fear of outgroup encroachment (growing outgroup influence). The findings indicate that more conflict was perceived when the ingroup was larger (corresponding to stronger entitlement claims to privilege), especially among those who felt more threatened. This association was further strengthened among those whose fear of outgroup encroachment was made salient. This study shows the relevance of the group position model in understanding perceived intergroup conflict among national minority groups with a local privileged status.

Prejudice towards Muslims in The Netherlands: Testing integrated threat theory

Using representative survey data of 5,466 ‘titular’ (i.e. named after the states or republics of residence) and Russian respondents, this study examines the relationship between ethnic and republic identification in 28 cities in five autonomous republics of the Russian Federation, in Ukraine and in the Ukrainian Republic of Crimea. In accordance with Social Dominance Theory, ethnic and republic identification turned out to be positively and more strongly correlated among dominant than among subordinate groups. Group-size ratio was not found to affect identification patterns. At the contextual level, perceived cultural threat and the endorsement of multiculturalism and minority rights moderated the association between ethnic and republic identification of both groups. Intergroup differences in identification patterns were smaller in cities where both support for multiculturalism and the perception of cultural threat were higher. These results also shed light on the developing relationships between Russian and titular populations in the former Soviet Union.