Gabriel Horenczyk

Ethnic Identity, Immigration, and Well‐Being: An Interactional Perspective

On the basis of existing theory and research regarding ethnic identity and immigration and our own empirical work in four immigrant-receiving countries, we suggest an interactional model for understanding psychological outcomes for immigration. Specifically, the interrelationship of ethnic and national identity and their role in the psychological well-being of immigrants can best be understood as an interaction between the attitudes and characteristics of immigrants and the responses of the receiving society. This interaction is moderated by the particular circumstances of the immigrant group. The strengths of ethnic and national identity vary depending on the support for ethnic maintenance and the pressure for assimilation. Most studies show that the combination of a strong ethnic identity and a strong national identity promotes the best adaptation.

The interactive nature of acculturation: perceived discrimination, acculturation attitudes and stress among young ethnic repatriates in Finland, Israel and Germany

Abstract This study focused on young ethnic repatriates from the former Soviet Union in Finland (N=170), Germany (N=102) and Israel (N=298). We studied whether the acculturation orientations of the repatriates and the hosts (Finland: N=343, Germany: N=342, Israel: N=213) were concordant or discordant (Bourhis et al., 1997). The resulting intergroup relations with concomitant psychological outcomes (perceived discrimination and acculturative stress) were predicted on the basis of Berrys (1997) four-fold acculturation model and on the basis of a new classification, the need for which derived from the assumed normative quality of the integration option and the subsequent possible response tendency favoring integration among both hosts and immigrants. Integration was the most preferred option among the immigrants when using Berrys original model. Accordingly, the acculturation profiles of hosts and immigrants appeared to be concordant in Israel and Germany, and discordant only in Finland, where most of the hosts preferred assimilation. However, when all respondents favoring integration were sub-classified according to their second preference, the profiles turned out to be discordant and the intergroup relations conflictual in all three countries. Supporting the predictions made on the basis of the new classification, those immigrants whose personal acculturation preferences were most in conflict with those of the hosts (separatists in Finland and Israel, assimilationists in Germany) either perceived more discrimination or reported more stress than other immigrants. The results are discussed in relation to the specific features of the acculturation of repatriates.

Diversity-related burnout among teachers

Abstract “Diversity-related burnout” is put forward as a concept that can add to our understanding of the negative impact of the daily coping with culturally diverse students on teachers. A Principal Component Analysis, based on the responses of 280 teachers working at 30 Israeli schools, showed that diversity-related burnout is empirically distinguishable from, albeit correlated with, the more traditional notion of teacher burnout. Results also revealed that diversity-related burnout is predicted by variables related to the teachers background (grade level and job role), to the degree of school cultural heterogeneity, and to aspects of the school organizational culture related to multiculturalism as perceived by the teacher. The highest levels of diversity-related burnout were found among teachers categorized as assimilationists and who work in schools perceived by them also to be assimilationist. Proactive and reactive approaches for preventing and reducing diversity-related burnout are suggested.

Teachers' Attitudes toward Multiculturalism and Their Perceptions of the School Organizational Culture.

Abstract The study examines teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism and the extent to which these are related to their perceptions of the school organizational culture. Results based on the responses of 442 teachers, working at 34 Israeli schools, revealed that pluralistic attitudes were higher when referring to the integration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union into the general society, whereas assimilationist attitudes were more predominant when related to the approach toward immigrants in educational contexts. It was also found that teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism in schools are related to components at the various levels of their perceived school organizational culture. Implications for pre-service and in-service training of teachers in culturally plural societies are discussed.

Gendered Patterns of Experience in Social and Cultural Transition: The Case of English-Speaking Immigrants in Israel

This study aimed to connect between work on the impact on the self as a consequence of the immigration process an theories of gender. It was based on semistructured interviews with 12 English-speaking immigrants to Israel. The data were analyzed using grounded theory (A. Strauss & J. Corbin, 1990, 1994) to examine the difficulties that the immigrants felt when leaving and since being in Israel, their methods of coping and their views of what constitutes a “successful immigration.” Two major patterns were identified, each of which rested on a different self “need” that appeared to have been affected by the immigration process: (1) the need to feel competent and (2) the need to feel a sense of belonging. Although most of the interviewees talked of both needs being damaged or affected to some extent, there was a strong tendency for the women respondents to place “belonging” needs in the foreground of their accounts and for men to place “competence” needs in theirs. Such results can be understood in the context of feminist theories of self that distinguish between womens sense of self, built “in relation” through connection to others, and mens sense of self, built around the concept of ”separation.”

Time and Context in the Relationship between Acculturation Attitudes and Adaptation among Russian-Speaking Immigrants in Finland and Israel

In this study we examine the time-, context- and outcome-specificity of the effects of acculturation attitudes on immigrant psychological and socio-economic adaptation. The participants were 172 immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union residing in Finland and Israel, and the mean time since their arrival was approximately six years. Each of the three acculturation attitudes (separation, assimilation and integration) was positively related to immigrant adaptation, either directly or moderated by the length or by the country of residence. A main effect was obtained only for integration attitude positively predicting psychological adaptation. There was also clear evidence of context-specificity in the effect of the separation attitude on both psychological and socio-economic adaptation. The impact of integration and assimilation attitudes on socio-economic adaptation was also time-specific; these attitudes showed adaptive value only at earlier stages of the acculturation process in the culturally diverse context. These results were interpreted in terms of the different social and economic needs salient at different stages of immigrant acculturation, and of the differences in the opportunities for immigrants to meet these needs in culturally diverse and non-diverse acculturative contexts.

Dilemmas and strategies in the counselling of Jewish and Palestinian Arab children in Israeli schools

Jewish and Palestinian Arab school counsellors in Israel face increasing demands to respond to the challenges posed by the current armed conflict in the region. In semi-structured interviews, 37 Jewish and Palestinian Arab counsellors were asked about their views regarding the role of the educational system and of counsellors vis-à-vis the ongoing conflict. While all respondents argue that schools and counsellors need to address the conflict and its consequences, Palestinian Arabs and Jews differed in their views as to the appropriate strategies and foci. Major dilemmas emerging from the counsellors’ reports are discussed.

The effects of intercultural acquaintance and structured intergroup interaction on ingroup, outgroup, and reflected ingroup stereotypes

Abstract This study investigated the differential effects of intercultural acquaintance (based on informal and sporadic contact with members of the other culture) and structured intergroup interaction on group perceptions. Jewish American youngsters visiting Israel were asked to rate “a typical Jewish Israeli teenager” (outgroup stereotype), “a typical Jewish American teenager” (ingroup stereotype), and “a typical Jewish American teenager as seen by a typical Jewish Israeli teenager” (reflected ingroup stereotype), on personal and ideological characteristics. The questionnaires were administered soon after their arrival, and three weeks later; at the latter time, some of the respondents had participated in a structured intergroup encounter with Israeli peers, while the others had not yet done so. Findings regarding initial group attitudes show a tendency to perceive the outgroup less favorably than the ingroup on the personal scale, while a reverse pattern was obtained on the ideological scale. Following the intercultural experience, outgroup perceptions changed in the direction of the ingroup evaluations, regardless of participation in the structured intergroup encounter. Before the intercultural contact, the Jewish American respondents attributed to the other group markedly low evaluations of Jewish American teenagers on both dimensions; these reflected ingroup perceptions became more favorable only following the intergroup interaction. It is suggested that a process of recategorization, in which common ingroup identities are made salient without suppressing the existing group categorizations, may operate in the intergroup encounters and may partially account for the changes in group perceptions.

Acculturation Orientations Toward Two Majority Groups: The Case of Palestinian Arab Christian Adolescents in Israel

This study employs an expanded conceptualization and methodology of acculturation orientations to examine the identity and acculturation patterns of Palestinian Arab Christian adolescents in Israel, who can be seen as a “double minority”—Arabs in the midst of the majority Jewish population and Christians within Israels dominantly Muslim Arab society. We examined the acculturation attitudes of 281 Palestinian Arab Christian adolescents in Israel and their perceptions of the expectations held by majority peers regarding their preferred mode of acculturation vis-à-vis two majority groups: Israeli Jews and Muslim Arabs. Findings suggest that Palestinian Arab Christian adolescents in Israel wish to maintain their ingroup identity; however, they expressed more willingness to adopt elements of the Jewish society than did Muslim Arabs. They also feel stronger assimilation pressures coming from Israeli Jews. These results are explained primarily in terms of differences between the two majority groups in their control over valuable resources.

Education in a Plural Society or Multicultural Education? The Views of Israeli Arab and Jewish School Counselors.

We suggest that in societies with highly complex and conflictual cultural diversity, different perceptions of pluralism and multiculturalism are likely to be related to divergent expectations for multicultural education. Our study examines—through semi‐structured interviews—the perceptions of cultural pluralism and multicultural education among 37 Israeli school counselors from two national groups—Arabs and Jews. Our findings suggest that the majority‐minority context largely determines the counselors’ views of multiculturalism: Arab counselors focus primarily on the Arab‐Jewish divide which places them within the unprivileged minority, whereas the Jewish counselors equate multiculturalism primarily with the approach toward Jewish immigrants who belong to their own ethnic/national group. Counselors’ responses seem to reflect their national and school organizational cultures, and it is suggested that training institutions should provide them with the knowledge, values and skills to make them culturally proficient and enable them to become agents of educational and social change.