Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
Volume 52, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 404-410

Integrating immigrant minorities: Developing a scale to measure majority members' attitudes toward their own proactive efforts (Article)

Phelps J.M.* , Eilertsen D.E. , Türken S. , Ommundsen R.
  • a Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
  • b Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
  • c Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
  • d Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway

Abstract

The present study is based on the premise that the integration of ethnic minorities may involve more than the majority's expression of tolerance. In order to promote inclusion, the majority may have to play a more active role in the integration process. We describe the development and validation of a new psychometric scale which assesses majority members' attitudes toward their own proactive contribution to the integration of immigrants within three domains: cultural and structural efforts, and openness to diversity. The scale is investigated by analyses of internal structure and exploration of construct validity in relation to relevant social psychological and personality constructs in a sample of 486 Norwegian university students (28% male, mean age=26.5, SD=6.08). Factor analyses supported a unidimensional structure and the estimated reliability of an additive scale was satisfactory (Cronbach's α=0.91). The scale correlated negatively with measures of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, and positively with global identity. It was weakly related to the personality traits agreeableness, intellect, extraversion, and conscientiousness. The potential utility of the scale in both applied and experimental social psychological studies are discussed. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Author Keywords

Integration Social inclusion multiculturalism Ethnic diversity Majority-minority relations scale development

Index Keywords

cultural anthropology Cultural Diversity minority group Social Identification validation study human student Humans attitude Minority Groups male Emigrants and Immigrants female Psychometrics psychometry Article adult migration Personality Students social behavior

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79960362126&doi=10.1111%2fj.1467-9450.2011.00876.x&partnerID=40&md5=3ca47ba7ec9384b938aa2e5c7f5f7bb5

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2011.00876.x
ISSN: 00365564
Cited by: 9
Original Language: English