When cultures clash:Links between perceived cultural distance in values and attitudes towards migrants

Migration elicits mixed reactions from the host‐society. Negative responses towards migrants seem to emerge when migrants are perceived as culturally different. We investigated when and why perceived cultural distance (PCD) is associated with negative migrant attitudes by focussing on differences in cultural values. We expected that PCD in social values (focus on relationships and society) should be more strongly associated with attitudes towards migrants than personal values (individual needs and gains) and should be mediated by symbolic threat. In two quasi‐experimental studies (N = 200, N = 668) with Dutch participants (host‐society), we simultaneously tested effects of respondents’ perception of Dutch values, their perceptions of migrant values (of Moroccan, Syrian, Polish ethnic origin), and PCD between Dutch‐migrant value on attitudes. For all migrant groups, PCD in social values was associated with more negative attitudes, less tolerance, and less policy support regarding migrants; this was mediated by symbolic threat. These links were weaker for personal values

Sojourners' second language learning and integration. The moderating effect of multicultural personality traits

This study examines the role of trainable intercultural personality traits in the widely assumed link between immigrants’ second language (L2) learning and their cultural integration in the host country. The research was based on data of temporary immigrants (sojourners), being international students who reside in the Netherlands and participants of a Dutch language course (total N = 163). Questionnaires were used to collect data at two time points (time lag: 3 months). Findings from multiple regression analyses reveal that an increase in L2 proficiency is related to a positive change in two indicators of cultural integration: identification with the host society and attitudes towards the host culture. An increase in L2 proficiency appears to be related to a positive change in terms of identification, regardless of sojourners’ personality traits. With respect to attitudes towards the host culture, however, we find that increasing L2 proficiency only goes together with a positive change in attitudes towards the host culture for sojourners with a high degree of social initiative. Another notable finding is that, in the time period that this study was conducted, sojourners with a high degree of openness became more positive in their attitudes towards the host culture, regardless of the progress they made in terms of L2 proficiency. Results from this study cautiously suggest the importance of social perceptual personality traits in the cultural integration of sojourners. In line with this, institutional policies on the L2 learning of sojourners, including the training of social perceptual personality traits, could be recommendable

Looking through the eyes of the powerful

Across four experiments, we test the idea that power decreases metastereotyping, and that this effect is mediated by reduced perspective taking. Metastereotypes refer to the beliefs that members of group A share about the stereotypes that members of specific outgroup B typically have about ingroup A. We propose that the dominant psychological orientation of the powerless is aimed at seeing how others see them. In an intergroup situation they are therefore inclined to activate and apply metastereotypes. In the first three experiments we consistently find that low power leads to more metastereotyping than high power and control (in Experiment 3). Specifically, we show this effect with three different manipulations of power, namely a role manipulation (Experiment 1), experiential priming (Experiment 2), and parafoveal priming (Experiment 3). In the fourth experiment we uncover the mediating role of perspective taking. Together these findings provide strong evidence that powerlessness leads to metastereotyping

Листи Чернігівського архієпископа Філарета (Гумілевського) до О.М. Бодянського

Публікація містить листи відомого історика Церкви Чернігівського архієпископа Філарета (Гумілевського) до О. М. Бодянського, які висвітлюють їхню співпрацю на ґрунті дослідження слов’янських старожитностей.Публикуются письма известного историка Церкви Черниговского архиепископа Филарета (Гумилевского) к О. М. Бодянскому, которые освещают их сотрудничество на ниве исследования славянских древностей.The published article contains the letters of the famous historian of the Church – the Archbishop of Chernihiv Filaret (Humilevskyi) to O.M. Bodyanskyi covering their collaboration on the basis of Slavic antiquities research