Intercultural Contact

Question 1

What is the contact hypothesis? (Allport, 1954)

Answer 1

Contact between different cultural groups has positive effects,
provided certain conditions (Allport, 1954)
- Equal status between the groups within the situation
- Common goals
- Cooperation between groups (interdependence)
- Authority/Institutional support for the contact.

Question 2

Contact: what to assess

Answer 2

-quantity: frequency of interaction
(how often we meet, talk, socialize
with)
- quality: nature of interaction (how
positive, negative, friendly, …)
- new trends: frequency X
quality/intensity

Question 3

How does the contact theory work?

Answer 3

contact reduces anxiety and threat, increases knowledge and empathy. The positive outcome is prejudice reduction

Question 4

which role plays status in the contact theory?

Answer 4

contact works better for majorities/high status
groups than for minorities. result = status assymetry

Question 5

types of generalization?

Answer 5

Situational: do the changes generalize across situations? * Individual to group: do the changes generalize from the specific
outgroup members with whom there is contact to the outgroup? * To uninvolved outgroups: do the changes toward the outgroup
generalize to other outgroups not involved in the contact?

Question 6

what is the Secondary Transfer Effect (STE) of Intergroup Contact and what are the outcomes?

Answer 6

contact with a primary outgroup reduces prejudice toward secondary groups that are not directly involved in the contact. Focal outcomes: Prejudice reduction, tolerance building

Question 7

what does the Tertiary Effect of Intergroup Contact mean and what are the outcomes?

Answer 7

contact with a primary group even enhances cognitive functioning beyond intergroup relations. focal outcomes: increased creativity, productivity, and problem-solving flexibility

Question 8

what forms of contact do exist?

Answer 8

direct: face-to-face interaction
indirect: no face-to-face
extended: knowing that ingroup members have outgroup friends: + attitudes and willingness to engage in contact
parasocial: intergroup contact via
media, when the audience “simply observes outgroups”
imagined: the mental simulation of a social interaction with an outgroup member
e-contact: “computer mediated contact involving an engagement of self in the intergroup relationship”

Question 9

what is vicarious contact?

Answer 9

“direct observation of a positive interaction between ingroup and outgroup members, …. acquire new responses, or modify the existing ones”

Question 10

what are the different groups who ‘move’?

Answer 10

tourists, international students, expatriates, immigrants and refugees

Question 11

what does acculturation mean?

Answer 11

process of cultural and
psychological change that results from contact
between cultures.

Question 12

what does acculturation as assimilation mean?

Answer 12

minorities expected to let
go elements of their native culture, and adopt culture of
their new country of settlement

Question 13

what changes brings acculturation?

Answer 13

1. affect: stress and coping approach, focus on emotional responses, well being, life satisfaction
2. behavoiur: culture learning approach, acquisition of
   culture-specific skills and appropriate behaviors,
   intercultural communication, etc
3. culture orientations/cognitions: categorization, social
   identity, who am I, who are we/they
   4, development; consider developmental changes in
   acculturation, process-in-context
4. identity

Question 14

what are the different components in Berry’s bidimensional model (attitudes of immigrant groups)?

Answer 14

assimilation, integration, marginalization, separation

Question 15

what are the acculturation strategies of the larger society?

Answer 15

Integration, assimilation, segregation, exclusion

Question 16

what does psychological adaptation mean?

Answer 16

captures the affective dimension
of adjustment (e.g., psychological well-being, lower stress,
life satisfaction)

Question 17

what does sociocultural dimension mean?

Answer 17

behavioral dimension or “the
acquisition of culturally appropriate skills and the
demonstration of functionally adaptive behaviors”

Question 18

how can you replace the contact dimension?

Answer 18

by measuring how much
ethnic minority members value culture adoption of
dominant group/mainstream society.

Question 19

what is the critique to Berry’s model?

Answer 19

focused on immigrant perspective only * Contact vs Culture Adoption
* ignores context and intergroup relations dynamics
between migrant groups and receiving society (next class)* no “best” strategy (later today) * acculturation strategy as a “choice”
* Weak to non existent relation of integration and
adaptation!

Question 20

what does the Interactive Acculturation Model (IAM) present?

Answer 20

proposes that relational outcomes are the product of the acculturation orientations of both the host majority and immigrant groups as influenced by state integration policies

Question 21

what does the model of acculturation (CMA) present?

Answer 21

A comparison of the attitudes of a dominant and a non-dominant group gives rise to four levels of concordance that represent different possibilities of (mis)matched attitudes: consensual, culture-problematic, contact-problematic, and conflictual. A basic assumption of the CMA is that the greater the mismatch in attitudes, the more threatening and less enriching the intergroup situation will be perceived to be.

Question 22

How does acculturation affect integroup processes (longitudinal effects)?

Answer 22

1. Integration orientations (and desire for contact) of majority members’ towards indigenous minority members in Chile predicted, longitudinally, less negative effects
2. dynamic interplay between migrant and receiving groups: preferences of one impact preferences of the other

Question 23

What can bee seen as typical threats among minorities?

Answer 23

1. identity: distinctiveness, discrimination, belonging
2. assimilationist ideologies/policies:forsake cultural identities to gain acceptance - pressure to reduce their distinctiveness
3. symbolic (threat to group beliefs & values)
4. realistic ( e.g. higher unemployment rates than majorities)
5. identity uncertainty, struggle for recognition: reactive ethnicity and perceived threat from cultural majorities

Question 24

what can be seen as threats among majorities?

Answer 24

1. identity: continuity and threat
2. greatest hostility towards dissimilar cultural minorities - assimilation so they loose the threatening cultural dimension
3. symbolic (threat to group beliefs & values)
4. realistic (competition for jobs, resources, safety)
5. threatened by groups different that their own

Question 25

what is multiculturalism?

Answer 25

multiculturalism is used in many different ways, for many different
purposes and has several meanings:
as demographic fact
as a policy
as an attitude/ ideology (last class)
Fundamental goals: to enhance mutual acceptance and to improve
the quality of intercultural relations among all cultural groups.

Question 26

which three components support multiculturalism?

Answer 26

1. cultural diversity
   2, equitable participation
2. intercultural communication

Question 27

what defines cultural diversity?

Answer 27

providing support and
encouragement for cultural maintenance
and development

Question 28

what defines intercultural communication?

Answer 28

promoting the learning of
one or more official languages as means for all groups
to engage in contact and to participate in the national
life of the larger society.

Question 29

what defines equitable participation in diversity?

Answer 29

providing opportunities for intergroup contact and
removal of barriers to full and equitable participation in society (anti discrimination laws,
policies for employment and educational equity, standards for showing intercultural
activities in the media, political participation); providing social/intercultural sharing
cultural expressions

Question 30

by which three psychological constructs are behaviours generally influenced?

Answer 30

1. attitudes: tendencies to evaluate and object positively or negatively
   2.values: abstract ideas that function as important guiding principles (e.g. freedom)
2. ideaologies are systems of attitudes and values that are organized around an abstract theme (e.g. liberalism)

Question 31

in which four domains can multiculturalism be assessed?

Answer 31

1. (dis)approval of cultural diversity
2. anti-dsicrimination, societal participation and interaction between host and immigrant groups
3. maintenance of ethnic culture and adoption of mainstream culture
4. adjustment orientations by the host group to minority culture maintenance and integration

Question 32

what does dual-identities mean?

Answer 32

recognition of diversity whithin a common society (e.g. Mexican American or Turkish German); dual labels define ethnic minorities as simultaneously
being part of their ethnic group and of the national ingroup

Question 33

how should multiculturalism be specified as a policy and why?

Answer 33

“Multiculturalism needs to be clarified and specified in order to
be effective as a diversity model. …. Those who make policy need
to make as clear as possible what the multicultural policies
actually imply, why exactly they are considered necessary, and
for whom they are intended”

Question 34

what are the limitations of the Information Theory (Shannon & Weaver)?

Answer 34

• In a perfect communication system, the sender and receiver have identical knowledge of the
  code (= symbols/ signs);
• All possible messages are known in advance;
• The sender makes a choice to send a message from the set of possible messages;
• The receiver just needs to know what choice the sender made.
• BUT: social communication is much more complex than a simple model of technologymediated communication
• All possible messages are not always known in advance and context matters!

Question 35

what are the four sides of the Schulz von Thun model and what do they reveal?

Answer 35

1. self-revelation: implicit information about the sender
2. factual information: object/matter of fact information
3. appeal: desire, advice, instructions, commands that the sender is seeking
4. relationship: information in the realtionship between sender and receiver (how they get along, what they think of each other)

Question 36

what are the axioms of Human Communication (Watzlawick)?

Answer 36

1. one cannot not communicate
2. Every communication has a content and a relationship aspect such that the latter defines the
   former and is therefore metacommunication.
3. 3. Every communication sequence is defined by the way the interactants punctuate communication
      events.
4. Interpersonal contacts are digital (verbal) and analogic (non-verbal).
5. Communication relationships are either symmetrical or complementary.

Question 37

what are the five fundamental assumptions of the Intercultural Context Communication model (ICC)?

Answer 37

1. during intercultural communication, the message sent is usually not the message received
2. intercultural communication is primarily a nonverbal act between people
3. intercultural communication necessarily involves a clash of communicator style
4. initial intercultural communication is a group phenomenon experienced by individuals
5. intercultural communication is a cycle of stress, adaptation, and growth

Question 38

what is the principle of linguistic determinism?

Answer 38

The way one thinks is determined by the language
one speaks.

Question 39

what is the principle of linguistic relativity?

Answer 39

the world’s languages are all very different and these
differences are reflected in the differences in the worldviews of their speakers.

Question 40

what are the verbal communication styles (by Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey)

Answer 40

direct vs. indirect
elaborate-succinct
personal-contextual
instrumental-affective

Question 41

what are stereotypes?

Answer 41

beliefs about any given group members’ characteristics
and behaviours - often exaggerated and erroneously applied to all members
from the social group

Question 42

what is prejudice?

Answer 42

attitudes toward members of any given social groups that
create or maintain hierarchical status relations between groups.

Question 43

what is discrimination?

Answer 43

the differential treatment of people because of their social group
memberships, and it can manifest at the individual, institutional, or cultural levels

Question 44

what are microaggressions?

Answer 44

A form of subtle discrimination; focuses on the perception of targets

Question 45

what does the taxonomy of microaggressions consists of?

Answer 45

1- microassaults: (often conscious)
2. microinsults: (often unconscious) behavioural and verbal expressions that convey rudeness and intensitivity
3. microinvalidations: (often unconscious) negate or diminish the psychological thoughts and feelings of an individual

Question 46

what is subtle discrimination (5 characteristics)?

Answer 46

• covert
• (often) unintentionally expressed
• ambiguous
• socially normalized behaviours
• expressed in the form of microaggressions

Question 47

what is blatant discrimination (5 characteristics)?

Answer 47

• explicit
• intentional
• unambiguous
• expressed in the form of overt insults, violetn behaviours, and other overt display of prejudice
• usually prohibited by law

Question 48

what is intersectionality referring to discrimination?

Answer 48

Intersectionality is both a theoretical and methodological framework postulating that social systems of
power and oppression, (which manifest under the forms of sexism, racism, xenophobia, classism,
etc.), are mutually constituted and work together to produce inequality. Thus, they need to be
considered simultaneously instead of being analysed separately.

Question 49

how to identify a microaggression?

Answer 49

1. Identify the target (and targeted identity) of the
   potential microaggression. Are they a member of a
   socially disadvantaged group?
2. Identify the social and power relations present in the
   potential microaggressive incident. Is there a power
   disparity? (Look at the context!)
3. Identify the message hidden behind microaggressions.
   Does it reflect social structures of oppression and
   stereotypical beliefs about the target person or group?