Ethnic group ties, inter-group threat, and ethnic self-identity

Abstract

In ethnically diverse societies, there is considerable variation in the degree of policy and structural support for ethnic self-labelling, reflecting different models of cultural adaptation promoted and encouraged for immigrants and native-born members of various cultural groups. Within Canada for the past several decades, government policy has explicitly supported multiculturalism and provided various forms of support designed to acknowledge and encourage the contributions of the many cultural groups comprising Canadian society. At the societal level therefore, there is strong government support for the role of ethnocultural diversity as one important component contributing to the vitality of Canadian society. Moreover, attitude surveys concerning this policy suggest that multiculturalism has considerable support as an important aspect of Canada's identity. For example, in one survey when asked whether multiculturalism has contributed positively to the Canadian identity, over 80% of respondents endorsed this statement (Jedwab 2003). © 2009 Springer Netherlands.