Self-protection and growth as the motivational force behind majority group members' cultural adaptation and discrimination: A parallel mediation model via intergroup contact and threat

Individual characteristics on multicultural team performance: does the role played by leaders and team members matter?

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of individual characteristics of cultural sensitivity, adaptability, cohesion, and cultural diversity on the multicultural team performance. Also, we analyzed the moderating effect of being a team member or a team leader on the relationships mentioned above. To test out hipotheses, data were collected from 415 members of multicultural teams specifically, from 304 team members and 111 leaders. The findings provided evidence to support a positive relationship between cultural sensitivity, adaptability, cohesion, and team performance. Cultural diversity did not show a significant impact on team performance. The study also showed that the leaders and members had different perceptions about the factors that influence team performance. For instance, team members consider that cohesion influences team performance, while leaders consider adaptability as the key factor to achieve performance. Main implications from findings are discussed.

Show me your friends, I'll tell you your emotions: Emotional fit of immigrant-origin minority youth in cross-cultural friendship networks

The typical emotional responses to certain types of situations differ across cultures. Being reprimanded by your teacher in front of the class may be cause for anger and indignation among pupils in one cultural context, but for anger, shame, and possibly respect for the teacher among pupils in another cultural context. The consequence for immigrant-origin minorities is that they may not fit the emotions of the majority culture. Previous research has found that minorities who have majority contact have higher emotional fit with the majority culture. In the current study, we suggest that friendships with majority peers are particularly important to minorities' emotional fit. Students (945 minority and 1256 majority) from a representative sample of Belgian middle schools completed a sociometric questionnaire on their classroom friendships and rated their emotional experiences in two situations. Multilevel models yielded higher levels of emotional fit for minority youth with many (vs. few) majority friends as well as for minorities whose majority friends are connected (vs. less connected) to each other, or who are well-connected in the majority peer network. Having majority friends predicted emotional fit over and above majority contact in general.

Current Status of Intergroup Threats Perceived by Chinese Physicians and Its Association with Organizational Psychology, Behavior, and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey

(1) Background: Chinese physicians have encountered serious physical and verbal attacks in recent decades due to poor patient−physician relationships, leading to a broad spectrum of negative consequences. This study aims to assess the status of intergroup threats perceived by physicians and explore its association with organizational psychology, behavior, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey with physicians from November to December 2020 in three provinces: Heilongjiang Province, Henan Province, and Zhejiang Province, in China. A total of 604 physicians were recruited to complete an anonymous questionnaire. There were 423 valid questionnaires. (3) Results: We developed a 25-item intergroup threat scale with four dimensions: interest damage, performance impairment, value derogation, and unjust sentiment. Internal consistency reliability analyses showed that the four dimensions and overall scale exhibited high internal consistency (0.756−0.947). Additionally, the average scores for physicians’ perceived overall intergroup threat, interest damage, performance impairment, value derogation, and unjust sentiment were 4.35 ± 0.51, 4.24 ± 0.73, 4.33 ± 0.58, 4.22 ± 0.65, and 4.53 ± 0.55, respectively. Moreover, this study shows that the intergroup threats perceived positively by physicians were associated with psychological stress (β = 0.270, p < 0.01), emotional exhaustion (β = 0.351, p < 0.01), turnover intention (β = 0.268, p < 0.01), and defensive medical behavior (β = 0.224, p < 0.01), and were negatively associated with job satisfaction (β = −0.194, p < 0.01) and subjective well-being (β = −0.245, p < 0.01). (4) Conclusions: The newly developed scale in this study is a reliable tool for measuring intergroup threats perceived by Chinese physicians. Physicians in China were suffering high-level intergroup threats during the anti-COVID-19 pandemic, which has a significant impact on damage to organizational psychology, behavior, and well-being. Intergroup threats perceived by physicians not only enlarged the risk of emotional exhaustion and psychological stress but also threatened organizational well-being. Moreover, greater intergroup threats were associated with a lower job satisfaction, more frequent defensive medical behavior, and a higher turnover intention for physicians. The results of this study suggest that essential intervention and governance measures should be considered to protect physicians’ well-being and benefits in China, which are urgently needed.

The Impact of Core Self-Evaluations on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention among Higher Education Academic Staff: Mediating Roles of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Job satisfaction and turnover intention among academic staff remains a challenge in higher education institutions. To aid understanding of the factors that can reduce intention to leave and increase job satisfaction among academic staff, the present research investigated the impact of core self-evaluations (CSEs) on job satisfaction and turnover intention by proposing a parallel mediation model. The researcher used quantitative approach. The sample consisted of (n = 305) academic staff working in higher education institutions in Nigeria, with a total of 80 females and 225 males. The study attempted to investigate the connection between core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and turnover intention using self-determination theory to investigate the parallel mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the relationship. Through application of structural equation modeling, the findings showed that CSEs had an impact on job satisfaction and turnover intention, mainly through the mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation provided new insight into the connections between core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and turnover expectations.

Majority members’ acculturation: How proximal-acculturation relates to expectations of immigrants and intergroup ideologies over time

How do English majority members’ national culture maintenance and immigrant culture adoption (i.e., globalisation-based proximal-acculturation) predict their acculturation expectations (i.e., how they think immigrants should acculturate) and intergroup ideologies (i.e., how they think society should manage diversity)? Cross-sectional results ( N = 220) supported hypothesised relationships using a variable- and person-centred approach: welcoming expectations/ideologies related positively to immigrant culture adoption (or an integration/assimilation strategy) and negatively to national culture maintenance (or a separation strategy), whilst the reverse was true for unwelcoming expectations/ideologies. Notably, colourblindness showed only weak correlations with/differences across acculturation orientations/strategies. In longitudinal analyses, adopting immigrants’ cultures increased the intergroup ideologies polyculturalism and multiculturalism whilst reducing support for assimilation over time, whereas national culture maintenance had the opposite effect. Meanwhile, the expectation integration-transformation was especially related to higher odds of following an integration rather than separation strategy over time. Overall, results advance the psychological study of multiculturalism, providing first longitudinal insights on majority members’ acculturation.

New in town, already settled in: Assessing the behavioural and experiential indicators that lead to acculturative advantages

We supplement extant literature on acculturation by introducing a new construct – individual acculturation action profile (IAAP) – consisting of a configuration of behavioural and experiential indicators that reflect an individual’s previous and current contact with and participation in other cultures. We operationalise each IAAP indicator individually, and the IAAP construct as an aggregated index (IAAPi), by assigning different weights to each construct indicator based on the magnitude of its theorised influence. We distinguish the antecedents of IAAP at multiple levels. Whilst contextual factors are likely to enhance or hinder people’s participation in other cultures, we propose a taxonomy that addresses the dynamism between context and individual initiative. This article thereby expands literature on acculturation, offering notable implications for advantageous acculturative processes and outcomes. The proposed operationalisation of the IAAP construct at the acculturation–organisation nexus can be applied to study many walks of society and outcomes at multiple levels.

The Missing Side of Acculturation: How Majority-Group Members Relate to Immigrant and Minority-Group Cultures

In many countries, individuals who have represented the majority group historically are decreasing in relative size and/or perceiving that they have diminished status and power compared with those self-identifying as immigrants or members of ethnic minority groups. These developments raise several salient and timely issues, including (a) how majority-group members’ cultural orientations change as a consequence of increasing intercultural contact due to shifting demographics; (b) what individual, group, cultural, and socio-structural processes shape these changes; and (c) what the implications of majority-group members’ acculturation are. Although research across several decades has examined the acculturation of individuals self-identifying as minority-group members, much less is known about how majority-group members acculturate in increasingly diverse societies. We present an overview of the state of the art in the emerging field of majority-group acculturation, identify what is known and needs to be known, and introduce a conceptual model to guide future research.

Self-protection and growth as the motivational force behind majority group members' cultural adaptation and discrimination: A parallel mediation model via intergroup contact and threat

What motivates majority group members to adapt to or reject cultural diversity? Considering the relevance of personal values on our attitudes and behaviours, we inspected how self-protection and growth predict levels of discriminatory behavioural and cultural adaptation intentions towards migrants via intergroup contact and perceived intergroup threats, simultaneously (i.e., parallel mediation). Specifically, positive contact between groups is known for reducing prejudice through diminishing perceived intergroup threats. Yet current research emphasises the role of individual differences in this interplay while proposing a parallel relationship between perceived intergroup threats and contact. Also by inspecting cultural adaptation and discriminatory behavioural intentions, the present study examined more proximal indicators of real-world intergroup behaviours than explored in past research. Using data from 304 US Americans, structural equation modelling indicated a good fit for a parallel mediation model with growth relating positively to cultural adaptation intentions and negatively to discriminatory behavioural intentions through being positively associated with intergroup contact and negatively with perceived intergroup threats, simultaneously. The reverse was found for self-protection. These findings stress that personal values constitute a relevant individual difference in the contact/threats-outcome relationship, providing a motivational explanation for majority group members' experience of cultural diversity in their own country.