Pro-diversity beliefs and intergroup relations

Rationally blind? Rationality polarizes policy support for colour blindness versus multiculturalism

Do White Americans prefer society to be 'colour-blind' by rising above racial identities, or 'multicultural' by openly discussing and considering them? We developed an ideology-rationality model to understand support for these diversity perspectives. Specifically, since people endorse a diversity perspective in line with their ideological values, we hypothesized that conservatism is related to a relative preference for colour blindness over multiculturalism. However, since colour blindness and multiculturalism are complex and multi-layered ideologies, we further hypothesized that the relationship between conservatism and a preference for colour blindness over multiculturalism is especially pronounced under higher levels of rationality. Results confirmed the hypotheses, either when rationality was operationalized within a dual process theory (Study 1, N = 496) or experimentally induced within a tripartite model of cognition (Study 2, N = 497). Higher levels of rationality guided White Americans high in conservatism towards a stronger preference for colour-blindness, but those low in conservatism towards a stronger preference for multiculturalism. These results suggest that among White Americans the endorsement of colour blindness versus multiculturalism stems from the interplay between ideological orientation and rationality and that rational considerations about racial policies may further divide rather than unify along ideological lines.

Teaching interprofessional collaboration among future healthcare professionals

Healthcare has become more complex in recent years. Such complexity can best be addressed by interprofessional teams. We argue that to ensure successful communication and cooperation in interprofessional teams, it is important to establish interprofessional education in health-related study programs. More precisely, we argue that students in health-related programs need to develop interprofessional competencies and a common language, experience interprofessional contact, build inclusive identities and establish beliefs in the benefit of interprofessional diversity. We give examples how these goals can be implemented in interprofessional education. We also discuss challenges and future avenues for respective research healthcare professionals.

Development and Validation of the Revised Multicultural Ideology Scale in Germany and Luxembourg

A revised version of the Multicultural Ideology Scale (rMCI) is currently being developed to measure endorsement of multiculturalism in different cultural contexts. This study, which is part of a wider cross-cultural research project, presents the first assessment of the rMCI scale in the German language. The measure aims to cover several attitudinal dimensions of multiculturalism, relevant to the integration of different ethnocultural groups: Cultural Maintenance, Equity/Inclusion, Social interaction, Essentialistic Boundaries, Extent of Differences, and Consequences of Diversity. Two independent datasets were acquired from Germany (N = 382) and Luxembourg (N = 148) to estimate the factor structure of the rMCI using different confirmatory factor analysis techniques. The findings suggest that a four-factor solution, including Cultural Maintenance, Equity/Inclusion, Social interaction, and Consequences of Diversity, was the best fit for the data. Most of these subscales demonstrated adequate psychometric properties (internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity). The four-factor model of the rMCI was partially invariant across the two ethnic groups and full measurement invariance was established across gender.

Selective exposure bias predicts views on diversity over time

Despite growing diversity, many individuals do not support it, posing a challenge to the successful functioning of societies, institutions, and organizations. We investigated the role of the selective exposure bias on diversity beliefs. In a large-scale nationally representative Spanish sample (N = 2,297), we conducted a time-lagged experiment with two time points 5 months apart in which we offered participants a monetary incentive to (allegedly) read attitude contradictory versus conforming information about societal support for refugees. The selective exposure bias asymmetrically predicted future diversity beliefs. Among individuals with a positive intergroup orientation, the selective exposure bias did not predict future diversity beliefs. However, among individuals with a negative intergroup orientation, the selective exposure bias predicted lower pro-diversity beliefs over time, over and above initial pro-diversity beliefs and ideological dispositions. These findings suggest that the absence of pro-diversity beliefs partly originates from a cognitive bias, holding critical implications for policymakers seeking to improve intergroup relations.