Cultural Diversity

Shows how social psychology can contribute to contemporary debates about immigration and multiculturalism. This book helps readers to understand the processes that have shaped modern societies and the diversity issues they are facing. It reviews research into socio-psychological factors facilitating or hindering the emergence of plural societies.

Reviews

"At last, a social psychology text that is devoted to understanding the rapidly changing and multicultural nature of liberal democratic societies! Increasing cultural diversity and the forces of globalisation have brought significant challenges to the ways in which nation states manage and organise the coexistence of diverse cultural groups. This book draws on the best that social psychological theory and research has to offer to examine how dominant and non-dominant groups negotiate the complex social and psychological processes implicated in living together within the boundaries of the nation. Students and scholars of social psychology will welcome this innovative application of theories in the field to understand the complex and diverse societies in which we live." Dr Martha Augoustinos, Department of Psychology, Adelaide University

"Considering the increased multiculturalism of most societies around the world, nothing could be more timely than this text that discusses the latest social psychological thinking and research. The book is a clear and scholarly work suitable for undergraduate and graduate students unfamiliar with the field. In an accessible and engaging style, Chryssochoou addresses the central issues and debates, discusses in detail some of the key concepts and most salient research, and offers an explanation of classic approaches and theories. The breath of its coverage of the literature is impressive and will help to stimulate further research in the field and also provides the wider audience of social scientists with an excellent introduction to what social psychology has to offer." Dr Maykel Verkuyten, Utrecht University


"Far too many texts in social psychology spend so much time outlining answers that they forget to explain why the questions matter in the first place. Xenia Chryssochoou's great achievement in this book is to make us care about the issues that our theories are oriented to and hence make us want to engage with those issues. She addresses what is perhaps the most pressing social issue of our time: how can people live together in culturally diverse societies? She uses this to address the contribution of a broad range of social psychological theories. Her writing is scholarly and balanced and clear. But perhaps most importantly, it is what we sorely lack and urgently need: a passionate social psychology." Professor Stephen Reicher, School of Psychology, St. Andrews University


"The tendency to oversimplify cultural differences is a common one, but Chryssochoou manages subtlety and theoretical sophistication in addressing one of the defining issues of our times: how to develop thriving multicultural communities. With succinct summaries of the methods and results of groundbreaking studies and cogent theoretical snapshots in panels and appendices, Chryssochoou does student readers a great service. And by considering immigration from the perspectives of immigrants themselves as well as members of the receiving culture, she moves all of us perceptibly closer to understanding the social and psychological prerequisites for a better, more diverse societal life." Dr John T. Jost, New York University and Stanford University


"Until now, no attempts have been made to integrate the many different research traditions that social psychologists use to study cultural diversity. This situation is now changed. Xenia Chryssochoou uses a method of triangulation to link, in a common frame, studies on different aspects of acculturation such as the reciprocal views of cultural minorities and majorities together with processes described by main theories in social psychology. Her book on Cultural Diversity: Its Social Psychology is unique for its exhaustive treatment of the social psychological aspects of the relationships between different cultural groups as well as for the innovative devices used to structure and transmit the message." Willem Doise, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Geneva


"An excellent textbook introducing the central issues surrounding the social psychological processes within multicultural societies, with a particular emphasis on migration and ethnic minorities. The perspectives of immigrants and hosts are both examined, with case studies, theoretical snapshots and sidebar definitions of key terms. Later chapters consider issues of living together in a multicultural society and the future of the nation-state within supranational groupings. A book that will interest the general reader as well as the student of social psychology." Scientific and Medical Network Review, Spring 2004


"The book aims to understand the principles of the interaction between the individual and the social in order to understand the functioning of our societies and the constitution of culture." Sage Race Relations Abstracts