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Social Stratification

Notes Second, for majorities one should observe a more positive correlation between ethnic and national
attachment than for minorities.
Third, majorities are expected to exhibit more negative judgements against outgroups (i.e.,
immigrants) than minorities.
Fourth, for majorities we expect a positive relationship between in-group identification (both at
the subgroup and the superordinate level) and negative outgroup attitudes, whereas for minorities
this relationship should be negative, or at least significantly less positive.
Finally, since immigrants seek to enter and become part of a national group rather than of an
ethnic group, we expect national identification to precede ethnic identification as a predictor of
xenophobia. In other words, hostile attitudes towards immigrants should be determined first of
all by national identification. However, to the extent that majorities cognitively equate the national
and their ethnic group, ethnic identification should mediate the impact of national identification
on xenophobia for majorities, but not for minorities. This prediction of a moderated mediation
should reveal that for majorities, but not for minorities, identification with the superordinate
category does not directly predict discrimination, but that it is mediated by subgroup identification.

Method
Data were taken from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 1995 module on national
identity. The ISSP is an ongoing program of cross-national collaboration intended to provide
comparative data on a regular basis on important social topics. The 1995 module focused on
national identity, and included measures of ethnic group membership and ethnic identification.
The survey was conducted in 23 countries, with probability-based nationwide samples (with
separate samples for East and West Germany).
National Sample Selection
Only 11 out of the 24 subsamples were used in our analyses. Selection of countries was based on
the following criteria : (a) the national sample contained the data necessary to test our predictions
(i.e., ethnic group membership and ethnic identification), and/or (b) were ethno-culturally
sufficiently heterogeneous to provide statistically meaningful minority sample sizes. As our
predictions bear on the relationship between established, resident, ethno-cultural minorities and
majorities, respondents without national citizenship of the country in which they reside as well as
those who arrived in the country after the age of 16 were excluded from the analyses. In countries
where most minority members are immigrants without national citizenship, or where restrictive
citizenship policies make naturalization difficult, this selection eliminated a considerable proportion
of minority respondents (e.g., in Germany). In East European countries, excluded respondents
were mainly part of ethnic groups not incorporated in the national citizenry, (e.g., Croatians in
Slovenia).
Mean age differed between the national samples (lowest means in Canada and the Slovak Republic,
41 years; highest mean in Bulgaria, 49 years). Distribution of gender groups also varied between
countries (lowest female proportion in West Germany, 46.4%; highest in Latvia, 60.9%). Sex, age
and education level (measured in years of education) were controlled for in the analyses.
Ethnic Subgroup Classification
Asymmetry predictions tested comparisons between ethnic majority and minority subgroups. The
item used to classify participants asked either the “country or parts of the world from which
respondents’ ancestors came”, or respondents had to pick their group from a list of the major
ethnic groups of the country. In some countries, ethnic group membership was included in the
demographic participant information. Ethnicity was loosely defined as membership in any ascribed
group defined with racial, linguistic, national or religious criteria, whichever was most meaningful
to participants (Horowitz, 2000). In most countries, the classification into dominant and subordinate

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