Multiculturalism and Acculturation in the Multicultural Context of Luxembourg

Even within a globalizing world, Luxembourg takes an exceptional position with a foreign population of 43%, which rises to 66% in the capital. Luxembourg can thus be called a “natural laboratory” regarding the macro-level conditions for multiculturalism. In a series of quantitative studies we have investigated how this plural composition of society is experienced at the individual or micro level. In a first study, we examined factors contributing to the endorsement of multiculturalism by various Luxembourg resident groups, i.e. native Luxembourgers, residents with migration background, sojourners and daily commuters (total n= 621). Within these groups we differentiated between mono-cultural and bi- or multicultural individuals. We determined the respective in-group, assessed the strength of in-group identification, between-group contacts and the perception of the cultural distance between groups. At trait level we tested the relationship between Schwartz Values structures and the endorsement of multiculturalism. Initial results point to a strong association between the value dimension self-transcendence and multiculturalism. Other work in progress focuses on a more in-depth analysis of the (national) identity processes of adolescents who are raised in families of mixed nationalities (bicultural “by birth”). In this study, we address the question if biculturalism is experienced as doubling of resources or as a strain and which individual or context factors will contribute to either outcome.