Measuring multicultural ideology: Scale development and validation in different languages and contexts

Increased migration has led to the formation of culturally diverse societies in many places around the world. The concept of Multicultural Ideology incorporates two values as a way to promote positive intercultural relations: a) Diversity: the presence of ethnocultural diversity in the population and b) Equity: the right for equal participation of all cultural groups in the society. Both diversity and equity are necessary conditions for the success of multicultural policies. Culturally heterogeneous communities that do not support inclusion and equitable participation of all groups face the negative consequences of segregation and marginalization.
In line with this notion, an international research consortium is developing a revised version of the Multicultural Ideology Scale to assess the endorsement of multicultural ideology in different national contexts. The scale aims to distinguish various attitudinal dimensions of multiculturalism, relevant to the acceptance of diversity and social inclusion of different ethnocultural groups: Cultural Maintenance, Social Interaction, Equity/Inclusion, Extent of Differences, Conflictual Relations, Essentialistic Boundaries. We present the first assessment of the new scale in the German language. The survey was administered online to a sample of native German citizens (N = 382) with different demographic characteristics. Our aim was to understand the attitude of native citizens towards cultural diversity and their willingness to have members of ethnic minority groups be included in the larger society. We investigated the factor structure of the scale, its psychometric properties, and the relationship between multicultural ideology and some individual difference variables, such as ethnic group attachment and social dominance orientation.