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Abstract:

In the United States multiculturalism and colorblindness are two competing cultural models of diversity characterized by different clusters of values (Plaut, 2002). The present research studies whether the same cultural models of diversity prevail in different cultural contexts and whether they contain similar values. More specifically, we focus on two cultural contexts with different immigration histories and policies: Flanders and California. In a first study we compared participants in Flanders (N = 230) and California (N = 250) with regard to their endorsement of multiculturalism and colorblindness. After establishing measurement invariance, multiculturalism appeared to be less endorsed in Flanders than in California. Additionally, multiculturalism and colorblindness were highly interrelated in Flanders but not in California. The question thus arises whether multiculturalism and colorblindness are distinguishable models of diversity in Flanders. Moreover, we wonder whether they are the prominent Flemish cultural models of diversity. The second study aimed at uncovering which models of diversity are most represented in Flanders and which values constitute them. To avoid the use of self-reports, we performed a content analysis of cultural products. Political platforms, newspaper articles and online reactions to these articles were scanned for a period of five months. Results show that several models of diversity co-exist in Flanders that are different from American diversity models in that other values prevail (e.g., adaptation, secularization, toelrance) and that these values cluster together in culture-specific ways. These three models differ in many aspects from the most prominent models of diversity in California.