Polyculturalism and attitudes towards cultural minorities in the Philippines

Abstract

Polyculturalism is the lay theory that cultures are connected and mutually influencing each other. Previous studies demonstrate that polyculturalism is associated with different positive intergroup processes in intercultural contexts, but evidence has been mixed regarding attitudes toward different minority groups. Two studies explore whether polyculturalism is associated with positive attitudes toward cultural minority groups in the Philippines – indigenous peoples, Filipino-Chinese, and Filipino-Muslims. Participants completed questionnaires on polyculturalism, outgroup attitudes, and different control variables associated with intergroup attitudes. Across two studies, there was mostly consistent evidence on the positive relationship of polyculturalism with attitudes towards Filipino cultural minorities. In the only contrary result, high outgroup knowledge, but not polyculturalism, predicted positive attitudes towards Filipino-Chinese in Study 2. The results provide further evidence on how a dynamic view of culture has positive implications for intercultural relations.