Category Archives: multicultural societies

How Online Dating Changed Cross-Cultural Love and Relationships

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The last several decades have witnessed the emergence and extensive development of dating websites. This progress greatly changed the way partners meet, love, and how their relationships evolve.

How Dating Websites Emerged and Expanded

It may look surprising that the first dating websites came only in the 1990s. In 1995, Match.com went online. In the early 2000s, a new wave of dating sites like OKCupid came out. When Tinder came out in 2012, it changed dating even more. There are now more than one-third of marriages that begin online. This data, however, varies across cultures.

These websites have obviously had a significant influence on dating behavior. However, evidence is mounting that their impact is far more substantial. Interesting statistical data from research shows the variety of places and ways in which partners met each other over the last decades.

How Traditional Networks of Dating Work

The social networks associated with family, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances were the most prevalent sources of prospective dating partners. People are strongly connected to a small group of neighbors and only loosely connected to people who live far away. It turns out that these loose connections are very important.

Loose ties have traditionally played an important role in meeting partners. While most people were unlikely to date one of their best friends, they were much more likely to date someone from their group of friends, such as a friend of a friend. Men and women met their partners through their families, at church, through mutual friends, in bars, in educational institutions, at work, and so on.

The Modern Way of Online Dating

The networks of dating have changed with the onset of online dating. Nowadays, heterosexual couples meet through online dating, which is the second most popular method. It’s the most popular choice by far for homosexual couples.

Online dating has led to significant consequences, extending the pool of potential dating partners. “People who meet online tend to be complete strangers,” say Josue Ortega from the University of Essex in the U.K. and Philipp Hergovich from the University of Vienna in Austria, the authors of the recent study.

Online Dating Is Conducive to Intercultural Marriages

These new opportunities extended chances for intercultural relationships, love, and marriages. Some societies are more favorable for intercultural marriages than others.

The statistics of intercultural marriages in the United States of American present a good example for analysis. For instance, J. Ortega and P. Hergovich compared the rates of interracial marriages in the U.S. over the past several decades and found that the number of interracial marriages increased for some time, but the rates were still low.

However, the rates of increase in interracial marriages substantially changed at about the time that online dating became popular. The researchers say,

“It is intriguing that shortly after the introduction of the first dating websites in 1995, like Match.com, the percentage of new marriages created by interracial couples increased rapidly.”

When online dating became even more popular, this increase in interracial marriages became even steeper in the 2000s. Later, in 2014, the proportion of interracial marriages expanded again. “It is interesting that this increase occurred shortly after the creation of Tinder, considered the most popular online dating app,” researchers say.

Married Couples Who Meet Online Are More Stable

It is worth noting that, with about 50 million users, Tinder produces over 12 million matches daily. In the meantime, research into the strength of marriage has discovered some evidence that married couples who meet online have lower rates of marital breakup compared to those who meet in traditional settings.

Cultural Evolution of Spanish Beauty

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Many people, especially anthropologists, want to know if the characteristics of beauty are cross-culturally universal or they are culturally specific to certain nations.  The attributes of special scholarly interest are people’s physicality, including various features of their faces and bodies. Anthropologists examine the shape and complexion of bodies, the physiognomy, and the expressiveness of faces.

Both biological and cultural evolution play vital roles in the formation of physicality, appearance, and beauty in a specific culture. Let us consider the case of Spanish nationality, which developed based on the considerable mixing of many cultural and physical types of people who came to Spain in various periods of history.

A Cultural Mix Favored Spanish Beauty

Spain has an unusually happy mixture of nationalities of various origins. As Henry Finck noted, the goddess of beauty blended the national colors that comprise the Spanish type of physical appearance. It was a vital factor contributing to Spanish beauty.

As an English historian, Edward Freeman (1823–1892), noted in the late 19th century, when Spain was added to the Roman dominion,

“the only one of the great countries of Europe where the mass of the people were not of the Aryan stock. The greater part of the land was still held by the Iberians, as a small part is even now by their descendants the Basques. But in the central part of the peninsula Celtic tribes had pressed in, and … there were some Phœnician colonies in the south, and some Greek colonies on the east coast. In the time between the first and second Punic Wars, Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal had won all Spain as far as the Ebro for Carthage.”

(As cited in Henry Finck, 1887/2019, p. 516).

Adding blood from ancient civilizations like Rome and Greece to the original Spanish stock have been obviously advantageous.

The Goths, Vandals, Suevi, and Moors were among the other nations that successively conquered Spain. Large numbers of Jews and Gypsies also immigrated to Spain. In the 19th century, there were still about 50,000 Gypsies.

Most of these cultures had some beneficial physical traits that evolutionary sexual selection picked up on and passed on. The mixing of races, on the other hand, neutralized and eliminated some of the evolutionary disadvantages in physical characteristics.

And it’s important to remember that this mixing of nations happened very long ago. So it’s no longer a physical mix of different physical types but rather a true “chemical” or physiological fusion. Dissonances and oddities are less likely to occur in Spain as a result of this long story of Spanish cultural evolution. That is a different evolutionary stage than in countries where the mixing of cultures happened more recently.

How Did Different Cultures Shape Spanish Beauty?

Romans, Greeks, Moors, Vandals, Goths, Suevi, Jews, and Gypsies have all contributed to the formation of the Spanish physical type of beauty.

The Goths contributed their robust vigor and masculinity. Gypsies added their intense qualities as brunettes. Arabs contributed their oval faces, dark skin tones, and straight lines separating the nose and forehead. Besides, the Arab impact was evident in small mouths, white teeth, glossy, dark hair, delicate extremities, and gracefully arched feet. And most importantly, their black eyes and long black eyelashes also added to the Spanish physical type of beauty.

So, this evolutionary mixing of various physical types can explain why modern Spaniards are so beautiful.

Societies Favorable to Intercultural Marriages

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In the modern world of increased social mobility and mass migration, many countries have become very multicultural. Subsequently, new mixed cultures with blended communities have been developed in many regions.

Some workplaces, public spaces, and residential areas have become spots where regular intercultural contacts occur. International trade, transnational cooperation, and the development of multicultural projects have also caused more regular inter-cultural contacts and interactions.

The Mere Exposure Effect and Interpersonal Attraction

The mere exposure effect and the familiarity effect may lead to greater interpersonal attraction in intercultural relations.

First, the “mere exposure effect” means “the more you see, the more you like.” We tend to love those we repeatedly see for a while and interact with them in a neutral or positive way. Negative experiences of interactions often produce an adverse effect, thus counteracting the positivity of the mere exposure effect. (See more in How does mere exposure induce love attraction?)

The Mere Exposure Effect and Interpersonal Familiarity

The mere exposure effect also creates an impression of familiarity. The others, whom we see on a regular basis, look more familiar and trustworthy to us. When we meet others who look and behave differently, people tend to be nervous and worried. This evolutionary tendency is what produces in-group positive bias, out-group negative bias, and intergroup tension. (See more in Love attraction to familiar others).

The Effects of Mere Exposure on Familiarity in Intercultural Relationships

Different cultures appear to us as in-groups and out-groups. For us, our culture is perceived as an ingroup, and people look and behave familiar to us because we see them regularly and adapt our perception frame. Therefore, we tend to like and trust them. On the other hand, another culture is perceived as an outgroup, and people look and behave strangely to us because we have never seen them before or have seen them rarely. Therefore, we tend to feel suspicious and apprehensive.

What can happen in culturally blended communities? People of different cultures see each other on a regular basis. We have become accustomed to seeing “others” who look and behave differently. The more we see them, the less strange they appear to us and the less they differ from us. We begin to feel they are basically the same good and trustworthy people as we are. If not, it may not be a matter of culture but rather of an individual’s personality.

Thus, when we meet people from other cultures routinely and in positive interactions, their looks and behaviors gradually become more recognizable and familiar. And due to the “familiarity effect”, we begin to love them more. So, the more often we see those of another culture, the more they look familiar. The more we perceive them as familiar, the more we like them.

The Opportunities Breed Possibilities for Intercultural Marriages

When applied to intercultural contacts and relationships, these mere exposure and familiarity effects can increase the likelihood of intercultural love, dating, and marriage. Considering these social psychological effects, we can think that once men and women of different races and ethnicities have more opportunities to see each other and interact in a positive way, they will perceive more familiarity in each other and, consequently, like and even love each other more. The matter of love, as in within-cultural relationships rather than cultural distinctions, will play a role in their attraction and possible love. Having regular opportunities for intercultural perception and interaction can trigger the simple exposure and familiarity effects. Intercultural and interpersonal attraction and love will follow accordingly.

Studies have shown that this possibility is real in friendships and romantic relationships. Physical and interactional proximity serve as the strongest predictors of interracial friendship and dating. The availability of interracial and interethnic contacts determines the likelihood that students of different races and ethnicities develop friendships. In the same way, greater opportunities for interracial contact predict a greater occurrence of interracial romantic relationships (e.g., Hallinan & Smith, 1985; Fujino, 1997).

However, different proportions of cultural majority and minority groups and belonging to majority or minority groups in a community have different effects on the likelihood of friendship and romantic relationships. In addition, different racial and ethnic groups have different wiliness and a chance to get into such intercultural relationships. Overall, Latinos and Asians are most likely to marry outside their ethnicity and race.

The Multicultural Society of the USA and Increasing Rates of Intercultural Marriages

In the USA, western states, and especially Hawaii, represent excellent examples of mingled multicultural communities favorable to intercultural relationships. The cultural mixing in these regions creates multicultural communities conducive to inter-cultural friendships, romances, and marriages.

The Pew Research Center conducted research in 2012 that showed that Hawaii and the Western United States had the highest rate of interracial marriages nationwide. According to that study, the US was a broadly diverse, multicultural country that continued to break down racial barriers and boundaries. Furthermore, the trend toward a high rate of interracial marriages was growing. In 2012, about 15% of all new marriages in the United States were interracial. In 2015, the number grew by up to 17%. The increasing numbers of Latino and Asian immigrants, as well as the growing public acceptance of such intercultural relationships among young people, were the major causes of the high and rising rates of interculturalism and polyculturalism (See more in The increasing trend of intercultural marriages in America).

The Western United States and Hawaii had the most pronounced increases in the number of intercultural marriages. In comparison to the national average, approximately 20% of newlyweds in the western United States were men and women of different races or ethnicities. In California, more than 23% of new marriages were inter-racial or inter-ethnic, a higher rate than in other western neighboring states. However, Hawaii had the highest rate of 40 percent interracial marriage in the country (Hawaii leads nation with 40 percent interracial marriage rate, by Rebecca Trounson, Feb. 16, 2012).

Intercultural Relationships for Status Exchange

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Intercultural relationships are becoming more widespread in modern multicultural societies. Several theories of interracial romantic and marital relationships have been developed in sociology and social psychology. Among those are the theories of status-caste exchange, opportunity theory, ethnic identity, and interpersonal development.

In-group Versus Out-group Impediments to Intercultural Relationships and Marriages

The divisions between in-groups and out-groups have been pervasive throughout human history. Cultural communities frequently favor their own group and its members while remaining vigilant and wary of other cultural groups. They liked those who were familiar and did not trust those who were unfamiliar. They were predisposed to seeing those from their own cultural in-group with positive bias and those from other cultural “out-groups” with negative bias. These cultural stereotypes precipitated such preferences for prospective partners of the same race, ethnicity, and language over “others” who were unfamiliar. (See other posts about How does mere exposure induce love attraction? and What are cultural stereotypes?).

Consequently, they preferred to marry those of their own cultural group (in-group) and were reluctant to get into relationships with those “others.” Such long-standing traditions were preserved by extended families. They preferred the marriages of their children to those from their cultural group (race, ethnicity, religion). They frequently preferred consanguinity marriages between kin relatives.

Homogamy is a widespread tendency in romantic and marital relationships (see another post on homogamy and love). It is a definite corollary of in-group biases.

Why, despite various social and psychological barriers, have men and women been married across cultural groups?

Status Exchange Motivation in Intercultural Relationships Marriages

Throughout history, various cultural groups have frequently had different social and economic statuses. Some of them were more privileged than others. Some tribes, families, communities, societies, and countries were wealthier than others or had other social advantages. For example, some countries are more economically developed or more civilized than others. Consequently, people enjoyed these benefits. Even within countries, different social and cultural groups are more honored and fortunate than others. The Indian caste system is one of these examples.

Because of such social differentiation, marriage with someone of a higher status has been advantageous. Therefore, the status-exchange motivation is among the strongest reasons for marrying up a man or woman from a wealthy family, tribe, or ethnic group. Generally speaking, people of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to seek out marital relationships with others of higher status to make up for their low status (Rosenfeld, 2005; Sassler & Joyner, 2011; Schoen & Wooldredge, 1989).

The social status exchange model of intermarriage was and is still a reality in societies with high social inequality.

Examples of Status Exchange Intermarriages

Studies have provided evidence to support the contention that the status-caste exchange motivation works in many intermarriages. These cases are frequent in Black-White relationships. In other combinations of races and ethnicities, such as Asians, Latinos, and others, these cases are less frequent (e.g., Gullickson & Fu, 2010; Kalmijn, 2010).

Status-caste exchanges in intercultural marriages can be driven by pragmatic motivation. However, an alternative explanation is possible: passionate and romantic idealization can erase cultural differences in the eyes of beholders. The latter can be true at the initial stage of romantic relationships, when men and women believe that “love wins.” Contemporary romantic movies from Hollywood depict many romantic stories, like fairy tales. They inspire many girls—gender stereotypes persist—to marry a prince.

Fairy tales across cultures commonly depict girls’ dreams of encountering a charming prince to love and marry. The girls are typically kind and beautiful, but poor, while the prince is brave, handsome, and rich. The first two qualities of both definitely predispose them to fall in love with each other—the romantic model of love, yet the third qualities of both predispose them to the status-caste exchange model of love. Such a cultural model of love in fairy tales inspired many girls in the past. Modern Hollywood movies continue to inspire these phantasies. The reality of love, however, does not frequently work this way.

(Karandashev, 2022).

Doubts in Social Exchange Motivation

Some studies, however, express doubts about the validity of such social exchange explanations. The findings for minority groups in the United States, such as Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians, are inconclusive. Different interpretations of Black–White intermarriage are possible. Inequality between the Black and White racial groups, as well as gender differences, can be factors that interact with one another. Some analyses call into question the status-caste exchange theory (Rosenfeld, 2005).

Passionate idealization and true, genuine, and heartfelt love can play an important role in such presumably social exchange in romantic and marital relationships. Maybe Hollywood movies tell us the reality, not only beautiful dreams and illusions.

Socio-economic Equality and Social Status Exchange in Relationships

The social status exchange model of intercultural marriages will likely be on the decline in modern societies. The rise in social, economic, and educational equality in many modern societies is likely to make status-exchange motivation less important for people who marry from different cultures.

Intercultural Marriage Statistics in America

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Due to increased mobility and immigration in recent decades, many countries have become more multicultural than ever before. Such migration has created new mixed and blended cultural communities in many regions. Intercultural encounters on a daily basis are becoming common in workplaces and public areas. Consequently, intercultural romantic relationships and intercultural marriage statistics.

When people regularly meet people of other cultures, their appearance and behavior may look more familiar. The more they see others and the more they look familiar, the more they like them. The mere exposure effect makes others familiar, and cultural differences do not preclude interpersonal attraction and love.

Intercultural Dating in America

Men and women now have more opportunities to encounter prospective romantic partners from other cultures than they did in the past. Along with increased intercultural encounters, the likelihood of intercultural dating and marriage also increases. The legal issues impeding interracial and interethnic marriages have also been changed for the better. Therefore, the rate of intercultural romantic relationships has been substantially increasing in recent decades.

Intermarriages in America

Surprisingly, for a democratic country, marriage between different racial groups was banned as unconstitutional in the United States for a long time. Interracial marriages became legal in the United States only in the 1960s. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned miscegenation laws in the US in 1967. The subsequent expansion of interethnic romantic relationships in the following few decades was substantial.

The Modern Increase in Intercultural Marriage Statistics in America

Since 1967, interethnic marriages have increased in number, crossing borders and erasing boundaries. The rate of intercultural marriages has been steadily growing.

In 1967, when intermarriages became legal, only 3% of all marriages were between partners of a different race or ethnicity.

In 1980, the number of intermarriages was already at 7%.

In 2008, around 14.6% of new marriages were between partners of different races or ethnicities.

In 2015, the number of interracial and interethnic marriages reached 17%.

Basically, this means that while in 1980 there were about 230,000 newlyweds married to someone of a different race or ethnicity, in 2015 there were already more than 670,000 intermarried newlyweds.

Intercultural Couples in Committed Cohabiting Relationships

Besides the fact that interracial and interethnic relationships are common among newlyweds, they are also common among many cohabiting partners. Young men and women may continue to feel social pressure against interethnic marriage, so they may consider living together in committed cohabiting relationships. 

Therefore, the frequency of interracial cohabitation can be even higher than that of marriage. For instance, in 2015, about 6% of cohabiting partners were in such informal relationships. Among those, 18% of these partners were of different races or ethnicities.

Overall, one can estimate that the total number of intermarried people in the US who lived together in 2015 was around 11 million. That accounts for around 10% of all married people. For comparison, in 1980, there were about 3 million, or 3% of married people, who had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity.

Thus, we see that, currently, a higher number of young men and women in America are willing and ready to have intercultural relationships and marry someone of a different race or ethnicity.

Public Attitudes Toward Intercultural Marriage in the USA

Two major factors have driven these dramatic changes in the number of intercultural marriages. First, the changes occurred because of the weakening of longstanding negative cultural attitudes against intermarriage. Second, the changes happened because of a multi-decade surge of immigration from Latin America and Asia.

The public media has also changed the depiction of interethnic relationships. Public sentiment has slowly become more accepting of interracial relationships. Public openness toward interracial relationships increases gradually but steadily.

The tendencies in interethnic dating attitudes are shifting toward greater approval and engagement in interethnic relationships, especially with young adult and adolescent populations. Scholars argue that there are individual and societal benefits to engaging in and maintaining close relationships with members of different ethnicities (e.g., Jacobson & Johnson, 2006; Jones, 2011; Knox et al., 2000; Troy, Lewis-Smith, & Laurenceau, 2006).

What Are Cultural Stereotypes?

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The article explains how social categorization, intergroup comparison, group identification, and outgroup bias shape cultural stereotypes.

Social Identity Theory

Social identity theory is a good explanatory framework for many things in our social cognitions, relationships, and behaviors. The concepts of social categorization, social identification, and social comparison of in-group and out-group also explain the formation of social and cultural stereotypes.(Brown, 2000; Hogg, 2016; McLeod, 2019, October 24; Tajfel, 1982, 2001, Turner, Brown, & Tajfel, 1979); Tajfel & Turner, 1979/2004).

Social Categorization, Group identification, and Intergroup comparison

First, we categorize the things around us. Human perception tends to categorize objects to understand them. In the same way, humans categorize people and other social things to understand them. This is called “social categorization.”

We apply such social categories as male and female, boys and girls, the social and gender roles of a child, the social roles of a parent, a student, or a businessman because they help us understand the social world around us. We learn that people can be of different genders and sexual orientations. People can be from the high, middle, or low socioeconomic classes. They can be liberals and conservatives, Christians and Muslims, Germans, Americans, and British. Then, we assign them to these categories to predict what to expect from them. This is the source of our cognitive schemas and stereotypes. This is how we grasp social, political, and gender roles.

Second, we socially identify ourselves as members of social categories and groups that we believe we then belong to. And then, we adopt the appropriate social identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as fitting into. This is called “social identification.”

If one categorizes herself as a girl, it is likely that she adopts the corresponding gender identity and behaves like a woman, conforming to the gender norms and roles of womanhood. For her, it is emotionally important to identify with this group, and her self-esteem becomes bound up with its membership.

Third, if we categorize ourselves as belonging to a social group and identify with that group, then we begin to compare “our group” with “other groups.” This is called “social comparison.” We tend to favorably compare our group to other groups. This allows us to maintain our self-esteem.

In-groups Versus Out-groups

Social categorization tends to serve not only objective social cognition but also subjective self-identification. Therefore, people distinguish social groups in reference to themselves as either in-group (us) or out-group (them). And they are biased in their social perceptions.

First, they tend to see others in their own group as more similar to each other than they are. They are also predisposed to seeing others in the group to which they belong (in-group) as different from others (out-group).

Second, they are prone to seeing positive qualities in those from their in-group and negative qualities in those from their out-group. They are subjective and biased because such favoritism toward their own group enhances their self-image.

Social Categorization and Stereotypes

Stereotyping is the cognitive process of social categorization. It is natural for people to put things together into groups based on their similarities and differences. It is natural for people to stereotype others. Stereotyping is a normal tendency of social cognition when it is flexible and capable of adjustment.

A negative effect of stereotyping appears when social categorization turns into shaping an oversimplified and rigid image of a social group and a particular type of person. In this case, people tend to amplify the similarities between people belonging to the same group and the differences between those belonging to different social groups.

When members of one group identify as opponents of another, they must assert their status in order to maintain their self-esteem. Antagonism and contestation with other groups are related to their competing identities.

Cultural Stereotypes

Cultural stereotypes are just another kind of social stereotype. We categorize people in the same way, referring to the cultural groups they belong to. That is called a “cultural stereotype.”

Plenty of social labels can be perceived as cultural. These are Whites, Blacks, and Asians. These are Christians and Muslims. These are Palestinians and Jews. These are the Albanians and Serbs. One of these can be our “in-group,” while another can be our “out-group” for us.

The in-group is our “own culture,” while the out-group is “their culture.” Ours is certainly better than theirs. Our culture is noble and civilized, while theirs is savage and barbaric. Our great religion versus their primitive superstitions.

The in-group versus out-group distinction is a source of ethnocentrism, which seems difficult to overcome because it is entrenched in human social nature and the basics of social cognition.

Social and cultural stereotypes are at the root of intercultural prejudices and clashes. Prejudiced stereotypes between cultures can cause racism, discrimination, and other detrimental cultural clashes, such as between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, and between the Serbs and Bosnians in the former Yugoslavia (McKeown, Haji, Ferguson, eds., 2016).

Who Is a Multicultural Person?

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The article describes studies showing how multicultural communities and cultural mixing foster the formation of a multicultural mind and a multicultural person.

Intercultural Encounters and Cultural Mixing

Inter-cultural connections and cultural mixing in multicultural countries, states, and residential areas are conducive to the development of multicultural minds and personalities. These can be multi-national, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-faith neighborhood communities. People of different cultural groups live together and interact on a regular basis. The more they see each other, the more they like each other, unless some aversive circumstances appear.

Modern urban and metropolitan neighborhoods and the cultural borderlands (communities living near national borders) are often culturally mixed and multicultural. In such residential and workplace areas, the rate of intercultural encounters and relationships is often high. People of different races, nationalities, ethnicities, and faiths meet each other, date, marry, and raise their multicultural children.

Multicultural Communities that Are Conducive to Polycultural Development

In some residential or workplace communities, several cultures are concurrently circulated in the social lives of people. These conditions tacitly shape the culture of polyculturalism. Such polyculturalism implies that “individuals take influence from multiple cultures” (Morris, Chiu, & Liu, 2015, p. 631). The people in those communities naturally develop their polycultural personalities.

The culturally mixed and multicultural circumstances of living and working allow people to become bicultural and even multicultural. They develop their cultural competencies. Their minds and personalities become open and capable of perceiving and acting beyond cultural borders. They see in each other a person, not a member of a cultural group (race, ethnicity, or nationality).

What Does the Metaphor “Melting Pot” Mean?

The metaphor of the “melting pot” is widely used in the USA in reference to America’s status as a country of immigrants where all cultures merge. Although it has not always been and is not everywhere perfectly this way, nevertheless, this idea has always been an American cultural value and inspiration. The metaphor of the “melting pot” means that the cultural differences in the United States melt and blend together, like metals being melted down to become an alloy.

The Western states of the USA, and especially Hawaii, are excellent examples of such multicultural societies with many multicultural minds. Multicultural encounters in the lives of people living there are common. They do not pay much attention to the social and cultural attributes of others around them. They treat each other just as humans with their individual differences and personalities, rather than as members of social and cultural groups.

Who Are the Multicultural Minds?

Multicultural people are those who have good knowledge and understanding of two or more cultures. They have internalized two or more cultures in their self-awareness. These people identify themselves with two or more cultures. They can’t tell if they’re Americans, Mexicans, or Japanese. These people are somebody else. They are Mexican-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Arab-Americans, Chinese-Canadians, or Turkish-Germans. They have an identity mix of two or more cultures.

Due to the multicultural construction of their minds, such individuals are capable of functioning effectively in more than one culture. They know more than one language and develop multicultural competencies. They can think in ways that reflect multiple cultures.

There is strong evidence that being bicultural and having bicultural integration can have positive consequences for personal development. Multicultural individuals often develop multifaceted and complex emotions, cognitions, and personalities (Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005; Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000; Phinney & Alipuria, 2006; see for review, Karandashev, 2021).

Characteristics of a Multicultural Person

A multicultural personality is a set of attitudes, traits, and behaviors that predispose a person to adapt well to culturally different contexts, communicate effectively, and act adequately. Multicultural individuals are secure in their multiple identities, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and religion. They are intellectually curious regarding novel cultures, cognitively flexible, emotionally stable, culturally empathic, committed to social justice, and feel centered about spirituality. The traits of a multicultural personality are open-mindedness, social initiative, flexibility, emotional stability, and cultural empathy (Ponterotto et al., 2011; Van Der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000).

Being open-minded

Being open-minded means having open and unprejudiced attitudes toward different cultural groups. Multicultural people are open-minded regarding cultural diversity. They do not care much about nationality, race, ethnicity, or religious faith. These people care more about what kind of person another individual is, what qualities she or he has, and what he or she is capable of. They do not have or, at least, suppress their explicit cultural stereotypes and prejudices. And anyway, they do not exhibit them.

Social initiative

Social initiative is a person’s trait expressed in the tendency to take initiative and approach social situations actively. Due to this disposition, multicultural people interact easily with people of other cultures. They are capable of making friends with other cultural groups.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a person’s ability to adjust their behavior to new and unknown situations. Such a person can change their communication and behavior according to a new cultural context. Multicultural individuals perceive new and unknown situations with flexibility. They consider them challenges rather than threats. They change their behavioral patterns in response to unexpected and limited situations that happen in another cultural context.

Emotional stability

Emotional stability is a personality trait of multicultural individuals that allows them to remain calm in stressful situations. Such emotional states are possible when a person encounters culturally different contexts and behaviors, when things do not go the way they do in one’s own culture. Because of this, a person may experience tension, social detachment, fear, frustration, and interpersonal conflict. Therefore, the disposition of emotional stability is useful for interaction with people from other cultures. It helps to cope well with such feelings of emotional discomfort and distress.

Cultural empathy

Cultural empathy is a personality trait of multicultural people that gives them the ability to emotionally understand and relate to the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of others whose cultural background is different from their own. Multicultural individuals function effectively with people of other cultures because they have an adequate understanding of those cultures. Cultural empathy is an important capacity that allows us to “read” other cultures.

What is multicultural in culturally diverse societies?

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In multicultural societies, people can be in various connections, interactions, and relationships with each other and with other cultural groups. They can coexist in peace or in tension, subordinate cultural groups or respect cultural equality.

Cultures and people in multicultural communities can either recognize the existence of cultural diversity or deny it. They can tolerate cultural differences or accept them as natural and welcoming. Cultural attitudes towards others’ cultural differences and expressions can be respectful or not. They can be appreciative of what different cultures contribute to a community or not.

Two forms of multiculturalism ideologies

Multiculturalism in societies and people can have different psychological attitudes and ideologies. One position admits multiculturalism as simply acknowledging the presence of different cultural groups living in a society. People may like others of a different culture or not, consider them equal to their own group or not. Thus, attitudes toward another cultural group can be positive or negative, benevolent or malevolent, and represent an attitude from a dominant position to a minority or an equality position.

An alternative position acknowledges multiculturalism as the positive and benevolent attitudes towards people of other cultures, which not only admit, but also respect and accept these cultural differences. Such a multicultural society and multicultural people accept the people of other cultures as they are, without the limitations that cultural stereotypes impose. In these multicultural attitudes, attribution to personality prevails over attribution to culture. For example, a person is loud and talkative not because he or she is American, but because he is extroverted and excited.

Such multicultural attitudes also tend to abandon the notions of a (dominant) majority culture and a (subordinate) minority culture. This progressive multiculturalism discards the notions of “majority” and “minority.” Every culture is equal, regardless of its prevalence in a society.

This approach minimizes hot public discussions and formal collections of diversity-specific personal information. Is it really important to ask what your race and ethnicity are, whether you are Hispanic or non-Hispanic? Is it really important to ask about sexual orientation? What if a person does not know who they are or does not want to reveal their identity? What if a person is not willing to come out? I don’t think that institutional and governmental agencies should care about all this.

Scientific committees on ethics often prohibit asking some sensitive questions, such as sexual orientation. Why do social institutions dare to do this? We should respect such personal and confidential information without bringing it into public view. It is not a matter of society to intrude into a personal life. It is not appropriate to sneak into men’s and women’s beds, asking what and with whom they have sex. We must distinguish between the freedom to be and the necessity to reveal.

Multiculturalism and polyculturalism

The liberal form of multiculturalism comes up with the idea of “polycultural multiculturalism,” which is different from “traditional multiculturalism.”

What is multicultural and what is polycultural? The concepts of multiculturalism and polyculturalism are frequently treated as synonymous. Both “multi” and “poly” literally mean many, and they seem similar in their meanings.

The lay theories of multiculturalism and polyculturalism have been associated with quite similar intergroup cultural attitudes and behaviors. Yet, some believe they are different (e.g., Bernardo et al., 2016; Haslam, 2016; Osborn et al., 2020).

The proponents of the polyculturalism ideology assert that multiculturalism considers cultures as static phenomena and practices, emphasizing their differences and coexistence. It is believed that multiculturalism still admits stereotypical cultural attitudes and prejudice. The ideology of multiculturalism can prompt people to perceive cultural diversity as a threat to their ingroup’s status and power. As a result, these attitudes can increase conservative social views (Osborn et al., 2020).

Different from this, these scholars claim that polyculturalism acknowledges cultures as dynamic, interactive, interconnected phenomena and practices that are always in flux. The cultural ideology of polyculturalism focuses on connections and interactions among different racial or ethnic groups. Polycultural attitudes are associated with personal appreciation for and comfort with diversity. People with such attitudes express their willingness to have intergroup contact. They have egalitarian beliefs and positive attitudes towards liberal immigration. They endorse affirmative action policies (Rosenthal & Levy, 2012).

Advocates of polyculturalism oppose this concept to the notion of multiculturalism. They argue that the latter emphasizes differences, divisions, and separations among various cultures.

General comment

This conceptual distinction between multiculturalism and polyculturalism is important in several respects. However, because both words mean “many cultures,” they are often used interchangeably in literature.

To me personally, “multiculturalism” sounds like a general term, while “polyculturalism” is rather a specific form of multiculturalism. This is why “multicultural” and “multiculturalism” are words widely used in literature. I think it would be better to oppose “polyculturalism” to some other specific form of multiculturalism.

Polyculturalism, as a general term, can also come in specific forms like biculturalism, triculturalism, and more.

Other articles of interest:

Cultures fuse and connect, so we should embrace polyculturalism (by Nick Haslam, 2017).

What is multiculturalism?

What is the multicultural diversity of countries?

What Is a Multicultural Community?

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People in the modern world are exposed to a variety of cultures, some of which are more or less compatible with one another. Many countries have mixed cultures that shape multicultural people and mixed cultural identities. These mixed cultures are more conducive to the development of multicultural personalities and multicultural community (Karandashev, 2021).

In the modern world of increasingly mixed cultures and multicultural societies, people encounter other cultures more frequently than ever before. In some countries and regions, it’s more likely for people from different cultures to meet.

Monocultural and Multicultural Countries

Some countries are homogeneous in the races, ethnicities, and religions of their population and in the languages they speak. They can be called relatively monocultural societies. According to the data of 2013, among those are the Comoros, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Haiti, Rwanda, Uruguay, Sweden, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea (Rich Morin, 2013).

Some other countries, on the other hand, are quite heterogeneous in terms of the ethnicities, races, and religions of their population and speak a variety of languages. They are highly multicultural societies. Among those are many African countries, such as Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Nigeria, Togo, and South Africa; several Asian countries, such as India, Indonesia, and Singapore; and many countries in other parts of the world, such as Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and the United States.

See more: How regional is the cultural diversity of countries?

Within-countries’ Diversity of Cultures

In many countries, different regions, states, and provinces have substantially different cultures. Among those are the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, and France. For example, some scholars think that the southern states (the Deep South) and the northern states of the USA have somewhat different cultures in many respects. The northern industrialized regions of Germany culturally differ from Bavaria and other regions of Germany. The southern and northern parts of France have quite different regional cultures.

Besides, some regions of the country can be more multicultural than others. For example, the west and northeast regions of the United States are much more multicultural than the Midwest.

Hawaii is the most multicultural state in the US. The northern parts of Germany are more multicultural than others. The large and densely populated urban areas, such as New York City, Toronto, and Paris, are more multicultural than rural or urban areas, such as the Midwest of the USA.

See more: What is the multicultural diversity of countries?

Culture Mixing in Multicultural Communities

Nowadays, cultural mixing has become widespread. Such cultural mixing is evident in the coexistence of various representative symbols of different cultures at the same time and place (Hao, Li, Peng, Peng, & Torelli, 2016; Harush, Lisak, & Erez, 2016; Martin & Shao, 2016).

The dynamic communities of some regions have large variations in the national and ethnic origins of people living there together for quite a while (e.g., Van de Vijver, Blommaert, Gkoumasi, & Stogianni, 2015).

For example, the cultures of countries along their national borders frequently mix with each other on the same territory. That is sometimes called the cultural borderland (Chang, 1999; Foley, 1995). The Mexican-American borderlands of Arizona, California, and Texas in the US represent such examples of Mexican-American culture.

What Is Multiculturalism?

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Multiculturalism in a society is not simply the presence of various cultural groups living in a country but also the manifestation of positive attitudes by the society and its people towards individuals of other cultures. Such multicultural societies acknowledge and respect their diversity (Karandashev, 2021).

However, multiculturalism is not only about respecting the dominant majority culture toward minority cultural groups. In my opinion, true multiculturalism lies in the abandonment of such notions as “majority” and “minority”, in abandoning public discussion, and in the formal collection of diversity-specific personal information. Society and people should accept the people of other cultures as they are, without the reservations that cultural stereotypes can impose.

Examples of Multicultural Strategies

Some cultural policies in France present good examples of multiculturalism. In many cases, it is prohibited to ask about the ethnicity and sexual orientation of people. It is personal information that is often not pertinent to the reality of public life. Why, then, should they ask? For some reasons, some individuals may not want to identify themselves with their formal ethnicity. Children of multicultural couples simply cannot identify with any ethnicity. Should they do this?

Hawaii presents another good example of multiculturalism. They accept race and ethnicity as natural, not paying much attention to these individual characteristics. The more we see diversity and the less we talk about racial and ethnic differences, the more natural people look. Hawaiians just do not care about the ethnicities of people; they accept people as individuals, not as members of ethnic groups.

In the United States, however, many officials have another cultural policy regarding multiculturalism. In their fight for racial, ethnic, and sexual diversity and equality, they strive to highlight and accentuate these cultural attributes of individuals. Many American surveys obsessively ask about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, presumably with the good intention of reaching and extending the cultural diversity of cultural representation. Sometimes, this looks like an intrusion into a confidential personal life. Why does society strive to sneak into the private lives of couples? Why are surveys interested in who a person’s sexual partner is and what they do in bed when they are alone?

The more we highlight and talk about ethnic differences, the more likely we are to pay attention to them. Therefore, we are more likely to differentiate rather than appreciate people as individuals. They are people with personalities, rather than members of ethnic groups. Hawaiian culture can teach us a lot.

Multicultural Ways of Living

Fair multicultural attitudes in society imply that all races, ethnicities, and cultures deserve special acknowledgment of their cultural differences. These multicultural beliefs are based on the idea that people in the cultural majority don’t think they are the dominant culture and that they treat minorities’ cultures as equal to their own.

Multicultural societies are open to others and inclusive (Karandashev, 2021).

Socially fair attitudes and actions are those that:

(1) acknowledge the multiculturalism and diversity of cultures,

(2) tolerate others’ cultural differences,

(3) respect each other’s cultural differences,

(4) recognize that different cultural expressions are equally valid,

(5) appreciate different cultures as valuable parts of multicultural society,

(6) celebrate cultural differences,

(7) encourage cultural groups to contribute to the common good.

Equity and Equality in Multicultural Societies

Many countries in the world have multicultural diversity. They live in multicultural communities and often follow the policies of multiculturalism.

The ultimate ideal of multiculturalism is equality, which treats people of other cultures as equal. Cultural equality is a great idea and an ideal of multicultural society! Yet, in my opinion, the best form of equality is equity. Equity, as providing equal opportunities for people of different cultures, can help achieve the goal of polyculturalism better than the simple equality of equal distribution.

Equal rights must not entail equal needs and obligations. People have the freedom “to be or not to be”—to give and take certain roles. Individual freedom of rights is not the same as a personal commitment to give and take on roles.

Offering people from different cultures equal opportunities and possibilities could be more beneficial for polyculturalism than simply pushing cultural minorities into positions and giving them priority over the cultural majority. In social justice, we should distinguish between social equity and social equality.

In a truly multicultural society, individuals of other cultures should be appreciated not because of their culture, race, ethnicity, gender, or age, but regardless of their culture, race, ethnicity, gender, or age, because of who they are.

Unfortunately, cultural stereotypes still play a role in forming cultural stereotypes. Many individuals in modern societies, as well as in the past, are multicultural persons.