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The Role of a Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity, and the Valuing, Accepting, Tolerating, and Rejecting Cultural Diversity Responses Model (The VATR-CDR Model)

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The Role of a Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity, and the Valuing, Accepting, Tolerating, and Rejecting Cultural Diversity Responses Model (The VATR-CDR Model) Promoting Positive Intergroup Relations and Group Equality: The Role of a Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity, and the Valuing, Accepting, Tolerating, and Rejecting Cultural Diversity Responses Model (the VATR-CDR Model) by Mamta Vaswani A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Mamta Vaswani, September, 2020 ABSTRACT PROMOTING POSITIVE INTERGROUP RELATIONS AND GROUP EQUALITY: THE ROLE OF A CULTURALLY DIVERSE CANADIAN IDENTITY, AND THE VALUING, ACCEPTING, TOLERATING, AND REJECTING CULTURAL DIVERSITY RESPONSES MODEL (THE VATR-CDR MODEL) Mamta Vaswani Advisor: University of Guelph, 2020 Dr. Benjamin Giguère The Canadian government announced Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy in the early 1970s which has aimed to promote positive evaluations of culturally diverse Canadians and equality among Canadians (Government of Canada, 1971). The present studies aimed to examine whether the Canadian collective identity could be understood as being inherently culturally diverse as is intended by the policy, and whether such an understanding can help to achieve the policy’s goals. A novel approach to understanding how cultural diversity is responded to was also proposed: The Valuing, Accepting, Tolerating, and Rejecting Cultural Diversity Responses Model (the VATR-CDR Model). Additionally, the present studies examined whether understanding the Canadian identity as being inherently culturally diverse was associated with the VATR-CDR Model, and whether the model can help to achieve the policy’s goals. Finally, the role of identifying with cultural diverse others on those associations was also examined. Results of three cross-sectional studies involving majority White Canadian participants suggested that the Canadian identity can be understood as being inherently culturally diverse, and that such an understanding may be associated with achieving the policy’s goals. Results also provided support for the utility of the VATR-CDR Model, suggesting that valuing cultural diversity may be conducive to achieving the policy’s goals, but that tolerating and rejecting cultural diversity may hinder achieving the policy’s goals, and that accepting cultural diversity may not be associated with achieving the policy’s goals. Additionally, the results suggested that understanding the Canadian identity as being inherently culturally diverse may increase valuing cultural diversity and decrease rejecting cultural diversity, which responses, in turn, may be conducive to achieving the policy’s goals, in particular for people who identify less with culturally diverse others. Implications of the results for achieving the goals of Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy are discussed. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisory and examination committee members, and chair to my defence, for their time, feedback, questioning and suggestions from preparing my research proposal through to my defence. I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue my graduate studies under the supervision of Dr. Benjamin Giguère. This experience has been long and challenging, but also very rewarding which is in large part due to him. I will be forever grateful for his support and mentorship. I would also like to thank my husband, Sunil Vaswani, for his support and the sacrifices he has made so that my dream may come true. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii List of Appendices ....................................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Canada’s Culturally Diverse Sociocultural Context ........................................................ 2 1.2 Intergroup Relations Between Members of Different Cultural Groups in Canada .......... 6 1.3 A Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity and Positive Intergroup Relations .................... 8 1.4 The VATR-CDR Model and Positive Intergroup Relations .......................................... 15 1.5 Overview of Present Studies .......................................................................................... 23 Study 1 .................................................................................................................... 24 2.1 Method ........................................................................................................................... 24 2.1.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. 24 2.1.2 Procedure ................................................................................................................ 24 2.1.3 Measures ................................................................................................................. 25 2.2 Results ............................................................................................................................ 26 2.2.1 Psychometric Properties of the Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity Measure .... 26 2.2.2 Exploring the Association Between a Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity and Positive Intergroup Relations ................................................................................................ 27 2.3 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 28 Study 2 .................................................................................................................... 28 vi 3.1 Method ........................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. 29 3.1.2 Procedure ................................................................................................................ 29 3.1.3 Measures ................................................................................................................. 30 3.2 Results ............................................................................................................................ 34 3.2.1 Psychometric Properties of the Culturally Diverse Canadian Identity Measure .... 36 3.2.2 Psychometric Properties of the VATR-CDR Model .............................................. 39 3.2.3 Hypothesis Testing.................................................................................................. 41 3.3 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 53 Study 3 .................................................................................................................... 54 4.1 Method ........................................................................................................................... 55 4.1.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. 55 4.1.2 Procedure ................................................................................................................ 55 4.1.3 Measures ................................................................................................................. 56 4.2 Preliminary Analyses: Psychometric Properties of Measures of Attitudes Toward Cultural Diversity Related Policies and Legislation ................................................................. 57 4.2.1 Structure of Items .................................................................................................... 58 4.2.2 Convergent Validity ................................................................................................ 60 4.3 Results ............................................................................................................................ 61 4.3.1 Hypothesis 1: Association between a culturally diverse Canadian identity and positive intergroup relations, and cultural diversity related policies and legislation ............ 63 4.3.2 Hypothesis 2: Association between the VATR-CDR Model and the valence of intergroup relations, and cultural diversity related policies and legislation .......................... 63 vii 4.3.3 Hypotheses 3 and 4: Mediating role of the VATR-CDR Model on the association between a culturally diverse Canadian identity and positive intergroup relations, and cultural diversity related policies and legislation, moderated by identification with a culturally diverse Canadian ingroup ...................................................................................................... 66 4.4 Discussion .....................................................................................................................
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