How does education have an impact on ethnocentrism? A structural equation analysis of cognitive,occupational status and network mechanisms |
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| Authors: | Cecil Meeusen Thomas de Vroome Marc Hooghe |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Leuven, Belgium;2. University of Utrecht, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Previous studies have distinguished cognitive, occupational status and network mechanisms in the relation between education and ethnocentrism. Hypotheses on these mediating mechanisms are derived from socialization theory, realistic group threat and contact theory. In the current study we use structural equation modeling to investigate the explanatory power of these three mechanisms simultaneously. The analysis is based on a representative population survey from the Netherlands (NELLS 2009, n = 1910). The results show that more than half of the initial association between education and ethnocentrism can be attributed to cognitive ability and occupational status mechanisms. The remaining part of the overall association, however, still has to be modeled as a direct relationship between education and ethnocentrism. This direct association can be attributed either to social desirability or to a direct liberalizing effect of education on social and political attitudes. Our analysis tentatively suggests that the rise of average education levels in Western societies might lead to less ethnocentric attitudes via the cognitive sophistication mechanism. |
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| Keywords: | Ethnocentrism Education Cognitive ability Realistic group threat theory Network diversity Structural equation modeling The Netherlands |
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