Acculturation Orientations of French and North African Undergraduates in Paris (2004) PDF

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222241123 Acculturation orientations of French and North African undergraduates in Paris. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28, 415-438 Article in International Journal of...

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222241123 Acculturation orientations of French and North African undergraduates in Paris. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28, 415-438 Article in International Journal of Intercultural Relations · September 2004 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.08.003 CITATIONS READS 87 639 4 authors, including: Richard Y. Bourhis Université du Québec à Montréal 149 PUBLICATIONS 6,365 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Interprovincial migration in Canada's bilingual belt View project All content following this page was uploaded by Richard Y. Bourhis on 13 February 2018. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.  Available online at www.sciencedirect.com."rENcE lnternational Jonrnal of dor^=.r. INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415-438 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel Acculturation orientations of French and North African undergraduates in Paris * Genevidve Barretteu'*, Richard Y. Bourhisu, Marie Personnazb, Bernard Personnaz" ^D(ipartement de psvchotosie, ,"r,,;::,:1"f,&:n;:,r;:::":;t' c.p BiBB succursate centre-'iile, b(Jniuersitd de Paris X, France 'Uniuersiti de Rouen, CNR^9 & EHESS, France Abstract The interactive acculturation model (IAM) proposes that acculturation orientations endorsed by host majority and immigrant minority members influence the quality of their intergroup relations. This questionnaire study was conducted with 199 French host majority respondents and 124 North African immigrants who interacted weekly as undergraduates at a large university in a suburb of Paris. Acculturation orientations strongly endorsed by French undergraduates were integrationism and individualism, while segregationism, assimilationism, and exclusionism were weakly endorsed. Acculturation orientations strongly endorsed by North African undergraduates were integrationism, individualism, and separatism, while the least endorsed orientations were assimilationism and marginalization. Confirming basic premises of the IAM model, results showed that French majority and North African undergraduates who endorsed integrationism and individualism were those who perceived the most harmonious relational outcomes with out-group members. French majority under- graduates who endorsed segregationism/exclusionism and North African undergraduates who *This study was made possible thanks to grants to the second author lrom "La Chaire Concordia- UQAM en 6tudes ethniques" and from the Metropolis project of "Immigration et M6tropoles" at the Universit6 de Montr6al. *Corresponding author. Tel. : I -5 | 4-987-3000x 48 52; f ax + 1 - 51 4-987 -7 9 53. E-mail addresses. [email protected] (G. Barrette), [email protected] (R.Y. Bourhis). 0147-l'7671$-see front matter Gr 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi: I 0. I 0 I 6/j.ijintrel.2004.08.003 416 G. Barrette et al. I International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 endorsed separatism were more likely to perceive problematic/conflictual relations with out- group members. @ 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Acculturation; Immigrant; Interactive acculturation model; North African; French; France 1. Introduction From a public policy perspective, France does not define itself as a country of immigration. However, with over four million immigrants, France has become one of Europe's leading countries of immigration. The founding myth of France as a unicultural, egalitarian and secular republic is increasingly challenged by social, urban, and political segregation of mainly North African immigrants and by the fact that cultural diversity can no longer be ignored or denied (Jennings, 2000; Wieviorka, 1998). Despite a long held policy promoting assimilation to the French cultural and linguistic mainstream, cultural differences are expressed and claimed by first and second generation immigrants in most large cities of France. Increasingly, immigrant minorities negotiate with French host nationals the type of relationship they wish to have with each other based on their collective identification and what share of institutional control each ethnocultural group seeks to gain in the social and political arena (Noiriel, 2002). An acculturation process is occurring between the French host majority and immigrants who have increasing cross-cultural contacts with each other (Jackson, Brown, Brown, & Marks, 2002). Acculturation is a term used to describe the process of bi-directional change that takes place when two ethnocultural groups come in sustained contact with one another (Graves, 1967). This definition of acculturation implies that dominant as well as non-dominant cultural groups are influenced by their intercultural contacts and come to change aspects of their respective cultures as a way of adapting to one another. One common shortcoming of classic acculturation models is the lack of importance given to how the dominant host majority can shape and be shaped by the acculturation orientations of immigrant groups. 1.1. The interactiue acculturation model The interactive acculturation model (IAM) seeks to integrate within a common theoretical model the following elements: (a) the acculturation orientations adopted by the host majority toward specific groups of immigrants, (b) the acculturation orientations adopted by immigrants within their country of adoption, and (c) interpersonal and intergroup relational outcomes that are the product of combinations of immigrant and host majority acculturation orientations (Bourhis, Moise, Perreault, & Sen6cal, 1997). These relational outcomes can be situated on a continuum which ranges from harmonious to problematic to conflictual. The IAM proposes that the acculturation orientations of dominant host majority members can  G. Barrette et al. f International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415-438 4t'7 have a major impact on the acculturation orientations of immigrant minorities given the former's control of most public and private institutions within the country of settlement (Bourhis, 2001). Dominant host majority members can endorse the following acculturation orientations towards immigrant minorities: integrationism, assimilationism, segregationism, exclusionism and individualism. Integrationism is endorsed by host majority members who accept and value that immigrants maintain some aspects of their heritage culture and also accept and value that immigrants adopt important features of the majority host culture. Integra- tionists value a stable biculturalism amongst immigrant communities that, in the long term, may contribute to cultural pluralism as an enduring feature of the host society. Assimilation rrn corresponds to the traditional concept of absorption whereby host community members expect immigrants to relinquish their cultural identity for the sake of adopting the dominant culture of the host majority. The assimilationist orientation implies that dominant host members will eventually consider those immigrants who have assimilated as full-fledged members of the mainstream host society. Segregationislr accept that immigrants maintain their heritage culture as long as immigrants keep their distance from host majority members, as they do not wish immigrants to transform, dilute, or contaminate the host culture. Host community members who adopt this orientation disfavor cross-cultural contacts with immigrants, prefer immigrants to remain together in separate enclaves and are ambivalent regarding the status of immigrants as rightful members of the majority society. Exclusionism is adopted by members of the host community who deny immigrants the right to adopt features of the majority host culture. Exclusionists also deny immigrants the choice to maintain their heritage culture or religion and believe that some immigrants have customs and values that can never be culturally or socially incorporated within the host majority. As regards attitudes concerning immigration, exclusionists would like immigration from certain devalued countries to stop and in some cases would prefer some categories of immigrants to be deported to their country of origin. Indiuidualism is an orientation endorsed by host majority members who define themselves and others as individuals rather than as members of group categories such as immigrants or host majority members. For individualists, it is the personal characteristics of the single person that count most rather than belonging to one group or another. Such individualists will therefore tend to downgrade the importance of maintaining the immigrant culture or adopting the dominant host culture as criteria of successful acculturation. Because it is personal qualities and individual achievements that count most, individualists will tend to interact with immigrants in the same way they would with other individuals who happen to be members of the host majority. By virtue of their minority position and their limited control of state and private institutions within the country of settlement, immigrant background individuals are not in a position to endorse exactly the same acculturation orientations as dominant 418 G. Barrette et al. / International Journal oJ lntercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 host majority members (Bourhis, 2001; Bourhis et al., 1997). Based on our adaptation of the immigrant acculturation orientations proposed by Berry (1984, 1997), immigrants may endorse the following five acculturation orientations: integrationism, individualism, assimilationism, separatism and marginalization. Integrationisls want to maintain some aspects of their culture of origin while adopting some cultural characteristics of the host majority. Integrationism is an acculturation orientation which values identification to both the host majority culture and the immigrant community culture. Assimilatiomsts want to relinquish their culture of origin for the sake of adopting the culture of the dominant host majority. In the short and medium terms, assimilationists are those immigrant members who are most willing to switch their cultural identification from their heritage culture to the culture of the host majority. Separatists want to maintain their culture of origin while rejecting important features of the host majority culture. Separatism is endorsed by members of immigrant minorities who wish to maintain their culture of origin, prefer contacts with members of their own group while dissociating themselves from the cultural practices of the mainstream host majority. Immigrants who experience marginalization feel estranged and alienated from both their own culture of origin and the dominant culture of the host society. Marginalized individuals experience anomie and feel socially and psychologically excluded from both their immigrant community and from the host majority. Immigrants who endorse indiuidualisrn resemble individualists from the host majority as they focus on the personal characteristics of others rather than on their social group memberships. Individualists do not depend on the support of their immigrant community or on that of the host society to achieve their personal goals and ambitions. The IAM proposes that acculturation orientations of both host majority and immigrant group members can be endorsed in private and public domains of social life (Phalet & Swyngedouw, 2004). Acculturation orientations can be endorsed in public domains such as relations in the workplace, education, and the public administration at the municipal, regional and national levels. Private domains include interpersonal relations, endogamic versus exogamic unions, religious, cultural and gastronomic activities. The IAM also proposes that acculturation orientations endorsed by host majority individuals may be concordant or discordant with those held by specific immigrant or national minorities. The degree of concordance between the acculturation orientations of host majority and immigrant individuals may result in harmonious, problematic or conflictual relational outcomes between such group members (Bourhis et al., 1997). Such relational outcomes occur in many aspects of social life including acculturation stress, interethnic relations, cross-cultural communications, prejudice and stereotyping, institutional and social discrimination in employment, housing, education and police relations. Harmonious relations occur when there is concordance between the acculturation orientations of dominant host majority members and immigrant group members. Harmonious intergroup relations are most likely when members of both groups endorse integrationism, individualism or assimilationism. Recent studies have shown  G. Barrette et al. I Internationql Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415*438 419 that mutually endorsed integrationism orientations can have a positive impact on the intergroup attitudes of immigrants and host majority members (Dovidio, Gaertner, & Validzic, 1998; Zagefka & Brown, 2002). Intergroup relations are problematic when there is only partial concordance between dominant host members and immigrants concerning their respective acculturation orientations. For example, problematic relations are more likely to occur between host majority members who endorse assimilationism and immigrants who endorse integrationism (Piontkowski, Florack, Hcilker, & Obdrzalek, 2000; Zick, Wagner, van Dick, & Petzel, 2001). Intergroup relations are more likely to be conflictual when host majority and immigrant group members endorse discordant acculturation orientations. Endorse- ment of segregationism and exclusionism by dominant host members and endorsement of separatism by immigrant group members may result in conflictual relational outcomes. Using the IAM, this study was conducted at the Universit6 de Paris X situated in the North-West suburb of Paris where interethnic contacts are more frequent than in many other regions of France. The first goal of the study was to assess the acculturation orientations of French host majority and North African under- graduates whose degree of interethnic contact was sustained. Undergraduates from each ethnocultural background were enrolled in the same tutorial classes for a full academic year within their department at university. Another goal of the study was to test the proposition that acculturation orientations such as integrationism and individualism held by host majority and immigrant undergraduates should be related with perceptions of harmonious intergroup relations. In contrast, acculturation orientations such as segregationism, exclusionism and separatism should be related to perceived problematic and conflictual intergroup relations. Acculturation orientations endorsed by host majority and immigrant undergraduates do not emerge in a social or historical vacuum. A brief overview of the intergroup climate framing immigration and integration issues in France will set the stage for our study of acculturation orientations endorsed by French and North African undergraduates in Paris. 1.2. Immigration and integration "ri la frangabe" During the 1960s, France recruited guest workers from its former colonies in North Africa to help fuel its booming post-war economy (Viet, 1998). By the mid 1970s, the selection of immigrants was no longer based on labor needs but was related to humanitarian goals such as family reunification and the admission of refugees. In the late 1990s, census results showed that four million immigrants accounted for 7o/o of the French population of 60 millions. The majority of these immigrants originated from North Africa including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and from European Union countries such as Portugal, Italy, and Spain. Thirty-four percent of the immigrants who settled in France live in the Paris metropolitan area and represent l7o/o of the Parisian population (CNCD, 2000). Intercultural encounters are more frequent in the metropolitan region of Paris than in most other urban settings in France (Tribalat, 1995). 420 G. Barrette et al. f International Journctl of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 41 5438 By default, the French integration policy is mainly assimilationist, legitimized by its Republican founding myth (Wieviorka, 1998). The French citizenship model requires that immigrants and national minorities relinquish their collective linguistic, religious and cultural traits to obtain as individuals equal treatment as citizens with full access to national education, universal health care and social security (Haarscher, 1996). Thus, individuals rather than groups are to be integrated within the host society, meaning that state integration policies should not encourage or support structured ethnocultural communities (Jennings, 2000). From the beginning of the 1980s, national debates were concerned with the naturalization of illegal migrants, freedom of association for foreigners, immigrants' right to vote, and access to naturalization and citizenship (Wihtol de Wenden, 1999). Integration issues were especially contentious in the case of North African immigrants reflecting the legacy of the French colonial presence in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia (Sabatier & Berry, 1994;Yiet,1998). Despite the republican egalitarian consensus, prejudice and discrimination expressed towards North Africans remain apparent in public domains such as the workplace, housing, education and public attitudes (Blier & de Royer, 2001; CNCD, 2000; Wieviorka, 1992). The partial exclusion of immigrants from valued government jobs was compounded by discriminatory practices that are illegal but widespread such as the rejection of immigrant applicants by employers who openly justify the exclusion of immigrants by the discomfort expressed by customers when served by North African employees (Bataille, 1999; Blier & de Royer, 2001). In Paris and other large cities, social housing is provided for disadvantaged tenants of both French ancestry and immigrant background. However, while subsidized housing was often transitory for French ancestry tenants, such accommodations became permanent for immigrants and such suburbs were increasingly seen as ethnic ghettos. In France, the "6ducation nationale" remains the main assimilation institution as it promotes the mastery of the French language while insuring the transmission of French republican and secular values to primary and secondary school pupils including those of immigrant background (Boyzon-Fradet, 1993; Lorcerie, 1996). As higher education institutions, French universities also embody the republican, secular and meritocratic values of the French State. Second generation North African immigrants who succeeded as individuals in the secondary school system were accepted as undergraduates in urban universities. Urban multiethnic universities such as Paris X offer French and North African undergraduates an institutional setting in which to interact as equals. Universities offer a cross-cultural contact setting whose organisational culture values individual achievement regard- lessof ethnic, gender or religious background. However, the civil servant status of university professors has made it difficult for immigrant scholars of North African background to be hired as professors in French universities (Blier & de Royer, 2001). For instance, in the University where the present study took place, individuals of North African ancestry accounted for less than 4o/o of the permanent academic and administrative staff of the institution. Our study was conducted between 1996 and 1998, when the nationwide "Vigi- Pirate" security plan was still in effect to prevent a repeat of the Paris metro  G. Barrette et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 421 bombings which killed many civilians in 1995. These attacks were launched by North African terrorists based in France but they were linked with Islamic Jihad factions in Algeria. Under the Vigi-Pirate plan, military personnel reinforced police security and identity controls at border crossings and in major cities across France. In Paris, Vigi- Pirate security forces in metro and train stations conducted systematic identity checks targeted mainly at commuters who "looked" North African. The racial profiling of North Africans adopted by the police during the Vigi-Pirate program was denounced as discriminatory by North African associations though the security program was seen as a necessary measure by an overwhelming majority of the French population. Many North African undergraduates who took part in our study at Paris X University did experience systematic identity checks by the police during this period. The stigmatizatiofi of Arabs during the Vigi-Pirate period had a negative impact on relations between members of the French majority and immigrants of North African background. L3. Research expectations The IAM proposes that host majority acculturation orientations may differ depending on the national origin of the immigrants being considered by host majority members. [n a series of studies conducted with host majority under- graduates in Quebec and Israel, acculturation orientations were shown to vary depending on the "valued" and "devalued" status of immigrants and national minorities (Bourhis & Bougie, 1998; Bourhis & Dayan, 2004; Montreuil & Bourhis, 2001). In France, Asian immigrants can be considered as a valued immigrant group whereas North African immigrants can be considered as a devalued immigrant group. A state sponsored national poll conducted in 1999 showed that 630/o of French majority respondents believed that there were too many North Africans in France, but only 22% of the respondents thought that Asians were too numerous in the country (CNCD, 2000). However, the same survey showed that'77oh of French citizens thought that North African immigrants were among the principal victims of racism in France whereas only 6oh thought that Asian immigrants were among the main victims of racism in the country. Furthermore, presidential and legislative elections have shown that l5-20o/o of the French population support racist far-right parties such as the 'Front National' which calls for the exclusion of North African immigrants from access to state services such as health care and housing while also proposing their expulsion back to North Africa (Lubbers & Scheepers, 2002; Pettigrew, 1998). During the 1995, 1997 and 2002 presidential campaigns, Front National militants blamed North Africans for high unemployment rates, public insecurity and considered that Arabs represented a threat to the authenticity of the French culture and nation (Simon & Lynch, 1999). These trends are concordant with the idea that North Africans are seen by host majority members as a less valued immigrant category than Asian immigrants. Based on the valued/devalued hypothesis, we expected French host majortty undergraduates to be more integrationist and individualist towards valued Asian immigrants than towards devalued North African immigrants. We also expected 422 G. Barrette et al. f Internatiotnl Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 French host majority undergraduates to be more assimilationist, segregationist and exclusionist towards devalued North African immigrants than towards more valued Asian immigrants. To this day, acculturation orientations of immigrants in France have been investigatedwith second-generation immigrant youths. Studies have shown that youths of Portuguese (Oriol, 1985; Neto, 1993), Italian (Campani & Catani, 1985) and North African background (Camilleri, 1980) preferred the integrationist orientation rather than the assimilationist or separatist orientation. Second generation immigrants endorsing integrationism can claim their double identification to the country of origin of their parents and to their country of birth (Sabatier & Berry, 1994). [n general, these studies suggest that immigrants who endorse the integrationist orientation are more likely to seek harmonious relations with members of the host majority. Thus, it was hypothesized that integrationism and individualism would be associated with harmonious intercultural relations for both French majority and North African minority undergraduates. French majority and North African immigrants endorsing such acculturation orientations should report positive and frequent intercultural contacts, express low evaluative bias against out-groups and feel that their in-group identity is not threatened by the presence of out-groups such as North African immigrants or French majority members. Conversely, it was expected that acculturation orientations such as segregationism, exclusionism and separatism would be related to problematic/conflictual relational outcomes. We expected that segregationism and exclusionism endorsed by French majority undergraduates and separatism endorsed by North African under- graduates would be related to the avoidance of intercultural contacts, high evaluative bias against out-groups, endorsement of authoritarian and ethnocentric ideologies, and the feeling that the in-group identity was threatened by the presence of out-groups such North African immigrants or French majority group members. 2. Method 2.1. Respondents The 323 undergraduates who took part in the study were recruited at the Universite de Paris X situated in the North-West suburb of Paris. In 1998 the University had an enrolment of 34,000 undergraduates many of whom came from western "arrondissements" of the city of Paris and from north-western suburbs of the capital such as Neuilly, Saint-Cloud and Versaille as well as from cities such as Colombes and Mantesla-Jolie. The first year undergraduates who took part in the study were enrolled in a 5 year multidisciplinary program of "Economics and Social Administration" leading to employment in business administration and personnel management. This program had an enrollment of 600 undergraduates of whom two thirds were of French born ancestry and one third were of North African  G. Barrette et al. f Internutional Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415-438 423 and African background. First year undergraduates were recruited near the end of their second term across three successive years of the program from 1996 to 1999. The 199 French host majority undergraduates who took part in the study were born in France of parents also born in France. These French ancestry host majority undergraduates had French as a first language and so did their parents. This host majority sample was made up of 117 women and 82 men aged between 17 and29 years old with a mean age of 20 years. Of the 124 North African undergraduates who took part in the study, 31 were first generation immigrants whereas 93 were second generation immigrants. All North African undergraduates had both parents born in Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia. This sample of North African undergraduates was made up of 67 women and 57 men whose mean age was 20 years, ranging from 18 to 30 years old. All North African students spoke French fluently. French ancestry and North African undergraduates who completed the study had experienced daily encounters since at least 5 months at university not only while attending classes but also as a result of their participation in small tutorial classes where they interacted in mixed working groups for 3 hours every week. 2.2. Procedures French origin and North African undergraduates completed the anonymous questionnaire during their weekly tutorial classes. Each student was given two French language questionnaires presented in a folder and was instructed to choose the one that best frtted their personal situation: the French ancestry host majority questionnaire or the immigrant background questionnaire. Among undergraduates who completed the immigrant background questionnaire, only those of North Africans were included in our analysis (n: 124). The questionnaire generally took 40-45 min to complete. Debriefing took place during class-time. 2.3. Questionnaire measures The variables included in the questionnaire were measured using 7 point Likert scales ranging from one (not at all/totally disagree) to seven (very much/totally agree). 2,3. I. Acculturation orientations Acculturation orientations of French majority and North African undergraduates were assessed in the private domain of endogamy-€xogamy. A number of scholars in France consider exogamic marriages as a key marker of immigrant/host majority integration for the very reason that it is a voluntary and private domain of choice behavior beyond the reach of government intervention in democratic states (Todd, 1994; Tribalat, 1995). Even though exogamic marriages did increase recently in France (9.6% in 1998 to 13.8% in 2001; OECD,2003), reticence towards mixed marriages between French ancestry and immigrant background individuals does prevail. A national poll conducted in 1995 with 821 immigrants originating from 424 G. Banette et al. I International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415-438 North African and East Asian countries showed that 39oh of these immigrants wanted their children to only marry someone from they own country of origin versus 13% who preferred their children to marry a spouse of French ancestry. However, it remains lhat 48oh of the respondents indicated having no preference regarding the country of origin of the spouse of their children. Results of this survey also showed that exogamic marriages more often than not resulted in assimilation to the French culture and eventual lost of the immigrant language and culture (Tribalat, 1995). Undergraduates who self-categorized as French ancestry host majority members completed the host community acculturation scale (HCAS) twice: once towards the Asian valued immigrant group and a second time as regards the North African devalued immigrant group (Bourhis & Bougie, 1998). The HCAS items were the following: Indiuidualism: "I would be as likely to marry a North African immigrant as I would a French person because marriage between two people should not be influenced by the cultural origin of the spouses". Integrationism'. "I would be as likely to marry a North African immigrant as I would a French person, as long as the culture of both spouses was respected". Assimilqtionism: "I would marry a North African as long as heishe would give up his/her culture of origin for the sake of adopting mainstream French culture". Segregationisrzr: "I would prefer to marry a French person rather than a North African immigrant because it is better not to mix cultures". Exclusionism: "I would refuse to marry a North African immigrant because it is important to maintain the strength of mainstream French culture". Respondents who considered themselves of immigrant background completed the Immigrant acculturation scale (IAS; Moise & Bourhis, 1997). The IAS items were the following: Indiuidualism: "The cultural background of the person I marry is irrelevant. What matters to me are the personal qualities of the individual". Integrationisrn: "I could as already marry a person of my own immigrant community as a French person. However, it is important that my spouse respects my own cultural heritage". Assimilationism: "I would rather marry a French person than a member of my own immigrant community". Separatism: "I would rather marry a member of my own immigrant community than a French person". Marginalization: "Nowadays, people are so uninteresting, that I don't want to marry anyone, whether French or a member of my own immigrant community". 2.3.2. Intrapersonal correlates The following intrapersonal correlates were completed by both French and North African respondents. French undergraduates rated the degree to which they identified as: French, European, Parisian, Regionalist, Nationalist and "Francilien" (identification to a broad region surrounding and including Paris). North African participants rated the degree to which they identified as: North African, French, Arab, European, "Francilien", French-speaking and Arabic-speaking. French and North African undergraduates also rated the quality of their respective in-group identification on the following five-item scale: "To what extent do you feel proud, happy, comfortable to be French/North African?" and "How much do you like,  G. Barrette et al. f International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 425 enjoy being French or North African?". The Cronbach Alpha obtained on this quality of identity scale for French ancestry respondents was.92 and that obtained for the North African sample was.90. The authoritarianism scale adapted for French respondents in Canada and France was used to monitor the individual tendency to obey authority and to seek affiliation with authority figures (Fascism scale; Berry, Kalin, & Taylor, 1977). The authoritarianism scale included eight items and the Cronbach Alpha for French undergraduates was.81 whereas it was.65 for North Africans. Undergraduates also completed the classic ethnocentrism scale adapted for French respondents in Canada and France. The ethnocentrism scale consisted of six items and the Cronbach Alpha obtained for the French undergraduates was.70 and that obtained for North Africans was.56 (Berry et al., 1977). A French adaptation of the Rosenberg self- esteem scale was used to measure global feelings of self-worth or self-acceptance (Rosenberg, 1965; Vallidres & Vallerand, 1990). This scale included l0 items. The Cronbach Alpha obtained for French undergraduates was.65 and it was.69 for North African sample. 2.3.3. Intergroup correlates The following intergroup measures were completed by both French and North African undergraduates. Using the individual network of ethnic contact (INEC) scale undergraduates rated the frequency of their daily contacts with members of different ethnic groups in different role settings (Landry & Bourhis, 1997). French undergraduates rated the frequency of their contacts with French ancestry and North African individuals within their extended family, their friends, neighbors, colleagues at work, and undergraduates at university. North African under- graduates rated the frequency of their contacts with North African and French ancestry individuals in the same role settings as those monitored for French undergraduates. The Cronbach Alphas obtained on the INEC scale with French respondents were.58 for their contacts with French in-group members and.70 for their contacts with North Africans. The Cronbach Alphas obtained on the INEC scale with North African undergraduates were.75 for contacts with North Africans in-group members and.74 for their contacts with French majority members. The perceived collective discrimination scale was used to evaluate the extent to which undergraduates thought members of the French majority and members of immigrant groups suffered from collective discrimination in three key settings: at work, when looking for rental accommodation, and in contacts with the police. French undergraduates were asked the following questions: "To what extent do you believe that French people/North Africans/Asians are victim of discrimination in the world of work/in rental housing/in their contacts with the police?". North African undergraduates evaluated collective discrimination experienced by members of their own group in the three settings. The Cronbach Alphas obtained for the French sample were.77 for perceived collective discrimination experienced by their own group,.80 for collective discrimination suffered by North Africans and.84 for discrimination suffered by Asians. The Cronbach Alpha obtained for North African 426 G. Barrette et al. f International Journal of Intercuhural Relations 28 (2004) 415 438 undergraduates on collective discrimination suffered by in-group North Africans was.72. Intergroup attitudes were assessed by asking French and North African undergraduates to rate the extent to which they thought French people/North Africans/Asians were hardworking, aggressive, trustworthy, rude, friendly, and dishonest. The Cronbach Alphas obtained on the intergroup evaluation scale for French undergraduates were.73 towards the French,.76 towards Asians and.82 towards North Africans. The Cronbach Alphas obtained on the intergroup evaluative scale for North African undergraduates were.66 towards North Africans and.71 towards the French. French undergraduates also indicated how comfortable they felt with people of French, North Africans and Asian background. North Africans rated how comfortable they felt with members of their own group and with members of the French host majority. 2.3.4. Sample specific measures French undergraduates rated to what extent their French identity was threatened by the presence of the following minority groups: immigrants in general, North African immigrants and Asian immigrants. Some measures and scales were used with North African respondents only. The socialization scale measured the extent to which North African undergraduates felt they had been socialized at home in the North African culture and also in the French culture. This scale included four items per culture. A Cronbach Alpha of.74 was obtained for socialization in the North African culture and.68 for socialization in the French culture. The in-group vitality mobilization scale (IVM) was used to measure the willingness of North African undergraduates to act in order to increase the ethnolinguistic vitality of their own community in France (Bourhis, Giles & Rosenthal, l98l; Landry & Bourhis, 1997). This IVM scale was made up of six items dealing with the demographic vitality, institutional support, and prestige of the North African community in Paris. Examples of items used to monitor in-group vitality mobilization in each of these three domains are as follows: "I would like to act in order to increase the population of North Africans in the Paris region"; "I wish to encourage North Africans gain greater control of the business and commercial activity in the Paris region"; "I wish to act in order to increase the importance and prestige of the North African community in the Paris region". The Cronbach Alpha obtained for the IVM scale was.83. North Africans undergraduates rated how well they spoke and wrote French and Arabic. The Cronbach Alpha obtained for the French language was.93 while.61 for Arabic. The language use scale monitored to what extent North African undergraduates spoke French and Arabic, respectively, with members of their family, in the workplace and with their friends. The Cronbach Alphas obtained for this three-item scale was.59 for the use of French and.64 for the use of Arabic. Because of the reactive nature of some scales, a social desirability scale was included at the end of the questionnaire to control for respondents who may answer in a face saving manner (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). This scale included 14 items answered true or false.  G. Barrette et al. f International Journal of Intercultural Relations 28 (2004) 415438 427 3. Results The first part of the result section provides the social psychological back- ground of the French origin and North African undergraduates who took part in the study. The second part of the result section describes the acculturation orientations endorsed by French origin and North African undergraduates. In this section, the degree to which French origin and North African under- graduates could be categorized as distinctive subgroups on the basis of their acculturation orientations was tested using cluster analysis. It was then possible to test how intragroup and intergroup correlates varied as a function of the acculturation types obtained in the cluster analysis. This latter analysis was used to determine how psychologically distinct each acculturation cluster was for the French origin and North African undergraduates who took part in the study. 3.1. Part 1: Social psychological background of French origin and North African undergraduates 3.l. 1. Intrapersonal correlates The personal profile of French undergraduates was characterized by a strong and positive identification as French host majority members. French undergraduates identified most strongly as French nationals (M :6.1), followed by "Francilien" (M : 5.2) and European (M:4.8). They identified moderately as Parisian (M : 4.2), and weakly as nationalist (M :2.7) and regionalist (M :2.7). French undergraduates enjoyed a positive social identity (M: 5.0) as they felt happy, proud, and comfortable as French majority group members and they liked and enjoyed being French. ln contrast, North African undergraduates expressed a stronger identification profile as North African than as French nationals. North African undergraduates identified most strongly as North African (M : 6.0) and somewhat strongly as Arab (M : 5.2), French-speaking (M :5.2) and Arabic-speaking (M :4.8). They identified moderately as Francilien (M :4.4), Parisian (M :4.1) and least of all as French nationals (M : 3.9). North African undergraduates had a positive social identity as they felt quite happy, proud and comfortable and liked being North African (M :6.1). Overall, in-group identification was more positive for North African undergraduates (M:6.1) than it was for French majority respondents (M :5.0; F (1,320):89.14, p