Racial majority group’s support for racial equality in Malaysia.

Abstract

When and why does a racial majority group support racial equality? In answering this question, we focused on Malaysia, a multiracial country in which the Malay majority group’s special status as one of the country’s original inhabitants is institutionalized. Across Study 1 (N = 130) and Study 2 (N = 240), we examined the extent to which Malays’ endorsement of autochthony (an ideology of native ownership) is associated with perceived threat from racial minorities, support for racial equality policies, and support for a pro-Malay government. We further examined the moderating role of subjective socioeconomic status to explore heterogeneity within the Malay community. Both studies found that stronger beliefs in autochthony were associated with greater perceived threat from racial minorities and greater support for a pro-Malay government. Additionally, Study 1 (but not Study 2) found stronger beliefs in autochthony were associated with less support for racial equality policies. The role of subjective socioeconomic status was unclear. While Study 1 did not show any moderating effects, Study 2 found that stronger endorsement of autochthony was associated with lower support for racial equality policies amongst Malays from lower socioeconomic status. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of considering the ideology of autochthony in understanding intergroup relations and the maintenance of the status quo.

The role of place in intergroup conflicts and intragroup solidarity: Recent advances and perspectives.

“…They found that Germans who endorsed the idea that first inhabitants of a country deserve more rights than those who arrived later perceived more threats to their ingroup (i.e., Germans without migration background) and, in turn, claimed more majority grievances. In both this and Lee et al’s (2023) article, perceived threat to the ingroup was the mechanism through which entitlement beliefs among the majority group led to defensive reactions and intergroup tensions.…”

“…In such cases, autochthonous groups may tend to marginalize and exclude others (newcomers or minority groups) in order to preserve the status quo. Across two studies, Lee et al (2023) investigated how Malay individuals' belief in autochthony relates to their perceptions of threat stemming from racial minorities, their support for racial equality policies, and their support for a government that favors Malays. Both studies revealed that stronger autochthony beliefs were associated with a greater perception of threat from racial minorities and increased support for a pro-Malay government.…”

“…These results, while focused on nonviolent resistance, ironically correspond with the tragic current events in Israel, where residing near Israeli settlements and checkpoints has likely damaged the sense of social cohesion among the Palestinians and paved the way for violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Note that while the articles by Lee et al (2023), Okuyan et al (2023), and Ioku and Watamura (2024) considered perceived (ownership) threat, Penić et al (2023) captured territorial threat more objectively by modeling the This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…These results, while focused on nonviolent resistance, ironically correspond with the tragic current events in Israel, where residing near Israeli settlements and checkpoints has likely damaged the sense of social cohesion among the Palestinians and paved the way for violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Note that while the articles by Lee et al (2023), Okuyan et al (2023), and Ioku and Watamura (2024) considered perceived (ownership) threat, Penić et al (2023) captured territorial threat more objectively by modeling the effect of Palestinians’ proximity to Jewish settlements and proximity to Israel’s surveillance infrastructure as community-level predictors of community cohesion and willingness to engage in resistance. The authors argued that the geography of occupation undermines trust and solidarity, which is due to increased fear and threat.…”