Integrating ethno-cultural and national group membership, a challenge? An examination in culturally diverse Mauritius

Literature has commonly implied that identification as a member of one’s ethno-cultural and national group is beneficial for a person’s well-being and the ability to integrate both identities has been assumed to indicate a harmonious co-existence between the two (e.g., Benet-Martínez, Leu, Lee, & Morris, 2002; Berry, 1997). However, more recent research has indicated that distance experienced between two group memberships is different from whether or not the two group memberships are experienced as conflicting (Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005). The current study elaborates on this idea by especially investigating potential feelings of bi-cultural identity conflict among people who feel a combination of national and ethno-cultural group membership and potential correlates these experiences might have. To this end, we turned to the context of Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean in which multiple ethno-cultural groups live together as Mauritians since the country’s independence in 1968. The most common societal description is that of a ‘fruit salad’: a unified nation in which separate groups can still be distinguished (Eriksen, 1997). Relatedly, ways to achieve or maintain intergroup harmony focus on fostering national unity and treating all groups the same (versus treating certain groups in a specific way). The country has been described as a strong candidate for ‘truly successful polyethnic societies’ (Eriksen, 2004, p. 79; see also Ng Tseung-Wong, 2013). Data were collected among a nationally representative sample of 1770 Mauritians who are members of one of the three numerically largest ethno-cultural groups in the country (Hindus, Creoles, and Muslims), aged eighteen years or older. In line with the expectations, the results indicate that most of the participants felt a blend of their ethno-cultural and the Mauritian, national group. In addition, part of them experienced this bi-culturalism as conflicting, whereas another part did not. Feelings of conflict regarding this combination turned out to be more prevalent among people who felt relatively unique and special based on their ethno-cultural group membership and who perceived relatively a lot of threat to the position of their ethno-cultural group in society. Furthermore, the conflicted blends tended to be more in favor of policies that ensure the representation of each ethno-cultural group and to be less accepting of people with other ethno-cultural background in the public domain. The findings support the idea that people who integrate two group memberships do not necessarily experience this as harmonious, but can feel conflicted about it as well, even in a context where feeling a combination of one’s ethno-cultural and national group is perceived to be common. This study found some consistent correlates of this experience related to especially the experience of ethno-cultural group membership. Future research is advised to investigate also the experience of national group membership as potential correlate.