Ethnicity,Idiocentrism–Allocentrism,and Intergroup Attitudes1

The study examined the relationships among ethnicity, idiocentrism–allocentrism and intergroup attitudes in Singapore. Thirty Malay and 30 Chinese students completed questionnaires which measured in-group and out-group attitudes and attitudes toward ethnic-based community development groups. Intergroup attitudes were analyzed by a 2 × 2 × 2 (Subject Ethnicity × Target Group Ethnicity × Idiocentrism–Allocentrism) analysis of variance. A 2 × 2 interaction revealed that both Malay and Chinese subjects expressed ethnocentric biases; however, planned comparisons indicated that this was due to the responses of allocentrics. A separate 2 × 2 (Subject Ethnicity × Idiocentrism-Allocentrism) ANOVA further revealed that allocentrics had more favorable attitudes toward ethnic-based community development groups than did idiocentrics.