Ethnic identity, person perception and racism: a decade of changes in Cyprus

Abstract

Cyprus has been through many significant changes in the decade of 2000-2010. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in levels of ethnic identity, person perception and racism by comparing archived data of 2000, 2004 and 2010 as well as identify possible significant relationships among these variables. Two hundred ninety eight university-age participants were included across the three years of reference of the study. Concerning ethnic identity, results indicated a significant decrease from 2000 to 2010. Concerning racism, results indicated a small but significant decrease from 2000 to 2010. Concerning person perception, results indicated an inverted ‘U’ effect with significant increase in perceived similarity in 2004. Concerning the relationships, out-group perceived similarity was related to lower levels of racism. No significant relationship existed between ethnic identity, racism and out-group perceived similarity. Possible explanations for these results as well as implications for multicultural education, diversity teaching and training, educational and government policy development are discussed.