Intergroup implications of moral divides over arranged marriages in Germany

• Autor(a) principal: Giersberg, Lynn
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/20727
• topic: Arranged marriages; Moral foundations theory; Intercultural competence; Germany; Casamentos arranjados; Teoria dos fundamentos morais; Competência intercultural; Alemanha

Due to migration, two different marriage systems came to co-exist in Germany: love marriages and arranged marriages, with the latter triggering a heated debate in the German society. This study investigated the moral underpinnings of negative attitudes towards groups that engage in arranged marriages amongst adult Germans (N =327). Based on the Moral Foundations Theory, the individualizing and libertarian moral foundation were hypothesized to predict negative attitudes towards people who engage in arranged marriages, with the attitudes towards arranged marriages mediating this relationship. Intercultural competences were expected to buffer the relationship between moral foundations and attitudes towards arranged marriages. Unexpectedly, the results showed that individualizing and libertarian moral foundations predict more positive attitudes towards the groups that engage in arranged marriages (i.e., less social distance and less dehumanization). By contrast, the binding foundation predicted more social distance and more dehumanization of groups that engage in arranged marriages. The mediating role of attitudes towards arranged marriages was not supported. Intercultural competences were not significant moderators. The results and their implications are discussed.