Mutual Intercultural Relations In Plural Societies (MIRIPS)
An international collaboration, the MIRIPS project investigates feelings of cultural security, ethnocentrism, hierarchy, and reciprocity in multiple societies.
CACR is pleased to host this page for the MIRIPS project. MIRIPS is an international collaboration led by John Berry at Queen's University in Canada.
MIRIPS is a collaborative project being carried out in a number of countries, using a common research framework and a common research instrument. We are investigating whether feelings of cultural security, ethnocentrism, hierarchy, and reciprocity are found in multiple societies.
- Does involvement in both national and ethnic culture promote confidence in identity and a sense of well-being?
- Is there a relationship between that secure feeling and certain intercultural attitudes?
Latest news
April 2019
Professor Emeritus John W. Berry of Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario, Canada and the National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia is the winner of the 2019 William B. Gudykunst Outstanding Book Award for his edited book: Mutual Intercultural Relations published by the Cambridge University Press, 2017.
The book was unanimously voted by the 3-member committee as the winner on the grounds that it more than fulfilled the three criteria for the award (i) importance for intercultural research; (ii) presents a strong argument and evidence from research in many counties, and (iii) offers ideas and insights for the advancement of intercultural research.
The book is based on a large-scale, international project which investigated three hypotheses of intercultural relations (multiculturalism, contact, and integration) in 17 societies which varied in their intercultural contexts. The hypotheses were investigated in both the dominant and the immigrant and ethnocultural communities, hence the “mutual” in the title. The book provides not only research on each society, but also an introductory theoretical chapter, together with a concluding chapter that presents and summarizes the findings. The concluding chapter also suggests some policy implications. In short, the book presents extensive and coherent research in many parts of the world, and as Ward (2019) stated in her nomination letter, it “can be seen as the culmination of John’s sustained contributions to the advancement of theory and research on intercultural relations. “
With respect to the first criterion, importance of the issue for intercultural research, the volume focuses on a crucial area of intercultural research, namely, what kind of intercultural relations exist in a variety of plural societies. In addition, as Ward (2019) pointed out, “With 370 million colonized, indigenous peoples worldwide, often living in highly disadvantaged circumstances, over 270 million international migrants globally, who are received with varying degrees of acceptance, and increasing within-society cultural diversity alongside rising nationalism in the global arena, this is one of the most pressing issues in today’s world.”
With respect to the second criterion, the strength of the argument and the evidence it presents, the committee noted that there was careful research conducted in 17 societies, and the results provided strong overall support for each of the three hypotheses of intercultural relations, namely, multiculturalism, contact, and integration.
With respect to the third criterion, the originality and insights it offers for intercultural research, the research findings presented in Mutual Intercultural Relations provide evidence for the cross-cultural validity of Berry’s theorizing, while also offering insights into the limitations imposed by contextual factors. Additionally, the research suggests ideas for implementing policies and practices to enhance intercultural relations and psychological well-being in culturally plural societies.
In the opinion of the committee, the book is a veritable “tour-de force”, and ought to be read by all intercultural researchers and practitioners.
Please join us in extending our congratulations to Professor Emeritus John W. Berry: elderberrys@gmail.com
Abstracts for IACCP MIRIPS Symposia (July 2014)
Publications
Publications authored by MIRIPS collaborators, in country order:
All Countries
- Berry, John W., Lepshokova, Zarina, MIRIPS Collaboration, Grigoryev, Dmitry (2021).
How shall we live together?: Meta-analytical review of the mutual intercultural relations in plural societies project. International Association of Applied Psychology, 2021;00:1-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12332
- Berry, J.W. (Ed.) (2017) Mutual intercultural relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Please consult the specific country chapters, in addition to those papers listed by country below. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316875032
Canada
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from Canada.
Finland
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from Finland.
India
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from India.
Italy
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from Italy.
Portugal
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from Portugal.
Russia
Click here to view a list of MIRIPS publications from Russia.
Description
A general description of the project can be found in the MIRIPS Project Description. Note that, unlike earlier international projects dealing with acculturation and intercultural relations, we are looking at the ways variables relate to each other in different cultures rather than just how variable scores compare.
The MIRIPS Context Variables document describes the information that can be obtained from national and international archives, such as national censuses and surveys. These allow us to situate the individual findings within a broader frame of reference, and help us to interpret the results.
Questionnaire
The MIRIPS Questionnaire shows questions used in the MIRIPS project. Some variables are presented in two formats, one for use with non-dominant samples (eg., immigrant and ethnocultural groups, national/regional minorities) and the other for use with the dominant national (or dominant regional) samples.
- Additional language versions of the mirips questionnaire can be found here.
- MIRIPS scoring key can be found here.
Socio-cultural adaptation scale
As an option for assessing Sociocultural Adaptation, you may wish to use this revised version.
Participants
Finally, a full list of MIRIPS participants is available, giving details of their samples: MIRIPS Partners and Samples. They come from Australia, Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.
Presentations
MIRIPS presentations can be accessed here.
Queries
For questions about MIRIPS, contact John Berry at elderberrys@gmail.com.
Notes about variations
Variations across countries in the questionnaire are to be expected. This is because each society has its own conceptions, terminologies and history of cultural diversity and intercultural relations. The questionnaire should be useable in two kinds of societies. One kind are those that are experiencing flows of international immigration, and the presence of ethnocultural (ethnic) groups (such as Australia, Canada., New Zealand). The second kinds of society are those with longstanding regional cultures (such as China, India and Russia) where internal migration (often from rural areas to the metropolises) is taking place.
Variations in questionnaire content reflect two kinds of issues:
- First, the core questionnaire needs to be adapted to be appropriate to each society and for each ethnic group. These adaptations are indicated by [ ] in the questionnaire, where each researcher should insert the appropriate group name.
- The second variation is for participating researchers to add variables to the core questionnaire, in order to meet the needs of their funding agencies, or to study issues that are locally prominent.
In all cases, it will be important to carry out pilot studies to ensure that the questions are well-understood, and that they give acceptable statistical distributions and reliabilities.
As outlined in the in the project description document, MIRIPS is designed to promote the idea that intercultural relations can be best understood when both dominant and non-dominant groups are sampled within societies, obtaining data based on similar questions. This mutual approach combines the research traditions of acculturation and ethnic relations into one study. We are looking, in particular, at two kinds of relationships: the role of security in intercultural relationships; and the existence of reciprocity between groups in their relationships.