When Psychological Contract Is Violated: Revisiting the Rejection-Disidentification Model of Immigrant Integration

Authors

  • Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti
    Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Göksu Celikkol
    Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Tuuli Anna Renvik
    Open University, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Viivi Eskelinen
    Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Raivo Vetik
    School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
  • David Lackland Sam
    Department of Psychosocial Science & Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Abstract

In this study, we investigated how perceived ethnic discrimination is related to attitudes towards the national majority group and willingness to confront injustice to promote the social standing of a minority group. We examined this relationship via two mediating factors; national (dis)identification from and out-group (dis)trust of the national majority group. The Rejection-Disidentification Model (RDIM) was refined, first, to account for willingness to confront injustice as a consequence of perceived rejection, and second, intergroup (dis)trust was examined as an additional mediating mechanism that can explain attitudinal and behavioural reactions to perceived rejection simultaneously with national disidentification. The model was tested in a comparative survey data of Russian-speaking minority in Estonia (N = 482), Finland (N = 254), and Norway (N = 219). In all three countries, the more Russian-speakers identified as Russians and the more they perceived ethnic discrimination, the more negative were their attitudes toward the national majority groups and the more willing they were to engage in action to confront group-based injustice. Whereas disidentification from and distrust of national majority group accounted for the discrimination-attitude link to a large extent, both factors had demobilizing effects on willingness to confront injustice, making Russian-speaking immigrants more passive but hostile. The findings are discussed in relation to the risks involved in politicization of immigrants struggling with perceived inequalities.