ABSTRACT
The former National Institute for Multicultural Development (FORUM) asks researchers to investigate ethnic identity among young South Moluccans in the Netherlands. The ethnic identity of members from the majority group is typically more self-evident, since it is linked to their dominant societal position. Members of this group often do not have to think about their ethnicity and what it consists of. Social psychology can offer a valuable and important contribution to the understanding of the complexities of questions related to ethnic identity. For example, in social psychology, there is a long tradition of studying categorization, social identity processes, status differences in perception, and stereotypes, prejudice and racism. The importance of discourse and social interaction is emphasized by those writing from within critical social psychology, rhetorical psychology and discursive psychology. The social environment determines, or at least structures, what people do, feel and think. Ethnic identity is then studied at the societal level, in terms of economic, political, cultural and ideological factors.
