Minority Identity Strategies of People Categorized as Gypsies in Hungary

What is it about?

We tried to understand how minority members, in our case Gypsies in Hungary, cope with prejudice. We constructed a questionnaire looking at coping strategies in 3 different levels, individual, interpersonal and intergroup level. Results suggest that subjects make an exclusive choice between national and ethnic identities. While all subjects prefer ethnic identity, subjects with different socialization backgrounds follow different identity strategies. In sum, large-family subjects are emotionally attached to their ethnic group, avoid interaction with the majority and prefer the idea of a multicultural society. Small-family subjects are emotionally detached from their ethnic group and vote for a homogeneous society. Results are interpreted in terms of integration-related social policies. While these are aimed at the foundation of a recognized active minority, members of these new generations find the way of recognition in individual assimilation due to the threat of prejudice.

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Why is it important?

The research point out how the choices and behaviour of members of threathened minorities are circumclosed, How they behave is strictly related to how majority members think about them. Both identity choices and consequently coping strategies apllied to deal with prejudice need to be understood in planning social policies and interventions.