Intercultural Relations in Italy

The chapter presents the Italian findings of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) project. We first describe the context of intercultural relations in Italy, including the integration policies and attitudes towards immigration, with reference to three diversity indicators used throughout the book (fractionalization, migrant integration, and multiculturalism policy). Then, we outline the issues addressed by our studies with particular regard to the three hypotheses of the MIRIPS project. This is followed by a presentation of the used methods and the involved samples. Then, we present our main findings highlighting that the three hypotheses are quite supported. However, we show how the general trends of associations among the studied variables need to be examined with reference to the features of the particular socio-cultural context taken into account, as well as considering some mediating and moderating processes. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for theory and practice.