Multiculturalism : hidden hate

Abstract

Multiculturalism is increasingly becoming an integrative part of modem societies, where people are incessantly being exposed to diversity in the fabric of their own culture, even among the smallest societies including Malta (Verkuyten, 2005; 2006; 2010). When looking at the trends in Malta, the National Statistics Office (NSO) (2016) stated, "in 2015, the increase in population was mainly explained by the increase in immigrants rather than babies born." In 2015, the population in Malta grew by more than 5,000, going to 434,403 inhabitants, where the immigrants amounted to 12,831 while the number of babies born that year was of 4,325. The NSO also indicated a constant increase in the immigration flow from 3,889 in 2006 to more than 12,000 in 2015. Being exposed to a growth in immigrants creates existential anxieties, which eventually trigger defensive responses in the community (Greenberg et al., 1997).