The coexistence of Swabians and Hungarians in a village in near Budapest

Abstract

The study takes the contact hypothesis of social psychology as its starting point and examines a Swabian-Hungarian ethnic village as an example.The contact hypothesis suggests that contact or interaction between members of different groups under the right circumstances diminishes prejudice and hostility between those groups and mitigates stereotyping and discrimination. However, for this effect to occur, certain conditions must be met: the parties should be of equal status, have a common goal, cooperate, receive the support of authorities and maintain a personal relationship, since this is the only way long- term success can be achieved. Pursuit of mutual assimilation, physical proximity and time can also help people to accept each other and adopt coexistence. These conditions have been met in the case of the Swabian and Hungarian ethnic groups living in the village of Dunabogdány. Social and political processes, Catholicism and the fact that the German language has been added to the local school curriculum have also contributed to the successful outcome.

Keywords

• ethnic minorities
• interethnic relationships
• assimilation
• group identity
• stereotypes
• prejudice
• contact hypothesis