Abstract
Purpose. This study intended to examine the status of cooperation among ethnic congregations of multiethnic Catholic parishes, to identify the factors influencing this cooperative alliance, and to explore the relationships between demographic, organizational, and psychological variables and the parishioners' cooperative attitude. Theoretical framework. Since cooperation in a multiethnic context is a complex social phenomenon, the theoretical framework of the study includes conceptual components from several branches of learning: cooperation theories, diversity management, social psychology, and contact hypothesis. Methodology. The researcher collected data from 396 parishioners of six multiethnic/multicongregational parishes of the diocese of Orange, California using his partially customized survey instrument, and analyzed them with both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Findings. The data analysis revealed that shared goals are the most significant predicator of the status of cooperation, and status inequality is an especially manifest issue among ethnic congregations. There is a positive correlation between the parishioners' cooperative attitude and their inter-ethnic contact. A positive relationship was also found between the parishioners' cooperation and both their parish identification and their ethnic congregation identification. In addition, there is a significant difference between parishioners of diverse positions within parish organization in displaying their inter-ethnic cooperation; however, no significant difference was found between parishioners from diverse ethnic groups. Implications and recommendations. The study results can take the theories of reference beyond their conventional contentions by suggesting a contextualization of social identification, the importance of ideological factor in diversity management, and the priority of affective dimension in social contact. Three specific recommendations regarding multiethnic ministry policy consisting of joint parish pastoral councils, fair resource reallocation, and diversity leadership development for priests and lay leaders were also proposed with the purpose of improving cooperative relationship among ethnic congregations. The study resulted in noteworthy findings, yet future research on the topic needs more creative designs and more advanced methodology to draw a clearer picture of the phenomenon.