Thinking and Practicing Psychology in a Kaleidoscopic UAE: Notes from a Social Responsibility Perspective

Abstract

Among many images and symbols that typically cross one’s mind when one thinks of the UAE, one is the popular tagline that the nation uses to promote tourism—“Global Village: Where the World Comes Together” Tourism aside, for anyone who has visited or lived in the UAE even for a short period, this slogan represents a very familiar and overarching theme that fittingly describes the multicultural landscape of the UAE. For those of us with a fascination for numbers and data, the term “multicultural landscape” represents eight million people who live in the UAE, of which only about one million are UAE nationals. The remainder comprises nonnational residents (United Arab Emirates-National Bureau of Statistics, 2005). According to the 2005 population census, a majority of the nonnational residents of the UAE consists of immigrants from countries including India, Pakistan, and the Philippines—to name the most dominant groups—with about 70% of the population consisting of males. Expatriates from Europe, Australia, Northern America, Latin America, and other Asian and Arab countries make up the rest of the expatriate population, most of whom live in metropolitan cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, where the spirit of diversity and multiculturalism is most palpable. Indeed, these numbers and descriptions paint a picture of a multicultural UAE—one which is formed from a mosaic of different cultures and ethnicities, all with different languages, values, norms, beliefs, traditions, attitudes, morals, behavioral patterns, and worldviews.