Family Matters: How Immigrant Histories Can Promote Inclusion

Immigration is a highly polarized issue in the United States, and negative attitudes toward immigrants are common. Yet, almost all Americans are descended from people who originated outside the country, a narrative often evoked by the media and taught in school curricula. Can this narrative increase inclusionary attitudes toward migrants? We draw from scholarship showing that perspective-taking decreases prejudice toward out-groups to investigate whether reminding Americans about their own immigration history increases support for immigrants and immigration. We propose that priming family experiences can indirectly stimulate perspective-taking and induce empathy toward the out-group, which we test with three separate survey experiments conducted over two years. Our findings show that priming family history generates small but consistent inclusionary effects. These effects occur even among partisan subgroups and Americans who approve of President Trump. We provide evidence that increased empathy for immigrants constitutes one mechanism driving these effects.

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Antidiscrimination Interventions, Political Ads on Transgender Rights, and Public Opinion: Results From Two Survey Experiments on Adults in the United States

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729322 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew R. Flores ◽

Donald P. Haider-Markel ◽

Daniel C. Lewis ◽

Patrick R. Miller ◽

Jami K. Taylor

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Attitude Change ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

The United States ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Transgender People ◽

Political Advertisements ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Survey Experiments ◽

Political Ads

Political advertisements can shift attitudes and behaviors to become more exclusionary toward social out-groups. However, people who engage in an antidiscrimination exercise in the context of an experiment may respond differently to such ads. What interventions might foster inclusive attitudes in the presence of political communications about social policy issues like transgender rights? We examined two scalable antidiscrimination exercises commonly used in applied settings: describing a personal narrative of discrimination and perspective-taking. We then showed people political ads that are favorable or opposed to transgender rights to determine whether those interventions moderate how receptive people are to the messages. Relying on two demographically representative survey experiments of adults in the United States (study 1 N = 1,291; study 2 N = 1,587), we found that personal recollections of discriminatory experiences did not reduce exclusionary attitudes, but perspective-taking had some effects, particularly among those who fully complied with the exercise. However, both studies revealed potential backfire effects; recalling a discriminatory experience induced negative attitudes among a subset of the participants, and participants who refused to perspective-take when prompted also held more negative attitudes. Importantly, political ads favorable toward transgender rights consistently resulted in more positive attitudes toward transgender people. Future work needs to carefully examine heterogeneous responses and resistance to antidiscrimination interventions and examine what particular aspects of the political ads induced the attitude change.

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North American Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration in the Time of COVID-19: The Role of National Attachment and Threat

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/00027162211057501 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 697 (1) ◽

pp. 148-173

Author(s):

Victoria M. Esses ◽

Alina Sutter ◽

Joanie Bouchard ◽

Kate H. Choi ◽

Patrick Denice

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Country Level ◽

National Economic ◽

Immigration Attitudes ◽

National Attachment ◽

National Representative Survey

Using a cross-national representative survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine predictors of attitudes toward immigrants and immigration in Canada and the United States, including general and COVID-related nationalism, patriotism, and perceived personal and national economic and health threats. In both countries, nationalism, particularly COVID-related nationalism, predicted perceptions that immigration levels were too high and negative attitudes toward immigrants. Patriotism predicted negative immigration attitudes in the United States but not in Canada, where support for immigration and multiculturalism are part of national identity. Conversely, personal and national economic threat predicted negative immigration attitudes in Canada more than in the United States. In both countries, national health threat predicted more favorable views of immigration levels and attitudes toward immigrants, perhaps because many immigrants have provided frontline health care during the pandemic. Country-level cognition in context drives immigration attitudes and informs strategies for supporting more positive views of immigrants and immigration.

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Concerns About Automation and Negative Sentiment Toward Immigration

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797620929977 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 (8) ◽

pp. 987-1000

Author(s):

Monica Gamez-Djokic ◽

Adam Waytz

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Experimental Methods ◽

The United States ◽

Immigration Policies ◽

Archival Data ◽

Intergroup Threat ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Discriminatory Behavior ◽

Negative Sentiment

Across 12 studies ( N = 31,581), we examined how concerns about the rise of automation may be associated with attitudes toward immigrants. Studies 1a to 1g used archival data ranging from 1986 to 2017 across both the United States and Europe to demonstrate a robust association between concerns about automation and more negative attitudes toward immigrants. Studies 2a, 2b, 2c, and 3 employed both correlational and experimental methods to demonstrate that people’s concerns about automation are linked to increased support for restrictive immigration policies. These studies show this association to be mediated by perceptions of both realistic and symbolic intergroup threat. Finally, Study 4 experimentally demonstrated that automation may lead to more discriminatory behavior toward immigrants in the context of layoffs. Together, these results suggest that concerns about automation correspond to perceptions of threat and competition with immigrants as well as consequent anti-immigration sentiment.

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Xenophobia

The Counseling Psychologist ◽

10.1177/0011000008316034 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 36-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 75

Author(s):

Oksana Yakushko

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Policy Advocacy ◽

Social Psychological ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Training Research ◽

Multicultural Research ◽

Observable Phenomenon

The current xenophobic cultural environment in the United States makes it imperative that psychologists understand the nature of xenophobia and recognize its consequences. This article explores sociological, social psychological, and multicultural research to examine the causes of negative attitudes toward immigrants. Xenophobia is presented as a concept descriptive of a socially observable phenomenon. Historical and contemporary expressions of xenophobia in the United States are examined and compared with cross-cultural scholarship on negative attitudes toward immigrants. Last, suggestions are provided for how counseling psychologists can integrate an understanding of xenophobia into their clinical practice, training, research, and public policy advocacy.

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Liberating Afghan Women

American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences ◽

10.35632/ajiss.v21i3.508 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 70-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nancy Gallagher

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Human Rights ◽

Historical Context ◽

The United States ◽

Political Organizations ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Afghan Women ◽

The Media ◽

Policy Priority

Public opinion in the United States and elsewhere celebrated the liberation of Afghan women following the defeat of the Taliban government. The United States promised to stay in Afghanistan and foster security, economic development, and human rights for all, especially women. After years of funding various anti- Soviet Mujahidin warlords, the United States had agreed to help reconstruct the country once before in 1992, when the Soviet-backed government fell, but had lost interest when the warlords began to fight among themselves. This time, however, it was going to be different. To date, however, conditions have not improved for most Afghan women and reconstruction has barely begun. How did this happen? This article explores media presentations of Afghan women and then compares them with recent reports from human rights organizations and other eyewitness accounts. It argues that the media depictions were built on earlier conceptions of Muslim societies and allowed us to adopt a romantic view that disguised or covered up the more complex historical context of Afghan history and American involvement in it. We allowed ourselves to believe that Afghans were exotic characters who were modernizing or progressing toward a western way of life, despite the temporary setback imposed by the Taliban government. In Afghanistan, however, there was a new trope: the feminist Afghan woman activist. Images of prominent Afghan women sans burqa were much favored by the mass media and American policymakers. The result, however, was not a new focus on funding feminist political organizations or making women’s rights a foreign policy priority; rather, it was an unwillingness to fulfill obligations incurred during decades of American-funded mujahidin warfare, to face the existence of deteriorating conditions for women, resumed opium cultivation, and a resurgent Taliban, or to commit to a multilateral approach that would bring in the funds and expertise needed to sustain a long-term process of reconstruction.

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Campaigns and Elections in a Changing Media Landscape

The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190860806.013.16 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 403-426

Author(s):

Michael X. Delli Carpini ◽

Bruce A. Williams

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Media ◽

Historical Context ◽

The United States ◽

Detailed Examination ◽

Political Campaigns ◽

Democratic Politics ◽

Campaigns And Elections ◽

The Media

The media landscape of countries across the globe is changing in profound ways that are of relevance to the study and practice of political campaigns and elections. This chapter uses the concept of media regimes to put these changes in historical context and describe the major drivers that lead to a regime’s formation, institutionalization, and dissolution. It then turns to a more detailed examination of the causes and qualities of what is arguably a new media regime that has formed in the United States; the extent to which this phenomenon has or is occurring (albeit in different ways) elsewhere; and how the conduct of campaigns and elections are changing as a result. The chapter concludes with thoughts on the implications of the changing media landscape for the study and practice of campaigns and elections specifically, and democratic politics more generally.

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Integration to Inclusion in Hong Kong: Not an Easy Progression

Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education ◽

10.1017/jsi.2021.5 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Peter Westwood

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Hong Kong ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

The United States ◽

Academic Standards ◽

Education Policies ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Large Class Size ◽

Inclusive Schooling ◽

Education In Hong Kong

Abstract This article describes the evolution of inclusive education in Hong Kong, moving from segregation via integration to inclusion. The outside influence of education policies and trends from Britain, Australia, and the United States are identified, and the current situation is described. In particular, obstacles that are encountered on the route to inclusion are compared with those found in other countries. These obstacles include large class size, teachers’ often negative attitudes, parents’ expectations, teachers’ lack of expertise for adapting the curriculum and for providing differentiated teaching, and ongoing conflicts between the notion of ‘inclusive schooling for all’ and the ‘academic standards agenda’.

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A fragile public preference for cyber strikes: Evidence from survey experiments in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel

Contemporary Security Policy ◽

10.1080/13523260.2020.1868836 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

Ryan Shandler ◽

Michael L. Gross ◽

Daphna Canetti

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

United Kingdom ◽

The United States ◽

Public Preference ◽

Survey Experiments

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Protecting America’s borders: Christian nationalism, threat, and attitudes toward immigrants in the United States

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430220978291 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136843022097829

Author(s):

Rosemary L. Al-Kire ◽

Michael H. Pasek ◽

Jo-Ann Tsang ◽

Joseph Leman ◽

Wade C. Rowatt

Keyword(s):

Political Ideology ◽

The United States ◽

Political Orientation ◽

Religious Fundamentalism ◽

Immigration Policies ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

The Us ◽

Immigrant Policies ◽

Christian Nationalism

Attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policies are divisive issues in American politics. These attitudes are influenced by factors such as political orientation and religiousness, with religious and conservative individuals demonstrating higher prejudice toward immigrants and refugees, and endorsing stricter immigration policies. Christian nationalism, an ideology marked by the belief that America is a Christian nation, may help explain how religious nationalist identity influences negative attitudes toward immigrants. The current research addresses this through four studies among participants in the US. Across studies, our results showed that Christian nationalism was a significant and consistent predictor of anti-immigrant stereotypes, prejudice, dehumanization, and support for anti-immigrant policies. These effects were robust to inclusion of other sources of anti-immigrant attitudes, including religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and political ideology. Further, perceived threats from immigrants mediated the relationship between Christian nationalism and dehumanization of immigrants, and attitudes toward immigration policies. These findings have implications for our understanding of the relations between religious nationalism and attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy in the US, as well as in other contexts.

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