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

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.

Concerns About Automation and Negative Sentiment Toward Immigration

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.

Xenophobia

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-66 ◽  
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.

How Dehumanization Influences Attitudes toward Immigrants

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 440-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Utych
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Immigration Attitudes ◽  
Original Experimental Data

Immigrants, as a group, are frequently described in ways, such as vermin or disease, that portray them as less than human. This type of dehumanizing language leads to negative emotional responses and negative attitudes toward the dehumanized group. This paper examines how the dehumanization of immigrants influences immigration policy attitudes. I use original experimental data to show that dehumanization leads to more negative immigration attitudes. I further find that these negative attitudes are mediated by the role of emotion. Dehumanization increases anger and disgust toward immigrants, which causes anti-immigrant sentiment.

scholarly journals Physiological threat sensitivity predicts anti-immigrant attitudes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Matea Mustafaj ◽  
Guadalupe Madrigal ◽  
Jessica Roden ◽  
Gavin W. Ploger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lab Experiment ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Threat Sensitivity ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Immigration Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigration

Abstract Research finds that the perception that immigrants are culturally and economically threatening is associated with negative attitudes toward immigration. In a largely separate body of work, psychophysiological predispositions toward threat sensitivity are connected to a range of political attitudes, including immigration. This article draws together these two literatures, using a lab experiment to explore psychophysiological threat sensitivity and immigration attitudes in the United States. Respondents with higher threat sensitivity, as measured by skin conductance responses to threatening images, tend to be less supportive of immigration. This finding builds on our understanding of the sources of anti-immigrant attitudes.

Believing in the American Dream Sustains Negative Attitudes toward Those in Poverty

2021 ◽  
pp. 019027252110223
Author(s):  
Crystal L. Hoyt ◽  
Jeni L. Burnette ◽  
Rachel B. Forsyth ◽  
Mitchell Parry ◽  
Brenten H. DeShields
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Dream ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Negative Attitudes

A critical lever in the fight against poverty is to improve attitudes toward those living in poverty. Attempting to understand the factors that impact these attitudes, we ask: Does believing that meritocracy exists (descriptive meritocracy) sustain negative attitudes? Using cross-sectional (N = 301) and experimental (N = 439) methods, we found that belief in the United States as a meritocracy is associated with blaming people living in poverty and predicts negative attitudes toward them. Replicating and extending these findings, we experimentally manipulated beliefs in meritocracy and blame. Weakening American Dream beliefs predicted improved attitudes toward those in poverty. Understanding the nuanced role of belief systems in attitudes toward those in poverty provides strategies for promoting more positive thoughts and feelings.

scholarly journals Family Matters: How Immigrant Histories Can Promote Inclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
SCOTT WILLIAMSON ◽  
CLAIRE L. ADIDA ◽  
ADELINE LO ◽  
MELINA R. PLATAS ◽  
LAUREN PRATHER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Family Experiences ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
The Media ◽  
Almost All ◽  
School Curricula

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.

The Role of Gender and Sensation Seeking in Film Choice

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Smita C. Banerjee ◽  
Kathryn Greene ◽  
Marina Krcmar ◽  
Zhanna Bagdasarov ◽  
Dovile Ruginyte
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Happy Mood

This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender and sensation seeking, in predicting media choice (examined through hypothetical descriptions of films that participants anticipated they would view). This study used a 2 (Positive mood/negative mood) × 2 (High arousal/low arousal) within-subject design with 544 undergraduate students recruited from a large northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that happy films and high arousal films were preferred over sad films and low-arousal films, respectively. In terms of gender differences, female viewers reported a greater preference than male viewers for happy-mood films. Also, male viewers reported a greater preference for high-arousal films compared to female viewers, and female viewers reported a greater preference for low-arousal films compared to male viewers. Finally, high sensation seekers reported a preference for high-arousal films. Implications for research design and importance of exploring media characteristics are discussed.

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