Predictors and consequences of negative attitudes toward immigrants in Belgium and Turkey: The role of acculturation preferences and economic competition

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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Religious Social Identity, Religious Belief, and Anti-Immigration Sentiment

American Political Science Review ◽

10.1017/s0003055415000143 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 109 (2) ◽

pp. 203-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

PAZIT BEN-NUN BLOOM ◽

GIZEM ARIKAN ◽

MARIE COURTEMANCHE

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Religious Experience ◽

Religious Belief ◽

Target Group ◽

Host Society ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Group Members ◽

Religion And Ethnicity

Somewhat paradoxically, numerous scholars in various disciplines have found that religion induces negative attitudes towards immigrants, while others find that it fuels feelings of compassion. We offer a framework that accounts for this discrepancy. Using two priming experiments conducted among American Catholics, Turkish Muslims, and Israeli Jews, we disentangle the role of religious social identity and religious belief, and differentiate among types of immigrants based on their ethnic and religious similarity to, or difference from, members of the host society. We find that religious social identity increases opposition to immigrants who are dissimilar to in-group members in religion or ethnicity, while religious belief engenders welcoming attitudes toward immigrants of the same religion and ethnicity, particularly among the less conservative devout. These results suggest that different elements of the religious experience exert distinct and even contrasting effects on immigration attitudes, manifested in both the citizenry's considerations of beliefs and identity and its sensitivity to cues regarding the religion of the target group.

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How Dehumanization Influences Attitudes toward Immigrants

Political Research Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1065912917744897 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 71 (2) ◽

pp. 440-452 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

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.

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Rethinking the Boundaries: Competitive Threat and the Asymmetric Salience of Race/Ethnicity in Attitudes toward Immigrants

Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World ◽

10.1177/2378023117713908 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 237802311771390 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Eric W. Schoon ◽

Kathryn Freeman Anderson

Keyword(s):

Survey Data ◽

Ethnic Differences ◽

Race And Ethnicity ◽

European Countries ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Racial And Ethnic Differences ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Cultural Threat ◽

Race Ethnicity

Research on attitudes toward immigrants has come to divergent conclusions regarding the role of race and ethnicity in shaping these attitudes. Using survey data from 18 European countries, the authors analyze how conditions associated with both economic and cultural threat shape respondents’ receptivity to establishing relationships with immigrants of the same race or ethnicity versus immigrants of a different race or ethnicity. The analyses reveal that the salience of racial and ethnic differences in shaping attitudes toward immigrants is asymmetric. Those who are more likely to express negative attitudes toward immigrants are also more likely to differentiate between immigrants on the basis of race and ethnicity, whereas those less likely to express negative attitudes are also less likely to distinguish between immigrants on the basis of racial and ethnic differences. The authors discuss the substantive and theoretical implications of these findings.

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Is negative mass media news always associated with outgroup prejudice? The buffering role of direct contact

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430219837347 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 195-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Giulia Fuochi ◽

Alberto Voci ◽

Chiara A. Veneziani ◽

Jessica Boin ◽

Benjamin Fell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Negative Association ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Negative News ◽

Buffering Hypothesis ◽

Positive Direct

We examined the association of the combination of direct intergroup contact and mass media news with attitudes toward immigrants and gay people in Italy, hypothesizing that direct intergroup contact would buffer the negative association between media news and attitudes, but only when contact was intimate or positive. Measuring contact variables and attitudes toward immigrants (Study 1, N = 428; Study 2, N = 426) and gay men and women (Study 3, N = 220), we found that intimate and positive direct intergroup contact was associated with more positive attitudes toward outgroup members, whereas exposure to negative news was related to more negative attitudes. Moreover, our results supported the buffering hypothesis, as the negative association between negative news and intergroup attitudes was significantly weaker amongst respondents with higher levels of intimate and positive intergroup contact.

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Identical Twins Or Just Cousins? Racism, Negative Attitudes Toward Immigrants And Immigration, And Their Predictors

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3622510 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Elena Gaber

Keyword(s):

Identical Twins ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants

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Negativity and Political Behavior: A Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Negative Voting in Contemporary Democracies

Political Studies Review ◽

10.1177/14789299211000187 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147892992110001

Author(s):

Diego Garzia ◽

Frederico Ferreira da Silva

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Political Behavior ◽

Voting Behavior ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Affective Component ◽

Parliamentary Systems ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Rational Component

Recent developments in Western societies have motivated a growing consideration of the role of negativity in public opinion and political behavior research. In this article, we review the scant (and largely disconnected) scientific literature on negativity and political behavior, merging contributions from social psychology, public opinion, and electoral research, with a view on developing an integrated theoretical framework for the study of negative voting in contemporary democracies. We highlight that the tendency toward negative voting is driven by three partly overlapping components, namely, (1) an instrumental–rational component characterized by retrospective performance evaluations and rationalization mechanisms, (2) an ideological component grounded on long-lasting political identities, and (3) an affective component, motivated by (negative) attitudes toward parties and candidates. By blueprinting the systematic relationships between negative voting and each of these components in turn, and suggesting multiple research paths, this article aims to stimulate future studies on negative voting in multi-party parliamentary systems to motivate a better understanding of the implications of negativity in voting behavior in contemporary democracies.

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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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Interpersonal Disgust, Ideological Orientations, and Dehumanization as Predictors of Intergroup Attitudes

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01962.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 691-698 ◽

Cited By ~ 207

Author(s):

Gordon Hodson ◽

Kimberly Costello

Keyword(s):

Social Dominance ◽

Social Dominance Orientation ◽

Path Model ◽

Intergroup Attitudes ◽

Right Wing ◽

Disgust Sensitivity ◽

Group Representations ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽

Right Wing Authoritarianism

Disgust is a basic emotion characterized by revulsion and rejection, yet it is relatively unexamined in the literature on prejudice. In the present investigation, interpersonal-disgust sensitivity (e.g., not wanting to wear clean used clothes or to sit on a warm seat vacated by a stranger) in particular predicted negative attitudes toward immigrants, foreigners, and socially deviant groups, even after controlling for concerns with contracting disease. The mechanisms underlying the link between interpersonal disgust and attitudes toward immigrants were explored using a path model. As predicted, the effect of interpersonal-disgust sensitivity on group attitudes was indirect, mediated by ideological orientations (social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) and dehumanizing perceptions of the out-group. The effects of social dominance orientation on group attitudes were both direct and indirect, via dehumanization. These results establish a link between disgust sensitivity and prejudice that is not accounted for by fear of infection, but rather is mediated by ideological orientations and dehumanizing group representations. Implications for understanding and reducing prejudice are discussed.

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The Role of Education and Knowledge about Aging in Creating Young People’s Attitudes to the Elderly

Acta Educationis Generalis ◽

10.2478/atd-2018-0004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 63-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jana Goriup ◽

Danijela Lahe

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Older People ◽

Negative Attitude ◽

The Elderly ◽

School Students ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Survey Results ◽

People’S Attitudes ◽

Intergenerational Cooperation

AbstractIntroduction: With the intensive growth in the number of older people and prolonged life span in the contemporary postmodern society, it has become increasingly important to build positive intergenerational cooperation and promote education on aging and older people, especially between younger and older generations. That is why the authors, on the basis of empirical research and scientific literature, examined knowledge about aging among young people and the connection between knowledge about aging and the formation of negative attitudes towards older people.Methods: The study involved 609 secondary school students aged 15 to 19 years.Results: The survey results showed that only one-fifth of the young population has good knowledge about aging. The relationship between knowledge about aging and ageism is negative, which means that young people with less knowledge about aging often have a negative attitude towards older people.Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, the authors underline the importance of integrating gerontology content in all stages of education.

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