Romaphobia among Serbian and Dutch adolescents: The role of perceived threat,nationalistic feelings,and integrative orientations

This study examines the relationships between nationalism and integration attitudes on one hand, and anti‐Roma prejudice on the other. Using Stephan and Stephan's threat theory, the study analyzes whether and to what extent these relationships are mediated by perceived economic and symbolic threats. Data were collected among 16‐ and 17‐year‐old students in Serbia and The Netherlands. A path analysis shows that perceived economic and symbolic threats mediate the relationships between nationalism and integration on one hand, and Romaphobia on the other. Moreover, the findings show that these relationships are comparable between Serbian and Dutch youth. Levels of threat and Romaphobia differ between countries. Youth in the Netherlands, who barely have contact opportunities with Roma, are characterized by higher threat and Romaphobia scores than Serbian youth, who have proportionally more contact opportunities. Explanations are discussed as well as implications for theory and prejudice reduction in diverse intercultural settings.     

Minorities' acculturation and social adjustment: The moderator role of meta‐perceptions of majority's acculturation attitudes

Two studies addressed the role of Black meta‐perception of acculturation attitudes on the relation between minority acculturation attitudes and their social adjustment (school achievement and perceived quality of intergroup relations). Participants in both studies were Black Lusophone adolescents living in Portugal. Study 1 (N = 140) indicated that participants' attitude regarding the host culture was positively correlated with their school achievement and to their evaluation of intergroup relations. It also indicated that participants' meta‐perception of majority attitude add to the explained variance of participants' social adjustment. Study 2 (N = 62) manipulated the perceived majority high/low support of immigrants' learning the host culture. The dependent variable (DV) was perceived quality of intergroup relations. Only in the low support condition were participants' attitudes towards the host culture positively related to perceived quality of Black–White relationships. These results suggest that perceived social context is central to understand the relationship between minority adolescents' acculturation attitudes and key dimensions of their adjustment to host societies.     

Parent-child conflict and psychological maladjustment: a mediational analysis with reciprocal filial belief and perceived threat

Empirical research has shown that parent–child conflict is positively related to poor adjustment in adolescents; however, the underlying processes have not been adequately examined. To explore the possible mediating pathways, reciprocal filial belief and perceived threat were chosen to represent two likely mechanisms accounting for how parent–child conflict harms adolescents' perceptions of their relationship with their parents and their self‐perceptions within their cognitive‐appraisal framework. The former operates by attenuating children's affection towards their parents and the latter by lowering their self‐perceptions. This study also distinguishes internalizing from externalizing problems in order to examine whether lower reciprocal filial belief more strongly mediates the relation between conflict with parents and adolescents' externalizing problems and whether perceived threat more strongly mediates the relation between conflict with parents and adolescents' internalizing problems. Hypotheses are as follows: (1) the more parent–child conflict adolescents report, the less reciprocal filial belief they recognize, which, in turn, leads to more maladjustments, especially externalizing ones; (2) the more parent–child conflicts adolescents report, the more threat they perceive, which, in turn, leads to more maladjustments, especially internalizing ones. Participants consisted of 603 Taiwanese adolescents (226 males and 377 females) aged 15 to 19 (average age=16.95; SD=0.78). Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed the hypotheses. However, the three direct effects of conflict on internalizing problems, aggression, and deviant behaviour were still significant. In addition, a greater effect of the paternal than the maternal role on the link between conflict and attenuated reciprocal filial belief, and between perceived threat and internalizing problems, was identified. Implications for understanding the mediation processes responsible for all indirect effects, even the subsidiary ones, and the greater impact of conflict with the father than with the mother are discussed. Limitations of the study and considerations for future research are also addressed.     

Like parent,like child? Development of prejudice and tolerance towards immigrants

Although intergroup attitudes are assumed to develop due to the influence of parents, there is no longitudinal evidence supporting this claim. In addition, research on socialization of intergroup attitudes has omitted possible effects of adolescents on their parents. We also know little about the conditions under which intergroup attitudes are transmitted. This two‐wave, 2 years apart, study of adolescents (N = 507) and their parents examined the relations between parents and adolescents' prejudice and tolerance from a longitudinal perspective. The study tested whether parental prejudice and tolerance would predict over‐time changes in adolescents' attitudes and whether adolescents' prejudice and tolerance would elicit changes in parental attitudes. Additionally, it explored whether some of the effects would depend on perceived parental support. Results showed significant bidirectional influences between parents and adolescents' attitudes. In addition, adolescents who perceived their parents as supportive showed higher parent–adolescent correspondence in prejudice than youth with low parental support. These findings show that intergroup attitudes develop as a result of mutual influences between parents and adolescents. Hence, the unidirectional transmission model and previous research findings should be revisited. The results also suggest that parents' prejudice influence adolescents' attitudes to the extent that youth perceive their parents as supportive.     

Anti‐Immigrant Prejudice in Rising East Asia: A Stereotype Content and Integrated Threat Analysis

Immigration is a global phenomenon, yet comparatively few psychological investigations of anti‐immigrant prejudice have been conducted in East Asia, a region of high economic growth that is set to become a leading destination for international migrants. Over two studies, we examined Singaporean attitudes towards four prominent immigrant groups: Chinese, Filipino, South Asian, and Western immigrants. Each immigrant group was found to be associated with a unique attitudinal profile. Chinese immigrants, who are culturally the most closely related to most Singaporeans, were viewed the most negatively in terms of prejudice, stereotyped warmth, and realistic and symbolic threat. Westerners were viewed the most positively despite higher ratings of perceived competence, possibly due to Western cultural influence, whereas South Asians and Filipinos were viewed as being relatively unthreatening, possibly due to their occupation of undesirable social roles. Perceived threat—both realistic and symbolic—proved to be stronger predictors of anti‐immigrant prejudice than stereotypes. Implications for immigration policy in the region are discussed.     

Group motives in threatening contexts: When a loyalty conflict paradoxically reduces the influence of an anti‐discrimination ingroup norm

The influence of pro‐ versus anti‐discrimination ingroup norms on Swiss nationals' attitudes towards foreigners was investigated as a function of national identification and perceived material ingroup threat. As predicted, results revealed a significant interaction between identification and threat: High identifiers showed a more negative attitude than low identifiers mainly when perceived threat was high. In other words, high identifiers conformed to the pro‐discrimination norm, but showed a counter‐conformity effect for the anti‐discrimination norm. Additional results revealed that high identifiers actually disagreed with the anti‐discrimination norm when perceived threat was high, but that they were more attached to the ingroup. These findings suggest that when the ingroup norm is not an appropriate response to an ingroup threat (i.e. anti‐discrimination norm), high identifiers find themselves in a loyalty conflict: they are unable to simultaneously conform to the group norm and protect the group. This conflict was resolved through a compensatory mechanism: High identifiers distanced themselves from the ingroup norm in order to protect the group (i.e. by increasing negative attitudes towards foreigners) but reinforced other ingroup ties (i.e. by increasing attachment to the ingroup values). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zero‐sum thinking as mediator of the relationship of national attitudes with (un)willingness to host refugees in own country

This study examines factors related to willingness to host refugees. We examined the role of national attitudes (patriotism, nationalism), out‐group attitudes (classic and modern prejudice), and zero‐sum thinking: Belief in a Zero‐Sum Game and psychological entitlement in attitudes towards hosting refugees. We proposed including zero‐sum thinking as possible mediator between national attitudes and attitudes towards refugees based on assumption that nationalism is a competitive attitude towards out‐groups, while patriotism does not. Structural equation modelling based on a Polish national sample (N = 1092) revealed that patriotism is positively associated with willingness to host refugees, through its negative association with prejudice via decreasing zero‐sum thinking. Nationalism was negatively associated with willingness to host refugees, through prejudice via increasing zero‐sum thinking. Findings are discussed in the context of current refugee policies.     

Religious Affiliation and Attitudes Towards Gay Men: On the Mediating Role of Masculinity Threat

Previous research suggests that people from some religious backgrounds hold more negative attitudes towards gay men than others do. The current research focuses on psychological variables as an alternative explanation to religious affiliation, testing whether masculinity beliefs regarding gay men and their perceived threat to one's masculinity can explain such between‐group differences in negative attitudes. With a sample of 155 male heterosexual university students (Muslims and Christians in Germany), we found that Muslims held more negative attitudes towards gay men than Christians did. Yet, this relation was partially mediated by beliefs about the masculinity of gay men and the experience of masculinity threat imposed by gay men, substantially reducing the effect of religious affiliation on antigay attitudes. In sum, similar psychological processes explained antigay attitudes of both Muslims and Christians. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When threat to society becomes a threat to oneself: Implications for right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice

The relationships between threat on one hand and right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice on the other were investigated in a heterogeneous sample (N = 588). Specifically, we considered the perception of economic and terroristic threats in terms of their consequences at the societal and personal levels. Previous studies revealed that societal consequences of threat, rather than personal consequences, are related to right‐wing attitudes. However, the present results challenge these findings. More specifically, three important results emerged. First, items probing the distinct threat levels loaded on separate dimensions for economic and terroristic threat, validating the distinction between societal and personal threat consequences. Second, consistent with previous research, this study revealed that perceived societal consequences of threat yield strong and robust relationships with all target variables. However, personal consequences of threat were also associated with higher levels of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and ethnic prejudice in particular. Third, societal and personal consequences of threat interacted in explaining the target variables. More specifically, feeling personally threatened by terrorism was only related to higher levels of RWA in the presence of low levels of threat to society, whereas experiencing personal economic threat was only related to higher levels of SDO and ethnic prejudice when high societal economic threat was experienced. In sum, although the perception of societal consequences of threat plays a prominent role in explaining right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice, the perception of being personally affected by threat is also associated with higher levels of RWA and SDO, and especially ethnic prejudice.     

Bullying and social identity: The effects of group norms and distinctiveness threat on attitudes towards bullying

Drawing from social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), an experiment was carried out to determine the extent to which children's attitudes towards bullying could be moderated by in‐group norms and perceived threat to group distinctiveness. The study investigated the responses of 120 male primary school students aged 10‐13 years from five schools. The children read a story about a popular in‐group and an unpopular out‐group which involved the manipulation of three variables: the norms of the in‐group (bullying vs. fairness); distinctiveness threat (out‐group similarity vs. out‐group difference); and the behaviour of the in‐group character towards the out‐group character (bullying vs. helpful). It was predicted that a perceived threat to group distinctiveness, represented by similarity between the in‐group and the out‐group, and salient group norms that prescribed either bullying or fairness, would moderate the acceptability of bullying behaviours. Two story response measures were analysed: in‐group character liking and whether the in‐group character would be retained as a group member following his behaviour. The strongest support for social identity theory was revealed in the retention of in‐group character variable. The in‐group character was much more likely to have been retained as a group member when he behaved in accordance with group norms. Evidence was also found that bullying was more acceptable when directed at an out‐group member who was similar and therefore possibly represented a threat to the in‐group.     

Cultural threat and perceived realistic group conflict as dual predictors of prejudice

Recent research has focused on how perceived intergroup similarity influences stereotyping and prejudice. Very little is known, however, regarding how the quality or type of similarity influences intergroup relations. Presented is a methodology that allows one to manipulate the quality of perceived intergroup similarity. This methodology is used to test contrasting predictions about how perceptions of intergroup similarity on self-stereotyped interpersonal and work-related traits predict attitudes towards immigrants. Predictions were derived from cultural threat and perceived realistic group conflict theories. Some participants were asked to rate how similar they perceived their in-group was to Mexican immigrants, whereas others were asked to evaluate how the groups differed on the given traits. Control participants evaluated themselves on the given traits. Participants were presented with either interpersonal traits or work related traits as stimuli. The main dependent measures were a perceived realistic conflict scale, a prejudice scale, and a stereotyping scale. All three scales used Mexican immigrants as the target category. When interpersonal traits were made salient, contrast comparisons led to more negative attitudes towards immigrants, supporting a cultural threat hypothesis. When work-related traits were made salient, similarity comparisons led to more prejudice and more negative attitudes towards immigrants, supporting a perceived realistic conflict hypothesis. Thus, a perceived threat to either the cultural norm or economic well being led to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. Results are discussed for their relevance to models of intergroup relations.     

National identification and attitudes towards Russian immigrants in Finland: Investigating the role of perceived threats and gains

In this cross‐sectional study, we examined the relationship between national identification of majority Finns (nation‐wide probability sample, N = 335) and their attitudes towards Russian immigrants living in Finland. As previous research indicates both possibilities, we tested whether this relationship was moderated or mediated by threats and gains perceived to result from immigration. The results supported the mediation hypothesis; those individuals who identified stronger with their national ingroup perceived more threats than gains related to increased immigration and these perceptions, in turn, were associated with more negative attitudes towards immigrants. The role of realistic as opposed to symbolic threats and gains was particularly pronounced. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of their theoretical relevance and practical means to improve intergroup relations, with a particular focus on the relations between Finns and Russian immigrants in Finland.     

Adolescents' perceptions of friends' and parents' attitudes to sex and sexual risk-taking

This study investigated the association between adolescents' perceptions of parental and peer attitudes towards sexuality and AIDS precautions, and the risky sexual behaviours of 1008 sexually active, heterosexual undergraduate students aged 17-20 years. Students were asked to rate the extent to which their mothers, fathers and friends would agree or disagree with 16 statements reflecting support of the adolescent engaging in sexual behaviour and using sexual precautions, including precautions against AIDS. The adolescents also indicated whether they were sexually active and their level of condom use in both ‘regular’ (or steady) and ‘casual’ relationships. Results indicated that adolescents perceived their parents as non-liberal in their sexual attitudes and relatively unlikely to discuss sex or precautions with them. Parents were viewed as more accepting of their sons' sexual behaviours than of their daughters'. Adolescents believed that peers were more likely to discuss sexuality and precautions than parents, and were more liberal in their sexual attitudes. Adolescent sexual risk-taking was related to the perceived attitudes of significant others in ways which varied across gender and type of relationship. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

The Role of Threat in Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action and Its Beneficiaries1

This set of two studies employed the integrated threat theory to examine attitudes toward affirmative action (AA). The first study found that opposition to the policy of AA was predicted by realistic threats, symbolic threats, and personal relevance; while attitudes toward the beneficiaries of AA were predicted by three of the four threat variables (symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes), and in‐group identity. The second study replicated and expanded on the first study and found that the effects of several individual‐difference variables (racism, anti‐Black affect, and political conservatism) on opposition to AA were mediated by three of the threats in the integrated threat theory (realistic threats, symbolic threats, and negative stereotypes). The implications of the results are discussed.     

Marry who you love: Intergroup contact with gay people and another stigmatized minority is related to voting on the restriction of gay rights through threat

The study examined factors associated with discrimination against gay people in a public referendum aimed at the restriction of gay rights. We tested whether positive and negative intergroup contact with gay people and intergroup contact with another stigmatized minority, the Roma, were associated with how the heterosexual majority voted in the referendum (i.e., discrimination). We tested two mechanisms underlying the link between intergroup contact and discrimination—the mediation by intergroup threat and the mediation by outgroup attitudes. We found that negative contact with both gay people and the Roma was associated with a higher probability of gay discrimination while positive contact was associated with a lower probability of gay discrimination. Intergroup threat, not intergroup attitudes, mediated the link between intergroup contact and discrimination. In the case of contact with gay people, intergroup contact was linked to discrimination through threat from gay people. In the case of contact with Roma, intergroup contact was linked to discrimination through the generalization of threats from the Roma to gay people but not via the generalization of outgroup attitudes. Our research brings novel evidence that contact with one minority can affect discrimination against another minority in both positive and negative way and that perceived threat, but not attitudes, plays a key role in majority's decision to discriminate against gay people.     

Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study

This study examines the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures of creativity were used: a divergent thinking task, a story‐writing task and self‐evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed two self‐report measures of tolerance of ambiguity: the short version of the “Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance” (Norton, 1975; Zenasni & Lubart, 2001) and the “Behaviour Scale of Tolerance/Intolerance for Ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 1998, 2003). Tolerance of ambiguity was significantly and positively related to creativity. Creativity of parents was related to their adolescents' creativity. However, parents' tolerance of ambiguity was not related to adolescents' tolerance of ambiguity or creativity.     

Interaction of socio‐structural characteristics to predict Roma's identification and desire to challenge low status position

We examined the interaction of socio‐structural variables predicting Roma's identification and endorsement for collective action. Roma from Slovakia rated perceived stigma and status, their perception of the intergroup context, identification, and desire for Roma to join together to compete with the high status non‐Roma majority. The results showed that greater perceived permeability predicted lower Roma identification. The socio‐structural variables also interacted such that Roma who perceived group boundaries as impermeable and status difference as unstable and illegitimate expressed the highest desire for collective action. Lastly, identification was also a strong predictor of desire to directly compete with non‐Roma. The results highlight both the usefulness of a social identity perspective for understanding resistance to discrimination and perceived context for collective action.     

The Impact of Media Reliance on the Role of Perceived Threat in Predicting Tolerance of Muslim Cultural Practice

Two studies explored the role of perceived threat in predicting White Australians' acculturation preferences for Muslim immigrants, with particular focus on the impact of their reliance on the mass media. In Study 1, students completed a survey that indicated that their tolerance of Muslim practice was largely explained by their general attitudes to multiculturalism. However, among those who were highly reliant on the media, symbolic threat from Muslims played an additional role, with those who perceived more threat being less tolerant. Study 2 further explored these findings in a second survey that included other measures of threat that comprise the integrated threat theory. While intergroup anxiety was the form of threat with the strongest main effect on tolerance, the impact of symbolic threat was again moderated by reliance on the mass media. The implications for understanding the role of media in facilitating interethnic disharmony were discussed.     

Is There a Backlash Against Immigration From Richer Countries? International Hierarchy and the Limits of Group Threat

Why do immigrants from particular countries systematically face more opposition? To resolve inconsistencies of prevailing group‐threat theories, I reintroduce a long‐standing hypothesis stipulating that people have a disposition for maintaining status hierarchy between ethnic groups. Accordingly, independent of perceived economic or cultural threat, natives are more likely to prefer immigrant groups of higher status based on the development level of the group's national origin. To test this argument, I exploit a substantial provincial variation of immigration flows and attitudes in Spain—one of the only countries that has received immigrants from both less and more developed countries. Consistent with my hypothesis, I demonstrate that anti‐immigration attitudes are more widespread in areas with immigrants from less developed countries regardless of their economic and cultural characteristics. I further document that many voters perceive stable group hierarchies and that these preferences are more predictive of anti‐immigration attitudes in lower‐status immigration contexts. Overall, these results suggest that even culturally similar and economically beneficial immigrant groups from poorer countries can face public opposition due to their lower‐status national origin, highlighting the independent role of group‐status perceptions in politics.     

When immigrant groups “misbehave”: The influence of perceived deviant behavior on increased threat and discriminatory intentions and the moderating role of right‐wing authoritarianism

In two studies, we tested the relationship between non‐immigrant individuals' perceptions of deviant behavior carried out by Muslims and foreigners and discriminatory intentions towards these outgroups. Based on a longitudinal and a representative cross‐sectional sample, we showed that two different types of perceived deviant behavior (Study 1, Muslims' unwillingness to integrate; and Study 2, foreigners' hostility towards the non‐immigrant majority group) are related to increased intergroup threat, which in turn is related to increased intentions to show passive discrimination (i.e., avoidance) towards these outgroups. In line with theorizing about an increased sensitivity for threat in authoritarian individuals, the relationship between perceptions of deviant behavior and threat was especially strong among high authoritarian individuals. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.