Prejudice towards Immigrants: The Importance of Social Context, Ideological Postulates, and Perception of Outgroup Threat

Macarena Vallejo-Martín, Jesús M. Canto, Jesús E. San Martín García and Fabiola Perles Novas
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Macarena Vallejo-Martín: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain
Jesús M. Canto: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain
Jesús E. San Martín García: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain
Fabiola Perles Novas: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed a rise in support for political parties with an anti-immigration sentiment and nationalistic rhetoric as their distinguishing traits. Within this context, our study, through a survey, analyses the relation of prejudice toward immigrants with ideological postulates of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance and outgroup threat. With a sample of 247 individuals (54.7% men and 45.3% women), our results reveal that positions favouring right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance and perception of realistic and symbolic threat have an influence on negative attitudes toward immigrants. At the same time, greater prejudice is found in those individuals scoring high in authoritarianism and symbolic threat. These results confirm, on one hand, the dual process motivation model of ideology and prejudice, and on the other, the bifactor structure of outgroup threat. As a conclusion, we propose that in order to foment peaceful coexistence and reduce hostility towards minority groups within today’s social context, it is important to consider the relevance of ideological postulates and outgroup threat. It is a priority to design public policies that favour the inclusion and integration of minority groups with the goal of building more sustainable societies that respect human rights.

Keywords: prejudice; right-wing authoritarianism; social dominance; symbolic threat; realistic threat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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