Meeting a nice asylum seeker: Intergroup contact changes stereotype content perceptions and associated emotional prejudices, and encourages solidarity-based collective action intentions

Integrating open- and closed-ended questions on attitudes towards outgroups with different methods of text analysis

Researchers in behavioral sciences often use closed-ended questions, forcing participants to express even complex impressions or attitudes through a set of predetermined answers. Even if this has many advantages, people's opinions can be much richer. We argue for assessing them using different methods, including open-ended questions. Manual coding of open-ended answers requires much effort, but automated tools help to analyze them more easily. In order to investigate how attitudes towards outgroups can be assessed and analyzed with different methods, we carried out two representative surveys in Poland. We asked closed- and open-ended questions about what Poland should do regarding the influx of refugees. While the attitudes measured with closed-ended questions were rather negative, those that emerged from open-ended answers were not only richer, but also more positive. Many themes that emerged in the manual coding were also identified in automated text analyses with Meaning Extraction Helper (MEH). Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and Sentiment Analyzer from the Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure (CLARIN), we compared the difference between the studies in the emotional tone of the answers. Our research confirms the high usefulness of open-ended questions in surveys and shows how methods of textual data analysis help in understanding people's attitudes towards outgroup members. Based on our methods comparison, researchers can choose a method or combine methods in a way that best fits their needs.

Mobilizing or Sedative Effects? A Narrative Review of the Association Between Intergroup Contact and Collective Action Among Advantaged and Disadvantaged Groups

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

In this narrative review, we examined 134 studies of the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action benefiting disadvantaged groups. We aimed to identify whether, when, and why contact has mobilizing effects (promoting collective action) or sedative effects (inhibiting collective action). For both moderators and mediators, factors associated with the intergroup situation (compared with those associated with the out-group or the in-group) emerged as the most important. Group status had important effects. For members of socially advantaged groups (examined in 98 studies, 100 samples), contact had a general mobilizing effect, which was stronger when contact increased awareness of experiences of injustice among members of disadvantaged groups. For members of disadvantaged groups (examined in 49 studies, 58 samples), contact had mixed effects. Contact that increased awareness of injustice mobilized collection action; contact that made the legitimacy of group hierarchy or threat of retaliation more salient produced sedative effects.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

We present a review of existing studies that have investigated the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action aimed at promoting equity for disadvantaged groups. We further consider the influence of contact that is positive or negative and face-to-face or indirect (e.g., through mass or social media), and we distinguish between collective action that involves socially acceptable behaviors or is destructive and violent. We identified 134 studies, considering both advantaged (100 samples) and disadvantaged groups (58 samples). We found that intergroup contact impacts collective action differently depending on group status. Contact generally leads advantaged groups to mobilize in favor of disadvantaged groups. However, contact has variable effects on members of disadvantaged groups: It sometimes promotes their collective action in support of their own group; in other cases, it leads them to be less likely to engage in such action. We examine when and why contact can have these different effects.

Cross-group friendship and collective action in community solidarity initiatives with displaced people and resident/nationals

Introduction: In Ireland, people seeking asylum (displaced people) receive accommodation in a system called “Direct Provision” (DP) while they wait for their applications for protection to be processed. The living conditions of DP have been described as illegal and inhumane by national and international human rights groups, and the system exacerbates the social exclusion of displaced people. Community responses to DP by displaced people and resident/nationals of Ireland include the creation of informal groups called community solidarity initiatives (CSI), through which cross-group friendships are forged by participation in shared cultural activities. We hypothesized that, compared to non-CSI participants, participants of CSI would report more cross-group friendships, and that more cross-group friendships would predict stronger collective action intentions to support the campaign to end DP, especially among resident/nationals.

Methods: We recruited residents/nationals and displaced persons with and without CSI experience to complete a self-report questionnaire (n = 199), measuring cross-group friendship, collective action intentions, and intergroup attitudes. Data were collected between July 2020 and March 2021, using a combination of online and paper surveys. We conducted ANOVA and conditional process analyses on the data to test our hypotheses.

Results: As predicted, CSI participants reported more contact with cross-group friends and stronger collective action intentions than non-participators. Conditional process analysis indicated that CSI participation facilitated resident/nationals’ political solidarity with displaced people through cross-group friendship.

Discussion: Findings identify the role of group membership in the relationship between contact and collective action for migrant justice, illustrating the potential of CSI to bolster intergroup solidarity and social cohesion through shared activities and cross-group friendship. As such, findings make an important contribution to the literature on intergroup contact, solidarity, and social cohesion, and will be relevant for community practitioners, civil society organisations, NGOs, and policy makers.

The stereotype content model and mental disorders: Distinct perceptions of warmth and competence

This work investigates the perception of eight different mental disorders within the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). The presented study (N = 297) includes a sample representative for the German population in terms of age and gender. Results reveal distinct warmth and competence evaluations for people with different mental disorders, e.g., people with alcohol dependence were seen as less warm and less competent than people with depression or phobia. Future directions and practical implications are discussed.

Context Matters – Social Context Moderates the Association Between Indirect Intergroup Contact and Attitudes Toward Refugees

Abstract. Based on an integration of socioecological systems and intergroup contact theory, we hypothesized that the context in which intergroup contact takes place moderates its association with attitudes toward refugees. To test this prediction, majority members in Germany reported in three studies ( Ntotal = 695) how often they have had positive and negative direct and indirect contact with refugees in different contexts and their attitudes toward refugees. While the association between direct contact and intergroup attitudes was relatively context-independent, the association between indirect contact and attitudes toward refugees strongly depended on context. Indirect contact was more strongly associated with attitudes toward refugees in contexts with close relationships (family and friends) than in contexts with distanced relationships (newspaper and TV).

Attitudes towards refugees: Introducing a short three-dimensional scale

Many researchers subscribe to the three-component conceptualization of attitudes, the idea that attitudes have cognitive, affective, and behavioural (intentional) components. Yet, these components are rarely considered simultaneously in scales, especially those measuring attitudes towards refugees. Moreover, it is debated how these components relate to one another. We present the development and validation of a six-item short-scale to measure attitudes towards refugees based on three surveys (Study 1: N = 330; Study 2a: N = 2,083; Study 2b: N = 2,174). We assessed the performance of this scale with respect to three rivalling attitude conceptualizations (one-factor, three-factor, and second-order factor model). We found that a three-factor or second-order factor conceptualization fitted best to the data. The scale had excellent psychometric properties. We hope that our work stimulates a wave of relevant research on attitudes towards refugees that applies this scale, and contributes to the debate on the conceptualization of attitudes in general.

Together to Welcome, Together to Exclude

Abstract. This preregistered study examined whether positive and negative intergroup contact with migrants relates to collective action supporting and opposing migrants as well as to interpersonal exclusion toward them via the key processes identified in the Social Identity Model of Collective Action. Structural equation models conducted on cross-sectional data from 506 Italian and English participants showed that positive (negative) contact related to higher (lower) collective inclusion and lower (higher) collective and interpersonal exclusion of migrants via group anger, identification, and efficacy. Considering positive and negative contact, collective action pro and against migrants and interpersonal behaviors simultaneously, this study provided a nuanced picture of the antecedents and processes underlying the advantaged group members’ behaviors toward migrants.

Self-Stigma Among People With Mental Health Problems in Terms of Warmth and Competence

Introduction

Self-stigma arising from public stigma is a heavy burden for people suffering from mental health problems. Both public stigma and self-stigma encompass the same three elements: stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. Public stigma has already been successfully explored by the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) map. However, this is not the case for self-stigma. Therefore, this is the first study that applies SCM and the BIAS map to self-stigma by examining whether the effects of self-stereotypes on self-directed discrimination would be mediated by self-directed prejudices in people with mental health problems.

Method

Within a total sample of N = 823 participants, who took part in an online survey, n = 336 people reported mental health problems. Mental health and self-stereotypes (warmth, competence), self-directed prejudice (negative emotions), and self-directed discrimination (active/passive self-harm) were assessed.

Results

Structural equation modeling supported the hypothesis that the stereotype dimensions warmth and competence negatively related to prejudice, while stronger prejudice was associated with more discrimination (active/passive self-harm). Prejudice fully mediated the relationship between stereotypes and discrimination. The indirect effects of warmth and competence on active and passive self-harm were moderated by competence and warmth.

Discussion

Implications for further research on self-stigma and the usage of SCM and BIAS map are discussed.

How should the government treat asylum seekers? The role of labour market vulnerability and migration in Europe

Is labour market vulnerability associated with harsher preferences on asylum-seeking policy? If so, how might the size of the existing foreign-born population condition this effect? We unpack these dynamics across 20 European countries using 2014 ESS and EU-SILC data. In doing so, we examine the relevance of labour market vulnerability both directly and in combination with: individual-level exposure to people of a different race or ethnicity; and the perceived or actual size of the foreign-born population. Results suggest that exposure to labour market risk is associated with a preference for harsher treatment, but that this relationship is driven by respondents with little to no interactions with the existing minority population. We also find that labour market vulnerability is associated with higher (lower) preferred severity in countries with a large (small) presumed foreign-born population. The actual size of the foreign-born population, by contrast, does not appear to matter.

Interethnic Workplace Conflict: Reciprocal Perception of Italian and Immigrant Blue-Collar Coworkers

Past research has examined the beneficial effects of contact focusing mainly on the affective dimension of intergroup relationships. Limited research has examined cognitive dimensions, in particular considering at the same time minority and majority group perspectives. This study tested whether contact in a work context relates differentially to the perception of interethnic conflict in Italian (n = 67) and immigrant (n = 40, all male) blue-collar coworkers with the potential mediation of reciprocal stereotypical content (competence and warmth dimensions), interethnic attitudes, perceived discrimination, and whether organizational identification amplifies the effect of contact. Multigroup path analysis revealed that the two stereotype dimensions, warmth and competence, mediate the relationship between interethnic contact and perceived discrimination for Italians, and between organizational identification and perceived conflict for immigrants. Results highlighted an asymmetrical effect of contact on perceived conflict, detrimental and direct for immigrant workers, beneficial and mediate via the outgroup cognitive image for the Italian workers. Findings suggest that a superordinate identity, in terms of organizational identification, may be effective in reducing conflict at the workplace for majority members, whilst a personalized strategy seems to be more suitable for minority members. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed along with the acculturation perspective.

Helping in the context of refugee immigration

We review psychological approaches of helping behavior in the context of refugee immigration. Refugee migration, compared with nonrefugee migration, is characterized by greater forcedness and related perils. Taking into account perceptions of forcedness and perils, we examine potential helpers' responses at each of four successive stages toward helping people in perilous, distressing, or emergency situations: (1) noticing and recognizing distressing, help-demanding conditions; (2) taking responsibility; (3) knowing how to help; and (4) transfer of one's knowledge into action. In so doing, we discuss the role of different motives and functions of providing help (e.g. preserving refugees' dependency or facilitating their autonomy) and implications of unequal power relations between help providers and refugees.

Do We Stand Together? The Role of Perceived Personal and Group Threats in Predicting the Majority's (Un)willingness to Confront Injustice on Behalf of a Minority

Purpose: By utilizing data from Estonia, Finland, and Norway, this study explores how the perceptions of personal and group realistic threats, namely perceived ethnic discrimination and economic insecurity among national majorities, predict their unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of Russian-speaking minority groups.

Background: Previous research on collective action to promote minorities’ rights and social standing has focused either on minorities’ own actions or factors promoting the willingness of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minorities. In contrast, factors explaining the reluctance of majority group members to engage in collective action on behalf of minority groups have remained less explored. For example, studies have then ignored that the majority members may also feel threatened and may be economically insecure. Furthermore, the possible discrepancy between perceived personal vs. in-group’s situation may influence majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of a minority group.

Method: We employed polynomial regression with response surface analysis to analyze data gathered among national majority members in three countries (N = 1,341).

Results: Perceived personal and group realistic threats were associated with heightened unwillingness to confront injustice on behalf of the Russian-speaking minority. Furthermore, participants were more unwilling to confront injustice when they perceived more group than personal threat.

Conclusion: We found that majority group members’ (un)willingness to confront injustice on behalf of the minority is related to how secure they perceive their own and their group status. Our results contribute to previous research by pointing out the important drawbacks of majorities’ support for minorities’ wish for social change.

Social-Structural Antecedents Come Forward to Elicit Envy to Distant Out-Groups

This study utilizing correlation, regression, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), ANOVA, moderation and mediation analysis investigated connections of stereotypes, emotions, and sociocultural variables in a single-sample/single-group design. Prior to data processing, Georgian versions of the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) questionnaires were validated through CFA. The study looked at Georgian students' attitudes to: (a) representatives of German-speaking countries (87 participants) and (b) representatives of English-speaking countries (244 participants). Emotions predicted to these groups by social–structural antecedents—vitality and fear of assimilation—and stereotypes were admiration, pride, and sympathy. In addition, envy was predicted for the English-speaking group. The prediction of envy is explained by moderation analysis according to which it is elicited by the interplay of warmth and competence, as well as fear of assimilation and competence. The former interaction mediates the link between social–structural antecedents to emotions. Thus, distant out-groups elicit envy as a result of their perceived vitality, fear of assimilation, warmth, and competence. Social–structural antecedents come forward to elicit emotions of envy independently as well as in interaction with stereotypes when small country representatives evaluate representatives of the influential group of English-speaking people.

Intergroup Relations During the Refugee Crisis: Individual and Cultural Stereotypes and Prejudices and Their Relationship With Behavior Toward Asylum Seekers

In this paper, I investigate intergroup relations between natives and asylum seekers during the European refugee crisis, and contribute to the reemerging methodological debate on the measurement of stereotypes and prejudices as individual and collective constructs. Drawing on data from the Norwegian Citizen Panel (NCP; N = 1,062), I examined how Norwegians stereotyped asylum seekers at the height of the refugee crisis and the emotional prejudices asylum seekers as a group elicited. By experimentally manipulating the survey question format, I examined whether and how stereotypes and emotional prejudices toward asylum-seekers differed depending on their measurement as individual or collective constructs. A subset of respondents (n = 228) had reception centers for asylum-seekers established in their local community during the crisis. These participants reported their behaviors toward the asylum seekers in their neighborhood. In this subsample, I investigated how individual facilitating and harming intergroup behavior was related to individual and collective conceptualizations of stereotypes and prejudices. The results showed that both low warmth and low competence stereotypes, as well as negative emotions toward asylum seekers, were rated as stronger when measured as collective as compared to individual-level constructs. In the individual condition, respondents reported feeling more admiration and sympathy than respondents in the collective condition attributed to others. Individual stereotypes and prejudices correlated systematically with individual facilitating and harming intergroup behaviors. The perception that others hold more negative stereotypes of asylum seekers, and the perceived anger and fear of others, did correlated with individual harming behaviors. Perceptions of others’ anxiety correlated negatively with facilitating behaviors. Implications and future directions for the conceptualization and measurement of stereotypes and emotional prejudices are discussed.

The Impact of Response Instruction and Target Group on the BIAS Map

Response instructions—inviting participants to respond from a certain perspective—can significantly influence the performance and construct validity of psychological measures. Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and then the BIAS map (“behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes”) were originally developed as universal measures of shared cultural stereotypes—participants’ perceptions of what most of the people in a society think about the target group—and their related social-structural antecedents, emotions and behavioral tendencies. Yet a number of studies have adopted a different response instruction focusing on individual stereotypes—what the participants personally think about the target group. So far, there is little evidence to suggest how these two different response instructions (individual vs. shared cultural perspective) might influence the performance of the BIAS map, especially when applied to target groups that elicit different normative and social desirability concerns. To provide novel evidence, we conducted an experiment with a representative sample of ethnic Slovaks (N = 1269). In a 2 × 2 factorial design, we found response instruction (individual vs. shared cultural perspective) and target group [stigmatized ethnic minority (the Roma) vs. non-stigmatized ethnic minority (the Hungarians)] had significant effects on the BIAS map and their interaction had significant effects on the social structure and behavioral tendencies (but not on stereotypes and emotions) scales. Exploratory analysis also points to partial influence on the mediation hypothesis underlying the BIAS map and minor effects on its scale properties. Our evidence suggests that the difference between individual stereotypes and shared cultural stereotypes partially depends on the target group in question and that they should be treated as two potentially separate constructs.

'Society thinks they are cold and/or incompetent, but I do not': Stereotype content ratings depend on instructions and the social group's location in the stereotype content space

Stereotype content researchers have grown accustomed to ask participants how 'society' views social groups to tap into culturally shared stereotype content and to reduce social desirability bias (J Person Soc Psychol, 82, 2002, 878). However, methodological and theoretical considerations raise questions about this common practice, and stereotype content researchers have also asked for participants' personal perspective on social groups in the past. Nonetheless, how and whether stereotype content model scores empirically differ as a function of the instructed perspective remains questionable and to date untested. Thus, we investigated whether and, if so, how stereotype content results are affected when instructing participants to evaluate social groups from society's versus their personal perspective. Across three experiments (Study 1: N = 301; Study 2: N = 126; Study 3: N = 1,221), latent mean comparisons indicated that results regarding stereotype content ratings are affected by the instructed perspective (society's vs. personal) contingent on the social group's location in the stereotype content space: Stereotype content ratings were more negative when participants were asked to provide society's perspective on social groups compared to their own perspective, but only on an already depreciated stereotype content dimension. The number of possible comparisons across experimental conditions was substantially reduced, since preconditions for these analyses were not met. Given our methodological and theoretical considerations and empirical corroborations that the instructed perspective does affect results, we encourage a discussion on how to best measure culturally shared stereotype content and propose aggregating stereotype content scores from participants' personal perspective to the cultural level.

Classical and Modern Prejudice toward Asylum Seekers: The Mediating Role of Intergroup Anxiety in a Sample of Italians

(1) Background: Increasing waves of immigration have not only changed the demographic features of European societies but have also had important implications for intergroup relationships. Based on the theoretical model of intergroup threat theory, this study examined whether and to what extent intergroup anxiety mediates the relationship between antecedents and attitudes toward asylum seekers. (2) Method: In a sample of 470 Italians (mean age 30.21), using a survey-based study, we assessed the antecedent of intergroup anxiety (national identification) and its consequences (classical and modern prejudice). (3) Results: The results supported most of the expected predictions. While intergroup anxiety was positively associated with prejudice toward asylum seekers, national identity was positively related to intergroup anxiety and prejudice. Moreover, the relationships between antecedents and consequences were mediated by intergroup anxiety. (4) Conclusion: This study has identified antecedents that can potentially increase or decrease intergroup anxiety and proposes certain strategies for improving social inclusion policies and relationships between asylum seekers and settled communities. The implications for future studies are discussed.

Warmth and competence stereotypes about immigrant groups in Germany

Germany is ethnically diverse and the social climate is more or less welcoming for different immigrant groups. The social climate can be described by stereotypes of members of the receiving society about immigrant groups, which in turn shape receiving-society members' behavioral tendencies of support or discrimination. We investigated warmth and competence stereotypes about 17 immigrant groups in Germany. Results showed four clusters of immigrant groups in the two-dimensional space of warmth and competence. Groups who immigrated comparatively recently and from regions of conflict (e.g., the Balkans, Northern Africa) were stereotyped most negatively (moderate warmth, low competence). Across groups, path analysis investigated the socio-structural relations proposed by the stereotype content model and the BIAS map for immigrant groups in the German context. In a pre-registered model all hypothesized paths were significant but model fit was not good. Therefore, an exploratory model included additional paths as well as intercorrelations between exogenous variables and error terms. The modified model showed good fit and partly replicated the relations proposed by the BIAS map. Threat predicted warmth, whereas status predicted competence. Warmth predicted active behavioral tendencies and competence predicted passive behavioral tendencies. Additional paths from status to warmth, threat to competence, as well as from warmth to passive behavioral tendencies and competence to active behavioral tendencies were also significant. Thus, findings support receiving-society members' active role in the process of integrating immigrant groups into German society. Based on the results, social-psychological approaches to foster immigrant integration are discussed.

Mapping Ethnic Stereotypes and Their Antecedents in Russia: The Stereotype Content Model

The stereotype content model (SCM), originating in the United States and generalized across nearly 50 countries, has yet to address ethnic relations in one of the world's most influential nations. Russia and the United States are somewhat alike (large, powerful, immigrant-receiving), but differ in other ways relevant to intergroup images (culture, religions, ideology, and history). Russian ethnic stereotypes are understudied, but significant for theoretical breadth and practical politics. This research tested the SCM on ethnic stereotypes in a Russian sample (N = 1115). Study 1 (N = 438) produced an SCM map of the sixty most numerous domestic ethnic groups (both ethnic minorities and immigrants). Four clusters occupied the SCM warmth-by-competence space. Study 2 (N = 677) compared approaches to ethnic stereotypes in terms of status and competition, cultural distance, perceived region, and four intergroup threats. Using the same Study 1 groups, the Russian SCM map showed correlated warmth and competence, with few ambivalent stereotypes. As the SCM predicts, status predicted competence, and competition negatively predicted warmth. Beyond the SCM, status and property threat both were robust antecedents for both competence and warmth for all groups. Besides competition, cultural distance also negatively predicted warmth for all groups. The role of the other antecedents, as expected, varied from group to group. To examine relative impact, a network analysis demonstrated that status, competition, and property threat centrally influence many other variables in the networks. The SCM, along with antecedents from other models, describes Russian ethnic-group images. This research contributes: (1) a comparison of established approaches to ethnic stereotypes (from acculturation and intergroup relations) showing the stability of the main SCM predictions; (2) network structures of the multivariate dependencies of the considered variables; (3) systematically cataloged images of ethnic groups in Russia for further comparisons, illuminating the Russian historical, societal, and interethnic context.