An integrated threat theory composed of four variables was used to predict attitudes toward immigrant groups in Spain and Israel. The four threats are symbolic threats based on value differences between groups; realistic threats to the power, resources, and well-being of the in-group; anxiety concerning social interaction with out-group members; and feelings of threat arising from negative stereotypes of the out-group. All four threats were significant predictors of attitudes toward one or more of the immigrant groups. It was predicted, and found, that intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes were more powerful and consistent predictors of prejudicial attitudes toward immigrants than were realistic threats or symbolic threats. The implications of the theory for the causes and reduction of prejudice were discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ashmore, R. D. , & Del Boca, F. K. (1976). Psychological approaches to understanding inter-group conflict. In P A. Katz (Ed.), Towards the elimination of racis. (pp. 73-124). New York: Pergamon.
2.
Benita, E. , & Noam, G. (1995). The absorption of Ethiopian immigrants: Selected findings from local surveys. Israel Social Science Research, 10, 81-96.
3.
Bobo, L. (1983). Whites' opposition to busing: Symbolic racism or realistic group conflict?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1196-1210.
4.
Bobo, L. (1988). Group conflict, prejudice, and the paradox of contemporary racial attitudes. In P. A. Katz & D. A. Taylor (Eds.), Eliminating racism: Profiles in controvers. (pp. 85-116). New York: Plenum.
5.
Bovasso, G. (1993). Self, group, and public interests motivating racial politics. Political Psychology, 14, 3-20.
6.
Branscombe, N. R. , & Wann, D. L. (1994). Collective self-esteem consequences of out-group derogation when a valued social identity is on trial. European Journal of Social Psychology, 24,641-657.
7.
Britt, T. W. , Bonecki, K. A., Vescio, T. K., Biernat, M. R., & Brown, L. M. (1996). Intergroup anxiety as a form of social anxiety. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1177-1188.
8.
Coser, L. (1956). The functions of social conflict. New York: Free Press.
9.
Cushner, K. , & Landis, D. (1996). The intercultural sensitizer. In D. Landis & R. S. Bhagat (Eds.), Handbook of intercultural trainin. (2nd ed., pp. 185-202). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Eagly, A. H. , & Miadinic, A. (1989). Gender stereotypes and attitudes toward men and women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 543-558.
11.
Esses, V. M. , Haddock, G., & Zanna, M. P. (1993). Values, stereotypes, and emotions as determinants of intergroup attitudes. In D. M. Mackie & D. L. Hamilton (Eds.), Affect, cognition and stereotypin. (pp. 137-166). San Diego: Academic Press.
12.
Esses, V. M. , Jackson, L. M., & Nolan, J. M. (1997, October 25-27). Perceived economic threat influences attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Paper presented at the National Symposium on Immigration and Integration: New challenges. Winnipeg, Canada.
13.
Goldscheider, C. (1990). In W. J. Serow, C. B. Nam, D. E Sly, & R. H. Weller (Eds.), Handbook on international migratio. (pp. 131-142). New York: Greenwood.
14.
Gudykunst, W. B. (1988). Uncertainty and anxiety. In Y. Y. Kim & W. B. Gudykunst (Eds.), Theories in intercultural communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
15.
Hamilton, D. L. , Sherman, S. J., & Ruvolo, C. M. (1990). Stereotype-based expectancies: Effects on information processing and social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 35-60.
16.
Holt, D. (1995). The culture cluster: A comparative perspective on Ethiopian Jewish problems in Israel. Israel Social Science Research, 10, 97-116.
17.
Islam, R. M. , & Hewstone, M. (1993). Dimensions of contact as predictors of intergroup anxiety, perceived out-group variability, and out-group attitude: An integrative model. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 700-710.
18.
Katz, I. , Wackenhut, J., & Glass, D. G. (1986). An ambivalence-amplification theory of behavior toward the stigmatized. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relation. (pp. 103-117). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
19.
Leshem, E. (1994). Immigration and absorption of former Soviet party Jewry: Introduction. In E. Leshem & D. Sor (Eds.), Immigration and absorption of former Soviet Jewr. (pp. v-xiv). Jerusalem: Henrietta Szold Institute.
20.
LeVine, R. A. , & Campbell, D. T. (1972). Ethnocentrism. New York: John Wiley.
21.
Maio, G. R. , Esses, V. M., & Bell, D. W. (1994). The formation of attitudes toward new immigrant groups. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 1762-1776.
22.
Martínez, C. (1995). Stereotype and content: Semantic components of Gypsy's representations. Paper presented at the XXV Inter-American Congress of Psychology, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
23.
Martínez, C. , & Vera, J. (1994). La estructura del prejuicio: Realidad y simbolismo [The structure of prejudice: Reality and symbolism]. Boletin de Psicologia, 42, 21-38.
24.
McConahay, J. B. , & Hough, J. C., Jr. (1976). Symbolic racism. Journal of Social Issues, 32, 23-45.
25.
Morganthau, T. (1993, August 9). America: Still a melting pot?Newsweek, pp. 16-23.
26.
Noam, G. (1994). Immigrant absorption in Israel. Jerusalem: JDC-Brookdale Institute of Gerontology and Human Development.
27.
Pumares-Femandez, P. (1993). Problematica de la inmigracion Marroqui en España [The problematic of the Moroccan immigration in Spain]. Politica y Sociedad, 12, 139-147.
28.
Quillian, L. (1995). Prejudice as a response to perceived group threat: Population composition and anti-immigrant and racial prejudice in Europe. American Sociological Review, 60, 586-611.
29.
Randolph, G. , Landis, D., & Tzeng, O. C. S. (1977). The effects of time and practice upon culture assimilator training. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1, 105-119.
30.
Roccas, S. , & Schwartz, S. (1993). Effects of intergroup similarity on intergroup relations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 581-595.
31.
Rystad, G. (1992). Immigration history and the future of international migration. International Migration Review, 26, 1168-1199.
32.
Schindler, R. (1993). Education and the Black Jews of Ethiopia: Dealing with bereavement and loss. International Social Work, 36, 7-19.
33.
Sears, D. O. (1988). Symbolic racism. In P. A. Katz & D. A. Taylor (Eds.), Eliminating racism: Profiles in controvers. (pp. 53-85). New York: Plenum.
34.
Sherif, M. (1966). Group conflict and cooperation. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
35.
Sidanius, J. (1994). Consensual social dominance orientation and its covariates across major American ethnic groups: A social dominance perspective. Jerusalem: International Congress on Prejudice, Discrimination and Conflict.
36.
Sidanius, J. , Devereux, E., & Pratto, F. (1992). A comparison of symbolic racism theory and social dominance theory as explanations for racial policy attitudes. Journal of Social Psychology, 132, 377-395.
37.
Spencer, W. (1980). Historical dictionary of Morocco. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
38.
Stangor, C. , Sullivan, L. A., & Ford, T. E. (1991). Affective and cognitive determinants of prejudice. Social Cognition, 9, 359-380.
39.
Stephan, W. G. , Ageyev, V. S., Coates-Shrider, L., Stephan, C. W., & Abalakina, M. (1994). On the relationship between stereotypes and prejudice: An international study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 277-284.
40.
Stephan, W. G. , Ageyev, V. S., Stephan, C. W., Abalakina, M., Stefanenko, T., & Coates-Shrider, L. (1994). Soviet and American stereotypes: A comparison of methods. Social Psychology Quarterly, 56, 54-64.
41.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1984). The role of ignorance in intergroup relations. In N. Miller & M. Brewer (Eds.), Groups in contact: The psychology of desegregation. (pp. 229-257). New York: Academic Press.
42.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1985). Intergroup anxiety. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 157-176.
43.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1989). Antecedents of intergroup anxiety in Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. International Journal of Intercultural Communication, 13, 203-219.
44.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1992). Reducing intercultural anxiety through intercultural contact. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 16, 96-106.
45.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1993). Cognition and affect in stereotyping: Parallel interactive networks. In D. M. Mackie & D. L. Hamilton (Eds.), Affect, cognition and stereotyping: Interactive processes in group perception. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
46.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. (1996). Predicting prejudice. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20, 1-12.
47.
Stephan, W. G., Ybarra, O., & Bachman, G. (1997). Prejudice toward immigrants: An integrated threat theory. Unpublished manuscript, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
48.
Sumner, W. G. (1906). Folkways. Boston: Ginn.
49.
Tabachnick, B. G. , & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate Statistics. (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
50.
Tilly, C. (1978). Migration in modern European history. In W. H. McNeill & R. S. Adams (Eds.), Human migration: Patterns and policies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
51.
Triandis, H. C. (1972). The analysis of subjective culture. New York: John Wiley.
52.
Turner, J. C. , Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. New York: Basil Blackwell.
53.
United Nations Population Fund . (1993). The state of the world population 1993. New York: Author.
54.
Wagaw, T. G. (1993). For our soul: Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
55.
Weigel, R. H. , & Howes, P. W. (1985). Conceptions of racial prejudice. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 117-138.
56.
Weil, S. (1995). Ethiopian Jews in the limelight: Introduction. Israel Social Science Research, 10, iii-viii.
57.
Ybarra, O. J. , & Stephan, W. G. (1994). Perceived threat as a predictor of stereotypes and prejudice: Americans' reactions to Mexican immigrants. Boletín de Psicología, 42, 39-54.
58.
Zemach, M. , Leshem, E., & Veisel, R. (1993). Adaptation of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Report to Dahaf Research Institution, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
