Hierarchy and authority: ideological motivations of opponents of the affirmation of the rights of Latin American immigrants in Chile / Jerarquía y autoridad: motivaciones ideológicas de la oposición hacia la afirmación de derechos de inmigrantes latinoamericanos en Chile

Abstract

Prejudice and anti-immigrant attitudes are strongly motivated by more general ideological attitudes. Considering the current situation of migration in Chile, we conducted two studies on the ideologies underlying rejection of the affirmation of the rights of the Latin American migrant population in Chile. The first study (n = 1,103) examined the associations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) on the one hand and opposition to the affirmation of rights on the other. Subsequently, Study 2 (n = 1,046) analysed the moderating role of perceptions of criminal threat in the relationship between RWA and opposition to the affirmation of rights. The results show that there is a distinct effect of both variables on the dependent variable, and that the relationship between RWA and the affirmation of immigrants’ rights in Chile is conditioned upon the perception of criminal threat.