Ethnophaulisms for Ethnic Immigrant Groups: Cognitive Representation of `the Minority' and `the Foreigner'

Abstract

An archival analysis was conducted on the ethnophaulisms for ethnic immigrant groups as a function of the size and the `foreignness' of those groups. Cognitive representation was operationalized as the degree of complexity in, and the valence of, the ethnophaulisms applied to ethnic immigrant groups in the United States during each of 15 consecutive 10-year time periods. Group size was operationalized as the number of first-generation persons in these ethnic groups during each of these same 15 10-year time periods. Foreignness was operationalized in terms of complexion, facial appearance, and language of these ethnic immigrant groups. Ethnophaulisms for smaller groups tended to be less complex and more negative. And, ethnophaulisms for more foreign groups tended to be less complex and more negative. Analyses delineate the interrelations between ethnic immigrant group size, ethnic immigrant group foreignness, and the cognitive representations of these groups. The implications of these results for research on intergroup perceptions are discussed.