Fusiform Activity Distinguishes Between Subjects With Low and High Xenophobic Attitudes Toward Refugees.

Ladislav Kesner,Filip Španiel,David Greguš,Pavel Kozelka,Iveta Fajnerová,Jiří Horáček,Jaroslav Hlinka,Aneta Alexová,Dominika Grygarová,Martin Buchtík,Petr Adámek,Jaroslav Tintěra,Tereza Nekovářová

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00098

Abstract

This study analyzes how people's attitudes to the European refugee crisis (ERC) correspond to selected psychological state and trait measures and impact the neural processing of media images of refugees. From a large pool of respondents, who filled in an online xenophobia questionnaire, we selected two groups (total N = 38) with the same socio-demographic background, but with opposite attitudes toward refugees. We found that a negative attitude toward refugees (high xenophobia - HX) was associated with a significantly higher conscientiousness score and with a higher trait aggression and hostility, but there was no group effect connected with empathy, fear, and anxiety measures. At the neural level we found that brain activity during the presentation of ERC stimuli is affected by xenophobic attitudes—with more xenophobic subjects exhibiting a higher BOLD response in the left fusiform gyrus. However, while the fMRI results demonstrate increased attention and vigilance toward ERC-related stimuli in the HX group, they do not show differentiated patterns of brain activity associated with perception of dehumanized outgroup.

Highlights

Migration is a critical global challenge with vast social, political, and economic implications
The European refugee crisis (ERC) provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of media representations on attitude formation, as it differs in some significant ways from the type of in-group/out-group scenarios typically examined in previous research and this is true in the specific context of our study
We found that a negative attitude toward immigrants was associated with higher trait aggression and hostility and a significantly higher conscientiousness score, while no group effect was found for empathy or anxiety measures

Summary

Introduction

Migration is a critical global challenge with vast social, political, and economic implications. This was dramatically highlighted by the recent massive influx into Europe of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and other near-eastern countries, which in 2015 escalated into what the media dubbed the “European refugee crisis” (hereinafter ERC). While negative and hostile attitudes toward immigrants are common (Stephan et al, 1999) and widespread anti-immigrant attitudes in Europe predate the ERC (McLaren, 2003; Meuleman et al, 2009; Fasel et al, 2013), this recent wave of migration has been accompanied by a dramatic surge in negative feelings toward refugees across many European countries. Among the most critical aspects of migration is the impact of media representations on the formation and maintenance of attitudes and their role in activating and spreading. The ERC provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of media representations on attitude formation, as it differs in some significant ways from the type of in-group/out-group scenarios typically examined in previous research and this is true in the specific context of our study

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