How “undocumented workers” and “illegal aliens” affect prejudice toward Mexican immigrants

Abstract

Although the terms “illegal aliens” and “undocumented workers” are often used interchangeably to refer to the same immigrant population, they have very different connotations. The present study investigated why these two terms invoke different levels of prejudice. A group of undergraduate students (n = 269) were assigned to evaluate either “illegal aliens” or “undocumented workers.” Two models were tested based on integrated threat theory (ITT) and instrumental model of group conflict (IMGC). ITT situates threat-related variables (realistic threat, symbolic threat, negative stereotypes) as proximal determinants of prejudice, and IMGC situates perceived competition-related variables (zero-sum competition beliefs, social dominance orientation) as proximal determinants of prejudice. The ITT model better accounted for the fact that “illegal aliens” invoked greater prejudice than “undocumented workers,” indicating that the term “illegal aliens” is associated with increased perceptions of threat. The potential implications of these findings are considered and ideas for future research are proposed.