Abstract
The number of non-English speaking and bilingual immigrants continues to grow in the U.S. Previous research suggests that about one third of White Americans feel threatened upon hearing a language other than English. The current research examines how exposure to a foreign language affects White Americans’ perceptions of immigrants and group-based threats. In Study 1, White Americans were randomly assigned to read one of four fictional transcripts of a conversation of an immigrant family at a restaurant, where the type of language being spoken was manipulated to be either Korean, Spanish, German, or English. In Study 2, White Americans read the same fictional transcript—minus the Spanish; however, there was an addition of two subtitles conditions in which the subtitles were provided next to the Korean and German texts. The two studies suggest that exposure to a foreign language—regardless of whether they are consistent with Anglocentric constructions of American identity—lead White Americans to form less positive impressions of the immigrant targets and their conversation, experience an uptick in group-based threats, and display greater anti-immigrant attitudes. Moreover, there is evidence that the (in)ability to understand the conversation (i.e., epistemic threat) influences participants’ perceptions of immigrants and group-based threats.
Highlights
Well, I think that when you get right down to it, we’re a nation that speaks English
In line with previous research, we argue that exposure to a foreign language leads White Americans to form less positive perceptions of the targets and their conversation, experience group-based threats, and heightens their anti-immigrant attitudes
The present research fills a gap in the literature by demonstrating that different kinds of foreign language—whether they are consistent with Anglocentric constructions of American identity or not—are not perceived differently by White participants in the U.S and that it is not the cultural foreignness of a particular language that is threatening, per se
Summary
I think that when you get right down to it, we’re a nation that speaks English. The U.S Census Bureau (2015) projections suggest that by the mid-21st century, the U.S will be heavily populated by racial minorities, in which non-Hispanic Whites will constitute less than 50% of the entire U.S population. The Asian American and Hispanic populations are expected to increase from 15.5 million to 40.6 million and from 46.7 million to 132.8 million, respectively (CNN 2008) Both the Asian American and Hispanic populations are projected to nearly triple from 2012 to 2060 (U.S Census Bureau 2012). Exposure to this U.S demographic shift makes White people more politically conservative, support tougher immigration policy, endorse diversity less, and express more anger and fear toward minorities (Craig and Richeson 2014; Danbold and Huo 2015; Outten et al 2012, 2018). The ongoing demographic shift in which Whites are becoming another minority is perceived by White Americans as a threat to their group’s social status (Craig and Richeson 2014; Outten et al 2012, 2018) and their prototypicality as Americans (Danbold and Huo 2015) which accounts for the effects
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