Mixed Messages and Signals: The Mobilization and De-Mobilization of Latino Identities in Reaction to Explicit and Implicit Cues in Immigrant Political Rhetoric

Abstract

There is considerable debate as to whether ethnic group identity influences Latino political behavior. While research illustrates that ethnic cues in campaigns prime ethnic identity, there are still a number of unanswered questions as to which cues mobilize or de-mobilize identities in participation. I argue that elite discourse about immigration and/or immigrants in political media influences the type of cleavages formed among diverse groups of Latinos. Differences in group attachments, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and generational status across Latino national origin groups may create divisions or coalitions in how Latinos come to understand their collective interests within immigration and/or immigrant related debates. Using a laboratory experiment, I manipulate exposure to cues and tests how these cues prime national origin, panethnic, or American group identity among Latinos. I hypothesize that political context matters in fostering or minimizing collective mobilization among Latinos of different nationalities across generations.