Intergroup Threat Research Articles

A Vicious Cycle? Threat of Terror, Perceived Media Bias, and Support for Surveillance Policies

Islamist terrorist attacks and existing terror threat can seriously affect intergroup relations and policy making. Drawing on hostile media effect theory and intergroup threat theory, we hypothesized that perceived threat of terror influences perceived news media bias in favor of Muslims as well as support for surveillance policies that are perceived to be restrictive for Muslims. In addition, we assumed that media bias positively predicts surveillance policy support. Results of a quota-based two-wave panel survey (N T2 = 524) revealed that perceived threat of terror increased perceived media bias in favor of Muslims over time, but did not have a direct effect over time on support for surveillance policies. However, perceived media bias was found to be a positive predictor of support for surveillance policies over time. In addition, support for policies was a positive predictor of perceived terror threat over time, suggesting a vicious cycle.

Did Artificial Intelligence Invade Humans? The Study on the Mechanism of Patients' Willingness to Accept Artificial Intelligence Medical Care: From the Perspective of Intergroup Threat Theory.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the core driving forces for the future development of the medical industry, but patients are skeptical about the use of AI in medical care. Based on the intergroup threat theory (ITT), this study verified that patients would regard AI as an external group, triggering the perceived threat of the external group, which results in avoidance behaviors in the treatment (experiment 1: n = 446) and diagnosis (experiment 2: n = 330) scenarios. The results show that despite AI can provide expert-level accuracy in medical care, patients are still more likely to rely on human doctors and experience more negative emotions as AI is more involved in medical care (experiment 1). Furthermore, patients pay more attention to threats at the individual level related to themselves, such as realistic threats related to privacy issues and symbolic threats related to the neglect of personal characteristics. In contrast, realistic threats and symbolic threats at the group level had less effect on patients in the medical scenario (experiment 2).

Diversifying neighborhoods and schools engender perceptions of foreign cultural threat among White Americans.

A nationally representative survey (N = 2,213) and five experiments (four preregistered, total N = 1,920) revealed that Whites perceived a foreign cultural threat, or a threat to their American culture and way of life, from the projected growth of racial and ethnic minority populations in their majority-White neighborhoods (Studies 1-5) and schools (Study 6). Whites perceived the increasing presence of Arab Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans to pose an especially strong degree of perceived foreign cultural threat relative to Black Americans, who were perceived as more threatening than no demographic change. Furthermore, perceptions of foreign cultural threat predicted Whites' desires to move out above and beyond other established intergroup threats (e.g., realistic and symbolic threats). These findings highlight how Whites' concerns about losing their American culture and way of life as racial and ethnic minority groups enter majority-White neighborhoods and schools may contribute to the maintenance of racial segregation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

‘You should have come back earlier’: the divisive effect of Australia’s COVID-19 response on diaspora relations

ABSTRACT Australia is largely considered an immigrant-receiving country, however, it is estimated that over one million Australians are living overseas at any given time. Despite this, diaspora relations have never been particularly robust, the consequences of which have become particularly visible during the Covid-19 pandemic. Australia used a strict closed-border approach in handling the pandemic and, although effective at reducing the spread of the virus, it will be argued that this isolationist approach was at the detriment of diaspora relations. This paper uses the findings from in-depth interviews with Australians living overseas to demonstrate that the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic created an intergroup divide between Australia and its expatriates. Social identity theory and the theory of intergroup threat will be used to support the findings that Australian expatriates became the ‘outgroup’, perceived as a realistic threat by the resident national ‘ingroup’. Public fear of the virus and Australia’s strict isolationist stance created a divide between those within the border, and those trying to get in. This paper provides the first-hand experiences and sentiments of Australian expatriates, while further research exploring the perspective of resident nationals is recommended to facilitate a more robust understanding of the topic.

Resistance towards increasing gender diversity in masculine domains: The role of intergroup threat

Efforts to increase diversity can often be met with resistance amongst high-status groups. Despite this, little is known about majority-group responses towards increasing gender diversity, and the psychological mechanisms underlying them. Across five studies, we extended intergroup threat theory to advance understanding of resistance towards gender diversity amongst men in masculine domains (Studies 1–3 and 5) and amongst women in feminine domains (Study 4). Experimental evidence from male STEM students (Study 1) and professionals (Studies 2 and 5) revealed that realistic threats underlie resistance. Experimentally reducing realistic threat ( N = 165) reduced negative reactions. Whereas realistic-threat-based resistance towards increasing gender diversity did not extend to women in female-dominated domains (Study 4, N = 105), there was a tendency for women high in ingroup identity to show a similar pattern to men. We discuss how we advance theory on diversity resistance, and discuss strategies which may effectively reduce resistance.

Dynamics of intergroup conflict and attitudes towards outgroup members: evidence from terrorist and secession conflicts

ABSTRACT Territorial conflicts are a significant feature of politics in Spain. The two most recent such processes are the cessation of violence by the terrorist group ETA and the pro-independence process in Catalonia. Both processes are likely to have affected the perception of intergroup threats, thus influencing the dynamics of intergroup conflict. This article embeds intergroup phenomena in a real context and applies theory to factual conflicts. Using data from two countrywide surveys run in 1994 and 2019, and by means of multivariate regression models, we analyze the role of socio-demographic, political, and cultural factors in the change of intergroup attitudes in Spain. Furthermore, we isolate non-political changes in society by matching between the populations of both surveys. We find that attitudes between the Basque national minority and the rest of Spain improved after the end of terrorism. Attitudes towards Catalonia do not show an association with the surge of the pro-independence movement, but attitudes from Catalans towards the rest of Spain worsened.

How are we going to treat Chinese people during the pandemic? Media cultivation of intergroup threat and blame.

This study integrates cultivation and intergroup threat theories to examine media cultivation effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that U.S. media have consistently portrayed China as a threat and target of blame. The cultivation of media has thus resulted in perceived threat of and blame on Chinese people for the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a cross-sectional survey in two samples (MTurk: N = 375; college: N = 566) showed that the amount of media consumption predicted stronger perceptions that Chinese people were a health threat, and also predicted blame on Chinese people for the COVID-19 outbreak. Threat perception and blame were further associated with support of media content that derogated China, stronger intentions to attack, and weaker intentions to help Chinese people. The findings have profound implications for intergroup threat and cultivation research, and practical importance for intergroup relations, especially when the global community finds itself in a public crisis.

Terrorism and Political Tolerance toward “Fellow Travelers”

How does terrorism influence citizens’ willingness to deny basic liberties to domestic groups alleged to be “fellow travelers” of the perpetrators of terrorism? Based on intergroup threat theory and social identity theory, we hypothesize that political intolerance toward fellow traveler groups is determined by three factors: (1) the level of terrorism, (2) the degree to which domestic outgroups are alleged to be demographically or politically associated with terrorist groups, and (3) whether individuals identify strongly with the political Right. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that higher levels of terrorism in Israel over a thirty-year period produce a “diffusion of political intolerance” among Israeli Jews on the Right that extends to domestic groups distant from the perpetrators of terrorism. Our findings have important implications for the study of terrorism, democracy, and political tolerance.

Toward whom does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Exploring national majorities’ prejudice toward ethnic and migrant minorities

ABSTRACT Although the effectiveness of intergroup contact as a mechanism for reducing prejudice is well-established, limited research has simultaneously examined this effect among groups that are in different contact relationships. Using data based on a between-group cross-sectional design from 335 Turkish undergraduate students, this study compared the direct and the indirect association of intergroup contact with prejudice toward Kurds and Syrians in Turkey through intergroup threat. The results showed that intergroup contact predicted less prejudice toward Kurds but not toward Syrians, and intergroup threat mediated the role of intergroup contact in prejudice toward Kurds but not toward Syrians. The findings were discussed based on theories of intergroup contact and intergroup threat, with a reflection on the limitations, extensions, and implications of the study.

Perceived threat and support for right‐wing ideology in Finland

AbstractSupport for right‐wing ideology is on the rise in Finland and has been for the past decade. Using the intergroup threat theory, this study investigates the extent to which support for right‐wing ideology in Finland is explained by the perception of threat from immigrants. According to the intergroup threat theory, immigrants can be perceived as a realistic threat and a symbolic threat. Another aim of this study is to understand how differently the types of threats explain support for right‐wing ideology in Finland. With a sample of 604 participants, results showed that while controlling for age, gender, education and religiosity, perceived threat was a significant predictor of support for right‐wing ideology. However, when considered individually without the effect of other factors, it was revealed that symbolic threat was a stronger predictor of support for right‐wing ideology in Finland when compared to realistic threat.

Воспринимаемая угроза и дискриминация как модераторы связи этнической идентичности и эффективности межкультурного взаимодействия иностранных студентов в России

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective. </strong>The determination of the conditions under which the preservation of ethnic identity will contribute to the effectiveness of intercultural interaction of international students with host Russian population. <strong>Background. </strong>With the growth in both the number of foreign cultural students in the Russian Federation and the intolerant attitude of the host community towards migrants the need to search for psychological resources of foreign cultural students in order to reduce the stressful impact of the new cultural environment and to establish effective interaction with representatives of the host culture increases. <strong>Study design. </strong>The research is based on the author's model for assessing and predicting the effectiveness of intercultural interaction, integratively combining Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory by W. Gudykunst, the theory of Intergroup threat by W. Stephan & C. Stephan and Uncertainty-Identity theory by M. Hogg. The contribution of ethnic identity to the effectiveness of intercultural interaction of international students in Russia was determined with the help of moderation analysis using PROCESS macro add in package for SPSS Statistics 21.0. <strong>Participants. </strong>International students studying at higher educational institutions in Moscow, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Ulan-Ude, 340 people (58,5% are women, the average age is 22,9 years). <strong>Measurements. </strong>Scales for determining ethnic identity, perceived threat and perceived discrimination, developed by J. Berry for the MIRIPS project adapted by N.M. Lebedeva and A.N. Tatarko and the scale of perceived effectiveness of communication across relationships and cultures by W. Gudykunst and T. Nishida, modified by O.E. Khukhlaev for international students' self-assessment of the effectiveness of interaction with Russian students. <strong>Results. </strong>The interaction effects of ethnic identity and self-assessment of intercultural communication effectiveness taking into account the moderating parameter (perceived threat and perceived discrimination) are revealed. <strong>Conclusions. </strong>Ethnic identity acts as a predictor of intercultural interaction effectiveness only in the conditions of perceiving the communication situation as either significantly threatening (high degree of perceived threat and medium degree of perceived discrimination), or as significantly discriminating (high degree of perceived discrimination and medium degree of perceived threat), or both significantly and threatening, and discriminating.</p>

Contact, Threat, and Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage and Its Beneficiaries

This study investigated relationships between contact experiences and perceived threat on attitudes toward same-sex marriage and its beneficiaries. Three-hundred and sixty-seven self-identified heterosexual college students completed a series of measures addressing contact experiences (both positive and negative), realistic, and symbolic threat from same-sex marriage, and 8 outcome measures including attitudes toward same-sex marriage, stereotypes, feelings, and emotional reactions. Broadly, findings support intergroup contact theory’s proposition that favorable contact experiences relate to less bias. However, propositions regarding negative contact relating to increased bias did not receive support. Results also support intergroup threat theory’s proposition that feelings of threat relate to prejudice and that threats demonstrate an indirect effect on the contact-prejudice relationship.

White People Problems? White Privilege Beliefs Predict Attitudes Toward Confederate Symbols

Building upon Intergroup Threat Theory and research on group-level empathy, we tested the relationship between White privilege beliefs and White Americans’ attitudes toward Confederate symbols. In three experiments, participants induced to think about White privilege exhibited more opposition to Confederate symbols, perceived less realistic threat to their group’s power/resources and symbolic threat to their group’s values/identity from the prospect of these symbols being removed, and (in Study 2) felt more empathetic toward racial/ethnic minorities who may view these symbols. Further, a meta-analytic path analysis across studies demonstrated that the effect of White privilege reminders on opposition to Confederate symbols was driven by reduced realistic and symbolic threat, as well as greater outgroup empathy.

Perceived Similarity as the Source of the Feeling of Intergroup Threat

In Cameroon, a country which has undergone a double French/British administration (1916-1961), the cohabitation between Francophones and Anglophones since 1961 is far from having erased the intergroup differences linked to their respective colonial pasts. On the contrary, over time, it has generated what has been called the Anglophone problem. In this context, is the strong tendency towards the schooling of students from francophone families in schools of the anglophone sub-system of education likely to attenuate intergroups cleavages? From the theoretical perspective of social identity, this research suggests that the perceived similarity between Anglophones and anglophonized francophones generates a threat to the specific Anglophones' linguistic identity. To test this hypothesis, the optimal distinctiveness and intergroup threat scales were administered to 462 Anglophones participants of both sexes. The correlation and linear regression analyzes provide empirical support for the hypothesis of the study. An adjusted R2 index validates the existence of a causal relationship between perceived similarity and intergroup threat.

The Effect of Immigrant Integration Policies on Public Immigration Attitudes: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in the United Kingdom

Drawing on intergroup threat theory, this article argues that immigrant integration policies can improve public attitudes toward immigrants and, particularly, toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Examining evidence from an original survey experiment conducted in the United Kingdom, I find that support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are made aware that prospective asylum-seekers will be required to partake in language and civic-education courses. This effect is particularly strong among respondents who were more likely to perceive asylum-seekers as a symbolic threat (i.e., conservatives). Similarly, support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are told that future asylum-seekers will only have limited access to welfare. This effect is stronger among respondents who were more likely to view asylum-seekers as a material threat (i.e., conservatives and individuals with low socioeconomic status). These findings have important implications for the literatures on immigrant integration policies, intergroup threat theory, and public immigration attitudes generally. Importantly, the results reported in this article illustrate the significance of structural determinants for the study of immigration attitudes and demonstrate the importance of disaggregating immigrant integration policies when evaluating their effects.

Extended and cumulative effects of experimentally induced intergroup conflict in a cooperatively breeding mammal

Conflict between rival groups is rife in nature. While recent work has begun exploring the behavioural consequences of this intergroup conflict, studies have primarily considered just the 1–2 h immediately after single interactions with rivals or their cues. Using a habituated population of wild dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula), we conducted week-long manipulations to investigate longer-term impacts of intergroup conflict. Compared to a single presentation of control herbivore faeces, one rival-group faecal presentation (simulating a territorial intrusion) resulted in more within-group grooming the following day, beyond the likely period of conflict-induced stress. Repeated presentations of outsider cues led to further changes in baseline behaviour by the end of the week: compared to control weeks, mongooses spent less time foraging and foraged closer to their groupmates, even when there had been no recent simulated intrusion. Moreover, there was more baseline territorial scent-marking and a higher likelihood of group fissioning in intrusion weeks. Consequently, individuals gained less body mass at the end of weeks with repeated simulated intrusions. Our experimental findings provide evidence for longer-term, extended and cumulative, effects of an elevated intergroup threat, which may lead to fitness consequences and underpin this powerful selective pressure.

Intergroup threat and affective polarization in a multi-party system

What explains affective polarization among voters and societal groups? Much of the existing literature focusing on mass political polarization in modern democracies originates in the US, where studies have shown that, while ideological separation has grown, political conflict increasingly reflects social identity divisions rather than policy disagreements, resulting in affective polarization. We focus on explaining such polarization in a multi-party context. Drawing on social identity theory and intergroup threat theory, we hypothesize that individuals who perceive an intergroup threat show stronger intergroup differentiation and increased affective polarization. We analyze the influence of perceived threat on affective polarization drawing on two large-scale representative surveys in Sweden (N = 1429 and 1343). We show that individual-level affective polarization is related to perceived intergroup threats among the voters in both studies, measuring affective polarization using social distance, negative trait attribution, and party like-dislike ratings.

Investigating the identification-prejudice link through the lens of national narcissism: The role of defensive group beliefs

The identification-prejudice link describes the defensive stance toward immigrants held by strong national identifiers. Recent research refined this relationship by suggesting that defensive national identification (operationalized through national narcissism), but not secure national identification, was associated with prejudice. While previous research found intergroup threat and conspiracy beliefs to mediate the identification-prejudice link, the need to comprehensively and experimentally test the role of these defensive group beliefs remains in the context of the narcissistic identification-prejudice link. Furthermore, following the group-based control model, we proposed that these defensive group beliefs might be more pronounced among national narcissists compensating for a low personal control. In Study 1 (N = 1104, nationally representative sample), national narcissism, but not secure national identification, was related to prejudice against immigrants, and a serial model composed of perceived intergroup threat and conspiracy beliefs mediated this relationship. These relationships held when controlling for conspiracy mentality, supporting the notion that these conspiracy beliefs were motivated at the intergroup level. In Study 2 (N = 474, pre-registered), we experimentally induced intergroup threat and exposure to conspiracy theories about immigrants. Induced threat increased conspiracy beliefs, and both increased prejudice, corroborating their causal relationship. In Study 3 (N = 350, pre-registered), we induced low personal control and made national narcissism salient to test the group-based control hypothesis. The relationship between measured (but not manipulated) national narcissism and conspiracy beliefs was more pronounced under low personal control. We discuss the role of defensive group beliefs on group-based control and prejudice against immigrants.

Anger among Chinese migrants amid COVID-19 discrimination: The role of host news coverage, cultural distance, and national identity.

As the early COVID-19 outbreak sparked xenophobia against people of Asian and Chinese background, we collected data from Chinese migrants worldwide to test how discrimination at a macro-level was perceived by the Chinese during COVID-19 globally. Specifically, we examined (1) whether/how the Chinese migrants were aware of discrimination against their co-nationals during COVID; (2) if so, whether anger was a predominant reaction of these Chinese towards certain exposure to relevant information; (3) how responses of anger transcend across the group of Chinese migrants. Integrating the ecological approach to media and cultural psychology, as well as the intergroup perspective of social psychology, we conducted a study that explored the impact of traditional media exposure to discrimination on collective anger—a process mediated by national identity among the Chinese migrants. Findings provide some evidence that geographically dispersed mono-cultural groups may share or identify with collective emotions when facing xenophobic threats in a macro context. Further examination of cultural distance (between China and the host country) among the Chinese migrants also revealed a particular interaction between host newspaper coverage and cultural distance on national identity. These findings suggest further research to examine the emotional norms of similar cultures bonded via strong collective identities in times of intergroup threat and the theoretical possibility for diasporic identity processes.

The Impact of Political Identity and Outgroup Partisan Media Contact on Intergroup Bias and Unwillingness to Compromise with the Opposing Party: An Intergroup Threat Approach

ABSTRACT Drawing on the assumptions of intergroup threat theory, this study explored the influence of political identity and outgroup partisan media use on intergroup attitudes (intergroup bias and unwillingness to compromise with the opposing party) during the 2018 U.S. mid-term election and how perceptions of threats posed by the opposing party mediated these relationships. We found that political identity was positively associated with intergroup bias and unwillingness to support compromise, whereas outgroup media exposure was negatively associated with such attitudes. Perceptions of realistic threats posed by the opposing party partially mediated the relationships between party identity and intergroup bias, but not between party identity and unwillingness to support compromise. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.