Levels Of Prejudice Research Articles

Exploring the self, others, and the world: the interplay between experiences abroad in adolescence, identity processes, and ethnic prejudice

Study abroad experiences can be an important asset for individuals’ personal development and well-being. However, their impact on social identity domains and prejudice is still unexplored. The current research examined whether the ways in which youth retrospectively narrate their abroad experiences in adolescence were intertwined with their national and European identity processes and ethnic prejudice. A total of 117 Italian youth (M age = 22.71, SD = 2.50; 53.8% females) who participated in a mobility program in adolescence completed an online questionnaire and a retrospective narrative interview. Agency and self-event connections in the narratives were directly linked to identity processes in national and European domains. European identity processes were associated with different levels of affective and cognitive prejudice. Across both identity domains, the number of self-event connections in the narratives was indirectly linked to lower affective prejudice via increased in-depth exploration. These findings highlight the importance of abroad experiences for consolidating self- and other-oriented views.

Attitudes and prejudice towards immigration in rural and urban contexts in Spain

Introduction: For years now, Spain has been a country that receives immigration wherein different cultures coexist. The aim of this research is to examine the levels of attitudes, subtle and blatant prejudice, as well as their dimensions, from native people to immigrant people in urban and rural areas. Methodology: The scale adapted to the native population by Rueda and Navas is from Meertens and Pettigrew’s scales of subtle and blatant prejudice and the scale of attitudes towards immigration by León, Mira & Gómez. Results: The results obtained from the prejudice scale (α=.804) and attitudes scale (α=.672) demonstrate an appropriate level of internal consistency. Results reveal that people living in rural areas did not exhibit higher levels of prejudice (subtle and blatant) than people living in urban areas. Discussion: Furthermore, people living in rural areas did not exhibit higher levels of attitudes (equality principles and policies attitude) than people living in urban areas. Conclusions: Finally, people living in rural areas did not exhibit higher levels of attitudes (negative social distancing attitude) than people living in urban areas. The results obtained are discussed, referring to the previous literature.

Prejudice against gender and sexual diversity among soldiers of the Brazilian army

ABSTRACT Prejudice against Gender and Sexual Diversity (GenSex prejudice) is a significant issue of scientific study. Negative attitudes towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and gender nonconforming people are prevalent in many countries. Gender, age, education, income, religion, and military enrolment are associated with higher prejudice levels. The present study measured GenSex prejudice in an all-male military sample of Brazilian soldiers. Participants were 354 recruits of the Brazilian Army between the ages of 18 and 20. Measures included a 5-point Likert scale to assess GenSex prejudice. Data was analyzed using descriptives and ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni comparisons. Being religious, having lower income, and being less educated were significantly associated with higher levels of prejudice. Soldiers with elementary education were more prejudiced than those with higher levels of education. Soldiers with a monthly family income of less than USD 530,36 had more GenSex prejudice than those with higher earnings. Also, religious soldiers had more prejudice than the nonreligious ones. Protestant soldiers had significantly more GenSex prejudice than all other religious groups measured. No significant differences were found between ethnic or racial groups. Results are discussed with the literature on human rights, educational practices, racial discrimination, religiosity and prejudice.

Does educational attainment matter for attitudes toward immigrants in Chile? Assessing the causality and generalizability of higher education's so-called "liberalizing effect" on economic and cultural threat.

Despite a large literature consistently showing a relationship between higher levels of education and lower levels of ethnic prejudice, some points of contention remain. First, it remains unclear whether education has a causal effect on attitudes, mainly due to a lack of longitudinal studies. Second, due to the majority of studies on prejudice being conducted in Europe and North America, we do not know to what extent the inverse relationship between education and prejudice is generalizable beyond the "global North." To answer these questions, I study attitudes toward immigrants in Chile in the years 2016-2022, using six waves of the Chilean Longitudinal Social Survey. Chile provides new variations in economic and cultural factors, with its stable albeit highly unequal economy, and increased immigration from culturally similar countries which shed light on possible scope conditions of the so-called liberalizing effect of education. I analyze whether attaining more education has an effect on reducing levels of perceived economic and cultural threat. The findings show that increases in education are associated with both lower levels of perceived economic and cultural threat, with education having a stronger effect on the latter.

Us, them and we: How national and human identifications influence adolescents' ethnic prejudice.

Although there have been numerous studies on the relations between group identification and ethnic prejudice, it is less clear whether their associations reflect stable individual tendencies or rather situational or temporal fluctuations. This longitudinal multilevel study aimed to fill this gap by examining the between- and within-person associations of identification with the national and superordinate human groups and levels of prejudice against multiple ethnic minorities. A total of 883 Italian majority adolescents (Mage = 15.66, SD = 1.15 at T1, 49.7% females) completed questionnaires at four time points over the course of 1 year. Results showed that national identification was related to more prejudice at the between-person level but to decreases in prejudice at the within-person level. Additionally, human identification contributed to lower levels of and steeper decreases in prejudice at both the between- and within-person levels. Common and unique associations also emerged across different ethnic minority targets, but only for between-person effects. Overall, this study highlights the importance of distinguishing stable individual levels and momentary fluctuations of both ingroup identifications and ethnic prejudice in order to orient future interventions aimed at improving the quality of intergroup relationships.

Ethnic closure and immigrant residential segregation in Spanish working-class neighbourhoods

Given the difficulties of integration of the immigrant population and the demographic importance that this population is set to have in European society, this research uses an initial territorial approach and a subsequent qualitative analysis to study the internal residential dynamics of immigrants in five Spanish working-class neighbourhoods with a significant presence of foreign-born people. The analysis focuses on the role that ethnic prejudice and other factors, such as social class, play in the processes of initiation and maintenance of residential segregation of the immigrant population. Our results show a residential division characterised by advantages for the native population and, especially, by the acceptance of inequality by the immigrant population, which may be contributing to the fact that levels of ethnic prejudice from the native population are, so far, not very high in these neighbourhoods.

Direct and Indirect Prejudice in Scotland

This paper estimates levels of prejudice in Scotland with data from the 2021 Scottish Election Survey. It examines both direct and indirect indicators of prejudice to discover that somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of respondents indicate prejudicial feelings towards immigrants. Comparisons with results from other surveys in the UK and abroad suggest lower rates of prejudice in Scotland, and declining rates of prejudice over time. Empirical comparisons reveal direct and indirect prejudice to be closely related in Scotland, and regression analysis discovers common determinants of directly and indirectly prejudicial feelings. Political positions, such as ideological conservativism, identifying as a Remainer in the Brexit debate, and support for Scottish independence are important determinants across indicators of prejudice, and the strength of these political indicators demonstrates how Scottish political culture has been linked to minority politics in such a way as to re-draw social boundaries around expressions of prejudice.

Dimensions of social justice: beliefs about integration in education and different types of prejudice in Argentine

Perceptions of social justice are recognized as a key element in the formation of attitudes and behaviors towards certain social groups. The social justice dimensions (recognition, redistribution, and representation) interact differentially with demographic and psychosocial characteristics; however, few studies have delved into the differences in their association. This study had three aims: 1) to analyze the social justice dimensions according to age, gender, region, and educational level; 2) to study the correlation of social justice dimensions with beliefs about the educational inclusion of migrants, agreement with attitudes towards paying taxes and gender; and 3) to explore whether the social justice dimensions contribute to the levels of prejudice towards different social groups (people in poverty, immigrants, and homosexuals). A total of 1,810 subjects from Argentina, aged 18 to 80 years (Mage = 45.76 years; 53.7% women) participated in the study. Differences in the social justice dimensions were observed according to gender, age, and educational level, but not according to region. Social justice dimensions correlated with beliefs about educational inclusion of migrants, gender, equality in education, and attitudes toward paying taxes. Social justice dimensions contributed to higher/lower levels of prejudice toward different social groups. The scope and limits of the relationships between the three-dimensional model of social justice with demographic and psychosocial variables explored in this study are discussed.

Born on the wrong side of the tracks: Exploring the causal effects of segregation on infant health

Prior research has found that a high level of residential racial segregation, or the degree to which racial/ethnic groups are isolated from one another, is associated with worsened infant health outcomes, particularly among non-Hispanic (NH) Black infant populations. However, because exposure to segregation is non-random, it is unclear whether and to what extent segregation is causally linked to infant health. To overcome this empirical limitation, we leverage exogenous variation in the placement of railroad tracks in the 19th century to predict contemporary segregation, an approach first introduced by Ananat (2011). In alignment with prior literature, we find that residential segregation has statistically significant associations with negative birth outcomes among Black infant populations in the area. Using OLS methods underestimates the negative impacts of segregation on infant health. We fail to detect comparable effects on health outcomes among NH White infant populations. Further, we identify several key mechanisms by which residential segregation could influence health outcomes among Black infant populations, including lower access to prenatal care during the first trimester, higher levels of anti-Black prejudice, greater transportation barriers, and increased food insecurity. Given that poor birth outcomes have adverse effects on adults’ health and well-being, the findings suggest that in-utero exposure to residential segregation could have important implications for Black–White inequality over the life course.

Understanding ethnic prejudice in Canada: insights into status anxiety and middle-class nation-building through immigration

ABSTRACT This paper uses the concept of ethnic prejudice to examine the extent to which fears and anxieties related to immigration and ethnic diversity constitute obstacles to middle-class nation-building in Canada. Our underlying assumption is that if immigration is so contentious and the status anxiety it induces so great, then it should manifest into substantial levels of ethnic prejudice. Moreover, if status anxiety induced by immigration is indeed a widespread concern in Canada, we expect it to translate to significant differences in ethnic prejudice between class and immigration status. To measure ethnic prejudice, we developed an index using common factor analysis with the Provincial Diversity Project. This dataset allows us to create a robust index of ethnic prejudice based on the individual attitudes regarding eight different ethnic groups. While our findings indicate that ethnic prejudice in Canada remains relatively low for the time being, it is evident that a certain level of ethnic prejudice persists and intersects with other forms of status anxieties and competition.

Persistent and self-perpetuating political differences between neighbouring communities

The branch of social science known as “legacy studies” has identified the stubborn persistence of political differences, such as levels of prejudice and trust, even between communities that are geographically proximate and otherwise largely similar. The theoretical focus of this literature has largely been on establishing the origin of political divergence. I add instead to theories explaining why such differences manage to persist across time, focusing explicitly on how neighbouring communities with political differences can, under certain circumstances, neither influence nor be influenced by each other. Using a series of simple evolutionary games, I demonstrate that differences can persist so long as intra-community interactions are sufficiently more likely than cross-community interactions. These conditions remain substantively easy to meet across a variety of basic game designs, providing further theoretical basis for the empirical findings of legacy studies.

Understanding Whether Representative Bureaucracy and Racial Resentment Impact Public Perceptions of the Distributive Justice of Government Programs

Within the representative bureaucracy literature, scholars argue that public perceptions of government will improve when their government looks like them. In particular, this study focuses on how the public perceives the fairness of policy outcomes, measured as distributive justice. We test this through a survey experiment that examines how perceptions of distributive justice are affected by the racial diversity of government employees. Respondents are presented with a vignette about grants allocated to small businesses, and then provided information about the racial diversity of agency employees. We further examine whether levels of racial resentment impact the relationship between diversity in government and the perceived distributive justice of policy outcomes. Racial resentment, frequently used in political science as a proxy for levels of prejudice, is included because reactions to information about race and government policy are likely to shape perceptions about the legitimacy of government action and views on representative bureaucracy. The experiment results indicate racial representation in government matters for Whites, and these effects vary by expressed levels of racial resentment. In contrast, distributive justice perceptions of non-White respondents are not changed by information on racial diversity within government agencies and do not vary by levels of racial resentment.

Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Competences in Adolescents in Barcelona and Melilla (Spain)

Contemporary societies are increasingly multireligious, multiethnic, and multicultural, but to what extent are they ready for coexistence? This paper evaluates the competencies for intercultural and interreligious dialogue in two very different contexts: Barcelona and Melilla, two cities with great ethnic and cultural diversity, in which it is easy to have contact with people of different cultures and religions. To this end, we worked with a total of 1353 adolescents and young people, and four scales were used to evaluate intercultural and interreligious sensitivity, conflict management skills, and prejudices towards unaccompanied migrant minors. The findings suggest that in neither of these two contexts do adolescents and young people form relationships with these minors, despite accepting religious diversity and being educated at school in topics relating to coexistence and spirituality. In fact, participants showed a high level of prejudice towards this population. Implementation of more effective intervention programs in both cities is therefore recommended.

Sarcasm in Nadine Courtney's All-American Muslim Girl

This research examines how prejudice appears in Nadine Courtney’s All American Muslim Girl (2019) and investigates how the novel uses sarcasm to resist prejudice. This research engages with Elisabeth Camp's sarcasm theory and Gordon Willard Allport's concept of prejudice. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the research utilizes close textual analysis to dissect dialogues among characters as the primary data source. Based on the research findings, this research identifies two levels of prejudice within the novel All American Muslim Girl. The findings show that sarcasm is a useful technique for expressing opposition and resisting prejudice. By using biting and sarcastic words, it can effectively counter prejudice and stereotypes. In conclusion, through biting and satirical language, the characters adeptly contradicted stereotypes and resisted prejudice, emphasizing sarcasm's unique potential as an intelligent aesthetic and social strategy. This research underlines the importance of sarcasm in fostering insightful dialogue and promoting social change by countering prejudice in contemporary Muslimah or Muslim women’s literature.

Hemşirelerin Obez Bireylere Karşı Ön Yargı Düzeylerinin Belirlenmesi

Giriş: Hasta bakımından primer olarak sorumlu olan hemşirelerin obez bireylere önyargılı yaklaşımları, güven ilişkisi kurmalarını engellemekte ve bireyin sağlık hizmetinden kaçınmasına, tedavi/bakımın aksamasına neden olmaktadır. Amaç: Bu araştırma hemşirelerin obez bireylere karşı ön yargı düzeylerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Kesitsel nitelikte olan bu araştırmanın evrenini, Ocak-Mart 2021 tarihleri arasında bir üniversite hastanesinin yataklı birimlerinde çalışan hemşireler oluşturmuştur. Araştırmanın örneklemini ise araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden 341 (%72) hemşire oluşturmuştur. Araştırmanın verileri, Kişisel Bilgi Formu ve GAMS-27 Obezite Önyargı Ölçeği kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirmesinde tanımlayıcı istatistikler, bağımsız gruplarda t testi, tek yönlü varyans analizi ve Kruskal Wallis testi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılan hemşirelerin GAMS-27 Obezite Önyargı Ölçeğinden aldıkları toplam puan ortalaması 72.39±12.37 olarak saptanmıştır. Ölçeğin kesme noktalarına göre puan dağılımına bakıldığında; %56.6’sının ön yargıya eğilimli olduğu, %34’ünün ön yargısız olduğu ve %9.4’ünün ön yargılı olduğu bulunmuştur. Araştırmada hemşirelerin herhangi bir tanıtıcı özelliği ile ölçek toplam puan ortalamaları arasında istatiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark olmadığı saptanmıştır (p>0.05). Sonuç ve Öneriler: Bu araştırma, hemşirelerin obez bireylere karşı yüksek oranda önyargı eğiliminde olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Bu doğrultuda hemşirelerin obez bireylere karşı önyargı eğilimini etkileyen faktörlerin belirlendiği ve hemşirelerin bakım sunarken yaşadıkları olumlu/olumsuz deneyimler ile önyargı eğilimleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelendiği araştırmaların yapılmasının faydalı olacağı düşünülmektedir.

Prejudice towards Immigrants: A Conceptual and Theoretical Overview on Its Social Psychological Determinants

Immigration processes and the possible marginalization of ethnic minorities in the receiving countries are essential issues in contemporary societies. Prejudice and discrimination can be critical obstacles to immigrants’ integration into the host country and can severely affect their well-being and mental health. This theoretical and conceptual overview aims to highlight the critical social–psychological processes underlying attitudes toward immigrants. First, it tackles the social psychological roots of social prejudice by focusing on the role of individual (ideological, motivational, and cultural) factors and categorization processes. Second, it examines how contextual factors such as intergroup perceptions and structural relations can lead to high levels of prejudice and discrimination towards immigrants. This review highlights how prejudice against immigrants can be driven by various factors at the individual and contextual level, suggesting that programs aimed at facilitating harmonious relations in contemporary multi-ethnic societies should consider such different determinants. Accordingly, the conclusion discusses possible interventions that can promote better relations between the majority and immigrant groups and counteract the negative impact of discrimination.

Regional Variation in Social Norms and Domestic Anti-Immigrant Hostility

Why are some ingroup members (i.e., natives) more tolerant of, or hostile toward, outgroup others (i.e., immigrants)? A large volume of evidence exists attempting to address this issue. The bulk of findings from observational and experimental research focuses on the dual concept of ‘realistic’ and ‘symbolic’ threat, operationalized in terms of migrant stock or percentage of foreign-born population. According to the literature, a higher stock generally indicates a higher threat, which in turn implies greater xenophobic sentiment. Against this backdrop, the present study shifts the analytic emphasis to a novel explanatory mechanism in the US context: strength of social norms at the state level. Specifically, by drawing on the concept of cultural tightness-looseness, it asks whether American citizens in a geographic region characterized by strong social norms and stringent sanctioning of deviance are, on average, more xenophobic. Results from mixed effects models provide substantial support. Based on nationally representative data collected by the Pew Research Center (2018) during the height of Trump administration, the analysis reveals that cultural tightness has a contextual effect: net of controls, residency in a state with a higher index score is associated with greater levels of anti-immigrant prejudice and stronger preference for anti-immigration policy.

Antisocial Personality Disorder: Labeling and Stigmatization from the Perspectives of Society, Judiciary, and Clinical Practices

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent research concerning the impact of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) labeling and stigmatization within different environments. Mixed findings were found in all three environmental settings, revealing that an ASPD diagnosis (or a psychopathy label particularly in forensic settings) could result in either positive or negative outcomes. In social settings: inconsistent public responses to ASPD population were found which might suggest a situational effect in regard to ASPD symptoms, and further studies should be conducted on the subject matter. In addition, media portrayals of the ASPD population mistakenly confused ASPD individuals with psychopaths. It would then be important to study to what extent mass media contributed to ASPD stigmatization, in which fear as one contributing component was discussed. In forensic settings: findings supported the presence of ASPD stigmatization. However, considering the ambiguous boundary between ASPD and psychopath within the judicial system, more studies would be needed to investigate whether two labels triggered different levels of stigma and prejudice so as to ensure fairness and justice. In medical settings: there were mental health professionals advocating for replacing stigmatizing labels with less pejorative terms, yet other practitioners reinforced ASPD labeling and stigmatization through refusing treatment delivery that further led to discrimination and discouragement of the ASPD population. Future studies should focus more on finding better guidelines and modifications for the practical field in order to destigmatize or avoid labeling when treating ASPD populations.

Coping with stress due to gender prejudice in Chilean transgender people: New findings using a qualitative approach

Abstract Background Like other nations, in Chile, transgender people confront high levels of prejudice operating across structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. The Minority Stress Model indicates that prejudice-related stress is related to worse health indicators. Coping has been used to understand how people deal with this prejudice-derived stress. This study describes and characterizes how gender ‘prejudice is managed and coped with among transgender people in Chile. Methods We used a snowball sample to recruit 26 transgender Chileans. The inclusion criteria were to be Chileans or lived in Chile last 6 months, identify as transgender and be 18 years old. We used a semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions to capture the subjective self-designation of gender identification. Interviews lasted approximately 75 minutes. We used thematic and critical discourse analyses to identify themes and subthemes. Results The results indicate that all participants experienced prejudice at different times and varied intensities. Prejudice occurs at home, where parents dońt accept this identity, & at school in the form of bullying. Prejudices were also suffered in health centers & hospitals, where doctors exercised prejudice. Prejudice also depended on the period of the transition process. Prejudice was most intense at the beginning of the transition process & decreased as transition progressed. The results showed that trans-identifying persons used the following coping strategies: self-concealment, performing their gender (e.g., more feminine appearance), & advocacy for their rights & education. Each strategy is used in varied situations & by how one defined oneself. Conclusions Coping strategies & the concept of coping must be revisited among trans-identifying persons. The coping strategies used are relevant for planning clinical and social interventions aimed at trans people who still live in prejudice due to their identity in many countries.

At the roots of Allport’s “prejudice-prone personality”: The impact of need for cognitive closure on prejudice towards different outgroups and the mediating role of binding moral foundations

In line with the seminal ideas on the “prejudice-prone personality” provided by Allport (1954) in the book The Nature of Prejudice, various studies have highlighted the association between individuals’ high need for cognitive closure (NCC) and prejudice towards various outgroups. Nonetheless, evidence on the invariance of individuals’ prejudice towards different outgroups is still missing. Study 1 and Study 2 aimed to provide evidence that individuals with high NCC display similar levels of prejudice towards different outgroups (i.e., people of a different race; people of a different religion; immigrants; people who speak a different language; people with a different sexual orientation), expressed in terms of desired social distance. Besides this, and based on the “group-centrism hypothesis” positing the role of groups as sources of epistemic certainty and stability of knowledge, Study 2 tackled the process underlying the relation between NCC and invariance of prejudice towards different outgroups by testing the mediational role of binding moral foundations. Evidence from both studies supported the hypothesis that individuals with high NCC display prejudice towards different outgroups to the same extent and that binding moral foundations mediate this relationship. Implications of these findings with reference to interventions aimed to hinder prejudice towards outgroups will be discussed.