Italian Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS): Assessment of Validity, Reliability, and Measure Invariance

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to adapt and validate the Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS) in the Italian context, based on the Prejudice Against Asylum Seekers Scale by Anderson (2018). The validity, reliability, and measurement invariance across gender, age, and educational levels of the scale were assessed through three sources, which involved 306 Italian individuals (N men = 151, 49.3%) between 18 and 60 years old. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) confirmed the two-factor solution of the original instrument by excluding two items, which were present in the previous validation study. The first factor is classical prejudice against immigrants, which maps onto theoretical derivations of classical and old-fashioned prejudices, whereas the second factor is conditional prejudice against immigrants, which maps onto theoretical derivations of subtle and modern prejudices. Findings of the multigroup CFAs demonstrated full configural and metric invariance and partial scalar invariance of the scale across gender, age, and educational level. The analyses confirmed that PAIS has high levels of reliability and criterion and construct validity, showing findings that are comparable to those of Anderson (2018). These results suggest that PAIS presents very good psychometric properties and could be considered a valid and reliable instrument to measure prejudice against immigrants, by enabling Italian researchers to detect both covert and more subtle forms of prejudice against immigrants. Limitations and further directions are discussed.

Proud to support social equality: Investigating the roles of pride, guilt, anger, and disgust in attitudes towards immigrants

“…Since we investigated the association of social equality orientation with proimmigrant attitudes through emotions in Italy (i.e., a country highly exposed to migratory flows), additional studies should focus on different countries to verify whether the interpretation of our results can be applied to samples from populations with a different culture. In accordance with recent research (Salvati, Basili, et al, 2020; Salvati, Carone, et al, 2020), Italy is a country of particular interest for the study of the migration phenomena. In Italy, indeed, immigrants face various degrees of discrimination in different contexts (Piumatti & Russo, 2019), and political parties and the media often popularize discourses aimed at preventing immigration and opposing the inclusion of immigrants in the host society (Ambrosini, 2013).…”

A measure of positive and negative perception of migration: Development and psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Perception of Immigrants Scale (PANPIS)

“…Ward and Masgoret (2008) found that the adherence to a multicultural ideology and the intercultural contact produced a lower perception of the threat, thus supporting New Zealand immigration policies. Consistently, Salvati, Basili, et al (2020) and showed that contact with immigrants was related to positive beliefs towards immigrants.…”

“…Consistently, Salvati, Basili, et al. (2020) and Salvati, Carone, et al. (2020) showed that contact with immigrants was related to positive beliefs towards immigrants.…”

Anxiety Symptoms, COVID-19-Related Stress Reactions in the Italian General Population, and Validation of the Italian COVID Stress Scales (CSS-I)

“…Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS) [43]: The PAIS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure prejudice against immigrants. The validated Italian version was administered with a related two-factor solution, in which the first factor is "classical prejudice against immigrants" and the second is "conditional prejudice against immigrants" (i.e., subtle and modern prejudices) [44].…”