The Formation of Attitudes Toward New Immigrant Groups¹

Abstract

People often receive information about new immigrant groups prior to any direct contact with group members. However, it is not clear how this information shapes attitudes toward the groups. To explore this issue, 204 subjects were told about an unknown immigrant group that was presented as high or low in personal relevance. Subjects were then given positive or negative consensus information about the emotions that group members elicit from others, group members' personality traits, and group members' values. As expected, results indicated that the presentation of positive information about emotional reactions, personality traits, and values caused attitudes to be more favorable than did the presentation of negative information. Importantly, however, the combined impact of the emotion and personality trait information depended on whether the group was perceived to be of high or low personal relevance. Specifically, when the information about emotions and personality traits was similarly valanced (i.e., both were positive or both were negative), attitudes toward the group tended to be less favorable in the high personal relevance condition than in the low personal relevance condition. In contrast, when mixed information was presented (i.e., positive emotions and negative personality traits or negative emotions and positive personality traits), attitudes tended to be more favorable in the high personal relevance condition. In addition, attitudes, once formed, predicted further perceptions of the group and behavioral intentions toward group members. The implications of the findings for the reduction of prejudice toward new immigrant groups are discussed.

Ambivalence and Persuasion: The Processing of Messages about Immigrant Groups

“…Consistent with past research (e.g., Esses et al, 1993;Maio et al, 1994;Stangor et al, 1991), we measured attitudes using a scale that asked participants to rate their overall favorability toward the target group. Unlike past research, however, we could not use the ''thermometer'' measure of participants' favorability because we had already used this measure in the ''first survey,'' and we did not want to use a measure that appeared similar to the measure in the ''first survey.''…”

“…For example, during the 1980s, newspapers in Canada published several hundred articles about the Sikh people, who were immigrating in large numbers to Canada (Maio, Esses, & Bell, 1994). Previous research has found that information about an immigrant group can affect people's attitudes toward the group and that these attitudes, once formed, predict behavioral intentions toward the group, including the endorsement of relevant immigration policies (Maio et al, 1994). Consequently, it is important to determine whether these effects are moderated by social psychological variables, such as attitude ambivalence.…”

Why mode and regional context matter for entrepreneurship education

“…Moreover, a high degree of entrepreneurial activity indicates that pro-entrepreneurship attitudes prevail in a region. Students are more likely to form positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship in regions where positive information is readily accessible (Maio, Esses, and Bell 1994).…”

Geographic distance, contact and family perceptions of quality nursing home care

“…All it takes, according to Whittenbrink (2004), is the attainment of knowledge as it is perpetuated in the social environment. Similar research has demonstrated that stereotypes and prejudice can be developed about groups with which the individual has had very little or even no direct contact (Maio, Esses, & Bell, 1994). Thus, it appears these more modern views have helped to -demystify an otherwise troublesome concept like prejudice by placing it squarely within the purview of ordinary cognition‖ (Banaji, Nosek, & Greenwald, 2004, p. 280).…”