The Role of Identity Prioritization

Abstract

Social Identity Theory suggests that individuals are motivated to support/oppose policies and politicians that benefit/harm members of their ingroup as a means of protecting their social status. Since the Republican Party’s rhetoric against immigrants in recent decades has often been viewed as an assault upon those of Latinx descent, it is not surprising that strong majorities oppose restrictionist immigration policies and support the Democratic Party. However, the existing literature has overlooked why a sizeable minority of Latinx voters express support for restrictionist immigration policies and the politicians who espouse them. Our analysis of Latinx voters with the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) demonstrates that the degree to which individuals prioritize their US American identity over their Latinx identity has a significant influence over support for conservative immigration policies and GOP candidates. This relationship emerges above and beyond partisanship, ideology, and other key explanatory factors. Such attitudes likely represent an individual social mobility strategy in which members of a social group attempt to “pass” as a member of a higher-status group. Prioritizing a US American identity, supporting the Republican Party, and expressing hostility toward the interests of undocumented immigrants are a means of distinguishing themselves from a social group that has become increasingly associated with negative stereotypes. In contrast, those who are unwilling or unable to make this transition are likely pursuing a collective social mobility strategy (e.g., linked fate) whereby they attempt to enhance their individual status by elevating that of the entire social group.

Living in the Shadow of Deportation: How Immigration Enforcement Forestalls Political Assimilation

“…These measures are indications of psychological investment in the host country (Leach et al 2008). Since American identity investment does not preclude an ethnic identity, I measure the difference between American centrality (or pride ) and Latinx centrality (or pride ) (Hickel Jr et al 2020). The Pew ’19 survey includes a binary relative American self-categorization measure, where respondents can choose to identify as an “American” (coded 1) instead of “Latino/Hispanic” or their national origin (coded 0).…”

“…Moreover, Latinxs tend to have a stronger sense of American identity via acculturation (Citrin and Sears 2014). Additionally, a strong American identity among Latinxs is associated with Anglo norms such as opposing new immigration and supporting Republicans (Hickel Jr et al 2020). Given perceived deportation threat suggests Latinxs understand they or their social ties are institutionally excluded from the U.S., we may expect threat to similarly undercut the adoption of an American identity via acculturation.…”

Concerns about the Deportation of Friends or Family Members Shape U.S.-born Latines’ Feelings about U.S. Immigration Policy with Implications for Collective Action for Immigrants’ Rights

“…As citizens, U.S.-born Latines are not personally subject to the immigration policies and enforcement practices that target undocumented immigrants in the United States. Some U.S.born Latines distance themselves from immigrants by emphasizing their American identity and supporting anti-immigrant policies (Hickel, Jr., et al, 2020; see also Roman, 2023). Many U.S.born Latines have friends or family members who are undocumented, however (Roman, 2023).…”

“…However, negative stereotypes of undocumented Latine immigrants as "foreign" and "illegal" have come to be associated with the ethnic group as a whole (Chavez, 2013;Zou & Cheryan, 2017). In order to distance themselves from anti-immigrant stereotypes, some U.S.-born Latines emphasize their American identity and support anti-immigrant policies and the political actors who endorse them (Hickel, Jr., Alamillo, Oskooii, & Collingwood, 2020) -what García Bedolla (2003Bedolla ( , 2005 has called "selective dissociation" (see Tajfel & Turner, 1979 for a more general treatment of distancing from a devalued group).…”

Anti-Muslim policy preferences and boundaries of American identity across partisanship

“…Other research suggests that Black Americans are less attached to American identity than Whites on certain items, but are more nativist overall than Whites (Citrin et al, 2001). Nonetheless, a growing body of scholarship suggests that American identity might be as high (at least) among Black American adolescents as it is for White Americans (Martinez-Fuentes et al, 2020) 12 and that American identity is a powerful predictor of support for restrictionist immigration policies and anti-immigrant candidates among Latinx Americans (Hickel Jr et al, 2020).…”