Threat and Prejudice against Syrian Refugees in Canada: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Multiculturalism, Interculturalism, and Assimilation

Scott, Colin; Safdar, Saba

doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.06.003

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Although the media presents Syrian refugees as a security threat as well as economic burden to the receiving countries (Wike, Stokes, & Simmons, ), these findings suggest that, in the current context, negative attitudes toward Syrian refugees are driven more by perceptions that they are dangerous than that they are competitive. This seems contradictory with much previous evidence presenting SDO as an important predictor of negative attitudes toward refugees and migrants, and policies for them (e.g., Esses, Veenvliet, Hodson, & Mihic, ; Scott & Safdar, ). We believe this could also be related to our dependent variable—social distance—and its interactional nature.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 88%

“…First, we demonstrated the predictors of social distance, and how perceived acculturation orientation affects social distance toward Syrians by United States citizens. Based on the finding that perceived assimilation led to less social distance than perceived integration, it will be important for further research to explore how to pose the benefits of multiculturalism and diversity to majority group members (Scott & Safdar, ; Verkuyten, ; Ward, Gale, Staerklé, & Stuart, ). In any pluralistic society, and maybe more so in those unexpectedly receiving refugee‐diaspora, group‐based differences are inevitable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Distance toward Syrian Refugees: The Role of Intergroup Anxiety in Facilitating Positive Relations

Koç

Anderson

2018

Journal of Social Issues

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The number of asylum seekers and refugees across the world is rapidly increasing. Negative attitudes toward these groups are globally prevalent and typically hostile because most receiving country citizens perceive them to be a security threat and an economic burden. This paper aims to understand the antecedents of negative attitudes toward a large refugee group currently garnering a great deal of attention-Syrian refugees, and experimentally test ways to ameliorate negative attitudes. In Study 1 (N = 122), we investigated predictors of social distance-as a proxy for prejudice-and found right-wing authoritarianism and intergroup anxiety to be significant predictors. In Study 2 (N = 162), we tested whether perceived acculturation orientation would predict social distance and found that Americans were less prejudiced toward Syrians who preferred to assimilate rather than integrate. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 153), we tested if a form of vicarious contact could reduce social distance via reduced intergroup anxiety; we found initial evidence for this mediation link. We discussed the potential for the vicarious contact intervention to foster positive intergroup relations and contribute to refugee wellbeing.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Distance toward Syrian Refugees: The Role of Intergroup Anxiety in Facilitating Positive Relations

Koç

Anderson

2018

Journal of Social Issues

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“…Previous experimental work has found causal effects of multiculturalism and colorblindness on stereotyping and prejudice (Wolsko, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2000). The present study certainly offers a sound basis for further development in this direction by testing the effects of interculturalism and secularism (for initial evidence, see Anier et al, 2018;Scott & Safdar, 2017). Ideally, these experiments should be conducted by controlling for national context effects, something that is still lacking in the literature (see Guimond et al, 2014).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 80%

The impact of national integration policies on prejudice and psychological well‐being: The fundamental role of the clarity and coherence of integration policies

Sablonnière

Nugier

Kadhim

et al. 2020

Euro J Social Psych

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Recent advances in social psychological research have shown that national integration policies influence how immigrants are perceived and treated by the mainstream population. However, the processes by which these policies come to have an impact on prejudice and well‐being of the general population are largely unknown. Moreover, past research has often relied on unrepresentative samples limiting generalizability. The present research proposes that when the national integration policies of a given society are perceived as clearly defined and coherent, they have a direct impact on the perceived cultural norm related to those national integration policies. In turn, the perceived cultural norm affects personal attitudes toward cultural norms (i.e., the degree to which individuals support a given policy), which influence the level of anti‐immigrant prejudice as well as psychological well‐being. Findings from two correlational studies with representative samples of the mainstream population conducted in France on the policy of secularism (N = 940) and in Québec on the policy of interculturalism (N = 912) supported the proposed theoretical model.

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“…Hodson (), specifically, suggested that prejudice reduction linked to contact could be due to its potential to reduce threat. Along similar lines, Fasel, Green, and Sarrasin () found that ideological climate moderates the relationship between individual differences and anti‐immigrant attitudes while Scott and Safdar () reported that multiculturalism as an intergroup ideology buffered the negative effects of Social Dominance Orientation on prejudice, particularly under conditions of high threat. Although none of these studies specifically examine the moderating role of normative contact with diversity and normative multicultural ideology, related research suggests that both could attenuate the detrimental influence of normative multicultural policies and practices on perceived threat.…”

Section: Study 2: Normative Multiculturalism and Social Cohesionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Exploring everyday experiences of cultural diversity: The construction, validation, and application of the normative multiculturalism scale

Stuart

Ward

2018

Euro J Social Psych

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The 3-factor structure of the Normative Multiculturalism Scale (NMS)-Contact with Diversity (CD), Multicultural Ideology (MI), and Multicultural Policies and Practices (MPP)-was tested and confirmed with community samples from New Zealand (N = 381) and the United States (N = 311). Correlations with criterion measures (e.g., perceived minority disadvantage and attitudes to diversity) supported the criterion validity of the subscales. NMS factors were then examined as predictors of social connectedness in a British community sample (N = 347). Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that MI predicted general trust, and MI and MPP predicted national attachment. While MPP was associated with greater perceived threat, this relationship was dampened by the joint influences of MI and CD. The research presents a novel perspective on multiculturalism by adopting a normative approach and examining the main and interaction effects of contact with diversity, multicultural ideology, and multicultural policies on interpersonal and intergroup outcomes.

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Threat and Prejudice against Syrian Refugees in Canada: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Multiculturalism, Interculturalism, and Assimilation

Cited by 23 publications

References 28 publications

Social Distance toward Syrian Refugees: The Role of Intergroup Anxiety in Facilitating Positive Relations

Social Distance toward Syrian Refugees: The Role of Intergroup Anxiety in Facilitating Positive Relations

The impact of national integration policies on prejudice and psychological well‐being: The fundamental role of the clarity and coherence of integration policies

Exploring everyday experiences of cultural diversity: The construction, validation, and application of the normative multiculturalism scale

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