Patriotism and the impact on perceived threat and immigration attitudes

Abstract

Patriotism and threat have been shown to predict immigration attitudes. We suggest that patriotism is influential in producing threat, and such threat drives anti-immigration attitudes, but this relationship is different for Whites and Latinos. All participants completed a patriotism scale (blind and constructive patriotism measures), a threat scale (realistic and symbolic threat), and anti-immigration attitude scale. Latinos showed lower blind patriotism, realistic threat, symbolic threat, and anti-immigration attitudes compared to Whites, with no differences in constructive patriotism. Threat partially mediated the relationship between blind patriotism and anti-immigration attitudes for Whites and fully mediated the relationship for Latinos. Threat partially mediated the relationship for cultural patriotism and anti-immigration attitude for Whites but not for Latinos. Implications for public policy and education concerning immigrant attitudes are discussed.

“Threatening Others”: National Identity and Group Threats Predict Immigration Policy

“…The present research adds to the growing psychological literature examining how group identities inform stances on immigration (see Esses, Dovidio, Jackson, & Armstrong, 2001;Mukherjee, Molina, & Adams, 2012;Willis-Esqueda, Delgado, & Pedroza, 2017). Across two studies, we test how various U.S. immigration policies are predicted by national identity (i.e., patriotism and nationalism) and perceived group threats (e.g., symbolic and realistic).…”

The Global Refugee Crisis: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications for Improving Public Attitudes and Facilitating Refugee Resettlement

“…Similar effects have been found for what has been labeled blind versus constructive patriotism, with blind patriotism involving unquestioning support for one's nation and its policies, and constructive patriotism involving willingness to criticize one's nation due to positive attachment and a desire to see positive change. Blind patriotism tends to lead to anti-immigration attitudes, whereas constructive patriotism does not (Willis-Esqueda, Delgado, & Pedroza, 2016). Of interest, the effects of blind patriotism on immigration attitudes are mediated by realistic and symbolic threat perceptions.…”

Don’t burn our flag: patriotism, perceived threat, and the impact of desecrating a national symbol on intergroup attitudes

“…Hence, a high level of blind patriotism (+1 SD) is actually below the midpoint of the scale. Although this low level appears to be stable across various French samples, and does not seem to be specific to student samples (see Marinthe, 2020), it may be lower than the levels reported in other countries, which range between 2.32 and 3.83 (on a 7-point scale) in American, British, and Polish samples (e.g., Golec de Zavala et al, 2016;Rothì et al, 2005;Willis-Esqueda et al, 2017). As can be seen, a low level of blind patriotism seems to be normative in France.…”

“…Constructive patriotism has a more complex relationship with the defense of the nation and favoring of the ingroup. It is generally not related to perceived threat to the national group or to ingroup bias (e.g., Golec de Zavala et al, 2016;Henderson-King et al, 2009;Schatz et al, 1999), and may even be related to more positive attitudes toward outgroups (e.g., Willis-Esqueda et al, 2017). However, when the nation is actually threatened, constructive patriotism, just like blind patriotism, seems to be a vector of greater protection of the nation (Depuiset & Butera, 2003).…”