The Effects of Mortality Salience and Social Dominance Orientation on Attitudes Toward Illegal Immigrants

Abstract

The paper examines the hypothesis that the effects of mortality salience on attitudes toward illegal immigrants are moderated by individual differences predisposing participants toward prejudice or intolerance. A total of 122 university students completed measures of political orientation, authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation prior to being randomly assigned to a mortality salience or control condition. Political conservatism, authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation were all associated with more negative attitudes toward illegal immigrants. Although there was no main effect for mortality salience, there was an interaction between mortality salience and social dominance orientation. Higher social dominance orientation was associated with more negative attitudes toward illegal immigrants, albeit only in the mortality salience condition.

Influence of Raters’ Attributes on Biases Toward Immigrants

“…Results of research also revealed a negative relation between authoritarianism and attitudes toward others (Fisher, Deason, Borgida, & Oyamot, 2011;Oyamot, Borgida, & Fisher, 2006). In addition, studies indicated that raters who were high in social dominance orientation, political conservatism, and authoritarianism were more likely to view immigrants negatively than their counterparts (Bassett, 2010). Finally, other researchers (Guimond, Olveria, Kamiesjki, & Sidanius, 2010) showed that individuals in France who were high in inequality and social dominance orientation were more prejudiced regarding immigrants than those low in inequality and social dominance.…”

Empathy, Social Dominance Orientation, Mortality Salience, and Perceptions of a Criminal Defendant

“…In examining the interplay between social dominance orientation and mortality salience, Bassett (2010) found that participants who were high in social dominance were more negative toward illegal immigrants in a mortality salience condition, but not in a control condition. There was no main effect for mortality salience on attitudes toward illegal immigrants in Bassett's findings, only an interaction between social dominance orientation and mortality salience on attitudes.…”

Saliencia de la mortalidad y su influencia en motivos identitarios individuales y colectivos: un estudio experimental

“…Es así que si bien el recordar a las personas su carácter mortal llevó a los sujetos de algunos estudios a rechazar a aquellos percibidos como distintos o a evitar miembros de exogrupos, esto ocurre solo en quienes puntúan alto en la escala de Autoritarismo de Ala Derecha (Greenberg et al, 1990). Por el contrario, quienes presentan puntuaciones bajas en esta escala, mantuvieron, tras la saliencia de la mortalidad, sus actitudes previas hacia el exogrupo en algunos estudios (Basset, 2010) e incluso manifestaron actitudes más favorables hacia el exogrupo en otros (Weise, Arciszewski, Verlhiac, Pyszczynski y Greenberg, 2012). Así, se ha encontrado que la saliencia de la mortalidad conduce a un incremento del favoritismo endogrupal, a buscar mayores niveles de distintividad óptima y a ceñirse a las normas y estándares que protegen la visión cultural del mundo de un individuo (Arndt et al, 2002).…”