White fears and native apprehensions: An integrated threat theory approach to intergroup attitudes.

Abstract

Motivational and cognitive factors have been used to explain negative attitudes toward out-group members. According to the integrated threat theory of prejudice, negative intergroup attitudes are predicted by proximal factors consisting of perceived threats from out-group members; these threats, in turn, are predicted by distal factors such as perceived differences in group status or negative out-group contact. In the present stud3,, White and First Nation people completed measures assessing distal and proximal variables and attitudes toward members of the other ethnic group. Path analyses indicated that realistic and symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes predicted negative out-group attitudes. Many of these threats, and in some cases ethnic attitudes, were associated with negative intergroup contact, strength of in-group identity, perceptions of intergroup conflict, and perceived status inequality. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings were discussed.

Contact, Perspective Taking, and Anxiety as Predictors of Stereotype Endorsement, Explicit Attitudes, and Implicit Attitudes

“…Additionally, contact quality is associated with reduced anxiety in several of the studies cited above (e.g. Corenblum & Stephan, 2001;Hewstone, 2002;Paolini, et al, 2004;, Study 3, W. G. Stephan et al, 2000, 2002. These fi ndings suggest that contact quantity, quality, and their interaction relate to reduced intergroup anxiety.…”

“…Evidence that intergroup anxiety is related to negative attitudes toward outgroups is considerable, occurring in evaluations of African Americans (W. G. Stephan et al, 2002), Mexican immigrants in the US (W. G. Stephan, DiazLoving, & Duran, 2000), Russian immigrants in Israel (Bizman & Yinon, 2001), native Canadians (Corenblum & Stephan, 2001), prejudice toward people with cancer and AIDS (Berrenberg, Finlay, Stephan, & Stephan, 2002), reactions to Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland (Hewstone, 2002;Paolini, Hewstone, Cairns, & Voci, 2004), and women's evaluations of men (C. W. Stephan, Stephan, Demitrakis, Yamada, & Clason, 2000).…”

Political Tolerance and Prejudice: Differential Reactions Toward Muslims in the Netherlands

“…In his review, Gibson (2006) pointed out that perceived threat is the most important predictor of intolerance but that threat itself is an unexplained variable in nearly all studies on political tolerance. Integrated threat theory has suggested that threats mediate the impact of distal variables on attitudes toward out-groups (e.g., Corenblum & Stephan, 2001;Stephan et al, 2002). Three of these distal variables were examined in our study.…”

“…Stephan and colleagues have identified a number of antecedents of intergroup threat, such as intergroup contact, in-group identification, and status inequalities (e.g., Corenblum & Stephan, 2001;Stephan, Diaz-Loving, & POLITICAL TOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE Duran, 2000). These factors are thought to affect the level of perceived intergroup threat and, via threat, the out-group attitudes.…”

Testing the Limits of Tolerance: How Intergroup Anxiety Amplifies Negative and Offensive Responses to Out-Group-Initiated Contact

“…The concept of intergroup anxiety was introduced by Stephan and Stephan (1985) and has inspired considerable empirical attention (e.g., Britt, Boniecki, Vescio, Biernat, & Brown, 1996;Corenblum & Stephan, 2001;Islam & Hewstone, 1993;Stephan, Diaz-Loving, & Duran, 2000;Stephan et al, 1998;Stephan & Stephan, 1996). This line of theory and research suggests that intergroup anxiety toward a specific out-group (a) predicts prejudice toward this out-group (e.g., Stephan et al, 1998Stephan et al, , 2000Stephan et al, , 2002 and (b) is predicted by a lack of knowledge about the out-group and by past negative contact with this out-group (e.g., Stephan et al, 2002;Stephan & Stephan, 1989).…”