Intersecting Boundaries: Comparing Stereotypes of Native- and Foreign-Born Members of Ethnoracial Groups

Past research finds that Americans hold biased stereotypes about ethnoracial groups and about immigrants, but we lack an understanding of how these group identities intersect. Immigration theories offer opposing predictions; while the straight-line assimilation model predicts Americans will hold weaker ethnoracial stereotypes about the native-born compared to their immigrant coethnics, theories of racialized assimilation suggest that the enduring power of race will limit any differential stereotyping of immigrant and native-born members of racialized groups. I use an original survey experiment to compare Americans’ stereotypes of native- and foreign-born members of the four largest ethnoracial groups in the United States—Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. As predicted by straight-line assimilation theory, I find that Whites’ negative stereotypes of Latinos fade away with nativity; however, White Americans do not substantially alter their stereotypes of Asians and Blacks based on nativity status. Moreover, native-born Black and Latino Americans do not appear to hold differential stereotypes of ethnoracial groups based on their nativity status. This research highlights both the importance and limitations of accounting for nativity status to understand ethnoracial group boundaries in the United States.