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Not Just a National Issue: Effect of State‐Level Reception of Immigrants and Population Changes on Intergroup Attitudes of Whites, Latinos, and Asians in the United States
Author(s) -
Huo Yuen J.,
Dovidio John F.,
Jiménez Tomás R.,
Schildkraut Deborah J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12295
Subject(s) - immigration , ethnic group , immigration policy , demographic economics , context (archaeology) , political science , state (computer science) , population , demography , sociology , geography , law , economics , algorithm , computer science , archaeology
National discourse about immigration in the United States has become increasingly unwelcoming. In two studies, we examine whether regional‐level (state) information about welcoming (vs. unwelcoming) immigrant policies in the context of either stable or increasing rate of immigration can influence intergroup relations in receiving communities. Among Whites (Study 1), welcoming policy proposals elicited more positive attitudes toward immigrants generally and toward Latinos, the ethnic group most closely associated with immigration in the United States, but only when rate of immigration is constant. In contrast, among Latinos (Study 2), an unwelcoming reception led to more positive attitudes toward immigrants (legal and undocumented) but again only when rate of immigration is constant. Asians’ attitudes (Study 2) toward immigrants were not affected by contextual information about immigration. Together, these findings suggest that local conditions can affect community members’ attitudes toward immigrants and toward specific ethnic groups associated with immigration.