Seminar: Integration policies shape threat reactions to increasing diversity

Australian Social Cohesion: Exploring New Directions (ASCEND), an inter-disciplinary research initiative of The Australian National University (ANU) is back with another seminar, hosted by an international guest speaker and expert in social cohesion.

Judit Kende from the Université Libre de Bruxelles will present her research that examines the relationship between ethno-racial diversity and feelings of threat among the majority population in Western societies. The study suggests that as diversity increases, so does the perception of threat among the majority population. However, the level of perceived threat depends on the inclusivity of immigrant integration policies at the state or country level.

After Judit's presentation, there will be time for a Q&A.

About the speaker

Judit Kende is currently a Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral research fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, soon starting at the University of Tilburg as an Assistant Professor. She received her PhD in 2018 from the University of Leuven in social and cultural psychology and later worked at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Lausanne. Her research focuses on intergroup relations and equality in the context of migration and ethnic inequality. She is interested in how equality influences how people from different social groups relate to each other and how people from different social groups can challenge inequalities together. Her work was awarded by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues for the best paper in intercultural relations and by the International Academy for Intercultural Research for the best dissertation.

Abstract

Ethno-racial diversity is growing in many Western societies. Recent studies show that increasing ethno-racial diversity and some narratives about increasing diversity can fuel feelings of threat among ethno-racial majorities (e.g., self-identified White Americans and European nationals). We contend that when diversity rises, threat perceptions depend on the local (state or country level) policy context. In this paper, we test whether more inclusive immigrant integration policies can attenuate ethno-racial majorities' perceptions of threat.

Across four studies, we examine how the interplay of rising diversity and integration policies shape ethno-racial majorities' threat perceptions, attitudes, and emotions towards ethno-racial minorities. Studies 1-3 (N=469, 733, and 1745, respectively) used experimental methods with White American participants in the United States and tested the effect of vignettes about increasing diversity and/or changing policies. Study 4 (N=499,075) relied on secondary analysis of survey data comparing attitudes of nationals in 30 European countries and measured the impact of actual changes in ethno-racial diversity and policies over 10 years.

We find that ethno-racial majority participants feel threatened by narratives highlighting their impending minority position, and by sudden increases in actual diversity in the population, in line with previous studies. Most importantly, however, our results also show that integration policies shape threat reactions. When policies are more inclusive toward immigrants, ethno-racial majority participants report less threat (or no threat) in response to increasing diversity.

Research by Judit Kende, Dirk Jacobs, Eva G.T. Green, Linda R. Tropp, Yuen J. Huo, John F. Dovidio, Tomás R. Jiménez, Deborah J. Schildkraut and Olivier Klein

About ASCEND

This event is part of the ASCEND seminar series. ASCEND is an interdisciplinary research initiative of The Australia National University (ANU. The initiative aims to design methods and tools for strengthening social cohesion in an increasingly fragmented world. Click here to learn more about ASCEND.