We report two experimental studies in which we investigated the effects of perceived economic and cultural threat on positive interactions between a host society and immigrants. Study 1 showed that people who perceived immigrants as less of a threat to their society's economy were more willing to provide immigrants with empowerment help and less likely to expect immigrants to solve their own problems (group change). In Study 2, we found that high culturally adapted immigrant was seen as less of a threat than low culturally adapted immigrants among the low and moderate nationalists, but not among high nationalists, who viewed immigrants as threatening regardless of their cultural adaptation. Participants who perceived immigrants as culturally nonthreatening were subsequently more willing to provide immigrants with help in the form of direct assistance and less likely to expect the group to change. © 2016 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

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experimental study immigrant economics empowerment immigration Culture