The present research examined the psychological reasons behind Americans’ (un)willingness to accept immigrants. Participants read a scenario depicting immigrant groups allegedly expected to arrive in the United States and evaluated how much the immigrants would influence two types of American national values: civic values (e.g., political ideology) and ethnic values (e.g., shared culture and customs). Across three studies, competitive immigrant groups were stereotyped to be untrustworthy and perceived to threaten American civic values, but not ethnic values. Value threat then mediated the predicted competition–prejudice relationship in Study 3. Perceived vulnerability of in-group boundary might specify one motivated cause of derogating immigrants. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.

psychological essentialism Group perception Prejudice stereotype

ideology Social Values perception cultural anthropology immigrant social psychology Stereotyping human stereotypy ethnology United States Humans migrant male Emigrants and Immigrants female adult human experiment Prejudice politics Culture