Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Psychology

Supervisor

Victoria Esses

Abstract

Although perceptions of intersectional group identities (e.g., race and gender) have gained focus in recent years, an oft-ignored group in this line of work are immigrants. Across three studies, attitudes and stereotypes of different groups as a function of race and immigrant status, and how experiences of racism affect people’s attitudes towards immigrants, were examined. Study 1 found attitudes and stereotypes clustered around target race, not immigration status (n = 498) though people’s attitudes were most favourable for Canadians with no attached race label. Study 2 found that experiences of racism affected attitudes towards immigrants expressed by a representative sample of Asian Americans (n = 3,511). These effects were not replicated in a study of Canadian undergraduates in which the salience of experiencing personal race-based discrimination was manipulated (n = 108). Together, these findings highlight the importance of examining immigrant attitudes from the majority and minority perspective.

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