The integrated threat theory model consists of four types of threats that can lead to prejudice. These threats are: realistic threats, symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes. Realistic threats are posed by the outgroup and have several types of consequence and impact. They can either be threats of war, threats to political and/or economic power of the ingroup, and threats to physical and/or material well-being of the ingroup and its members. Symbolic threats is usually based on perceived group differences in morals, values, standards, beliefs, and attitudes. Symbolic threats are also threats to the ingroup’s worldview and these threats arise because the ingroup believes that its system of values are morally correct. …show more content…
They are several approaches to symbolic threat that other theories take. The integrated threat theory’s perception of symbolic threat argues that feeling that your values are threatened is actually a cause of prejudice whereas, for example, Kinder and Sears (1981) argues that prejudice can take form when feeling that your values are threatened by an outgroup is a form of prejudice. The distinction here is that symbolic threats by the outgroup towards the ingroups central values whereas other theories have focused mostly on threats that are associated with the “Protestant ethic’ or value put upon discipline, individualism, hard work, etc all components of a moral code. Another distinction is where some theories measure symbolic attitudes through the assessment of frustration that is caused by blocking the ingroups value system whereas Stephan and Stephan (2000) measure these symbolic attitudes through feelings of threat that arise by challenges to the ingroups value system. The third threat, intergroup anxiety, is when people feel threatened in intergroup interacitons because they feel worried about negative outcomes that could arise for the self, for examples, feelings of embarrassment and rejection.
The model measures anxiety and relates them to prejudice. The final threat, Negative Stereotypes,creates a fear of negative consequences. The four threats within the integrated threat theory model are used to predict attitudes towards outgroups. Stephan and Stephan (2000) conducted several studies to test this model. The first study measured how all four types of threat would predict prejudice toward immigrant groups because it is these groups that are usually perceived as real threats to Americans, their values perceived as different from the norm, the anxiety induced from these interactions, and the negative stereotypes Americans harbour towards immigrants. The researchers measured realictic threat through the use of 12 items such as crime, drugs, job loss etc through phrases like: ; Mexicans immigrants are contributing to increase in crime in the U.S.” Symbolic threat was measured by using items to create the impression of perceived differences in values such as work, moral, and religious values, for example “ Mexican immigration is undermining American culture.” Intergroup anxiety was measured through asking participants how they would feel when they interacted with the outgroup. The 12 item scale included feelings such as apprehensiveness, anxiousness, worry and so
on. To assess stereotypes, subjects we asked to indicate which traits mexican immigrants possessed through giving a percentage of how many of them has these traits.The traits included unintelligent, dishonest, hardworking, friendly etc. Int erms of measuring prejudice, participants were asked to to indicate how they felt towards immigrants. These items included hostility, acceptance, disdain, admiration and so on. The researchers found that prejudice towards immigrants was predicted by
The Latino Threat is a concept of an imposing threat of the Latino, whether they be from Mexico or any other Latin country, and how they affect the U.S. and its citizens. This concept is described heavily Leo R. Chavez’ book aptly titled The Latino Threat. In the book, he describes how the Latino threat as a concept has been used routinely to underline the aspect of United States citizenship in a tit for tat manner; that being dehumanizing the Latino to raise the standing of U.S. citizenship. The U.S. as a nation believes it should feel better about itself because it is the one that turns people away rather than being the place where people run from. Over the history of America this isolationist views on illegal immigrants has waned and contrast
This finding affirms that oppression is indeed genuine collective behavior in the sense that it is grounded in processes of social influence and collective coordination of actions…indeed, as argued elsewhere, the present-day hostility toward immigrants appears to be driven primarily by intragroup processes (Smith & Postmes, 2008), and the aims of their oppression consequently have less to do with keeping them down, so much as advancing the positions of particular subgroups within the high-status majority (Postnes, 2009).
This model examines the relationship between the dominant culture and one with minority status, such as Latinos. Attitudes towards self, same minority group, different minority groups, and the dominant group are examined through five stages within the model. These include conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and integrative awareness. The stage most pertinent to Antonio at this time is the Dissonance stage. During this stage, one starts to acknowledge the existence of racism, that he cannot escape his own heritage, and experiences conflict between shame and pride felt for his culture. This same shame versus pride conflict is also extended to members of his own minority group. Held stereotypes about other minority groups are now questioned as well. One in the Dissonance stage is also starting to realize that not all beliefs held by the dominant group are valuable or even accurate (Sue & Sue, 2003). Because of the two incidents Antonio endured during his freshman year and their emotional impact on him, he is becoming aware that even though he has “assimilated,” others of the majority group will still identify him as different. Antonio is also experiencing conflict between what members of the minority group (his parents) and the majority group feel are important; his parents believe he
Latino/a immigrants share similar experiences of anti-immigrant rhetoric just like other immigrant groups. Many Latino/as in America have faced negative comments based on their identity. For example, Rush Limbaugh, a radio host, expounds negative comments toward Latino/as, particularly Mexicans. He claimed that Mexicans are “a renegade, potential[ly] criminal element” that is “unwilling to work” (Media Matters for America, 2/28/06). These malice comments were similar to that of other immigrants. As other immigrant groups of non-English descent started arriving in America, there was an immigrant phobia towards the newcomers. During the mid-1700s, Benjamin Franklin said ...
In the context of the current studies, individuals that elicit racial ingroup betrayal might threaten ingroup distinctiveness, leading to a perceived threat to the group’s existence. In turn, this threat could lead to greater ingroup protectiveness for more stereotypical members of a group, but less ingroup protection for counter-stereotypical members of a group (Wohl, et
economic or social success some minorities have attained may result in increased feelings of resentment by members of the larger population. As Levin & McDevitt (1993:48) argue, resentment can be found to some extent in the personality of most hate crime offenders. It may be directed toward a part...
What would it be like to wake up everyday knowing you would get bullied, mistreated, and/or abused just because of where you were born? Discrimination still exists! “Discrimination remains and there is an increase in hate crimes against Hispanics, Latinos and Mexican-Americans, as one of the perceived symbols of that discrimination, the U.S.-Mexico Border Fence, nears completion. Instead of pulling together in these difficult times, we may see a greater polarization of attitudes” (Gibson). But why are hate crimes increasing towards Latin and Hispanic aliens and what types of discrimination are occurring against them? Understanding violence towards the Hispanic and Latin alien is divided into three main classes; the difference between legal and illegal aliens, the attacks and effects, and the point of view of different people towards aliens.
Internalized racism will explore the reasons why some minority groups do not like their ethnicity;
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.
In Threat Vector, by Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney, Campus operatives, which include the main protagonist Jack Ryan Jr., are assigned to assassinate different targets to each individual. However, all four of the operatives, Jack Ryan Jr., Dominic Caruso, Sam Driscoll and Domingo Chaves, have been identified, and Jack seeks to destroy the trace by destroying the hard drive in the computer. In China, President Wei Zhen Lin is suffering from an economic recession. He was close to suicide from his arrest, but Chairman Su Ke Qiang prevented him from being arrested. Su’s “savior” status was only the beginning to the plan of China taking back Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. With the help of Dr. Tong Kwok Kwan, the head of Chinese cyberespionage and cyberwarfare, they would be able to take those main
This sense of difference provides a motive or rationale for using our power advantage to threaten the ethnoracial Other in ways that we would regard as cruel or unjust if applied to members of our own group. The possible consequences of this nexus of attitude. and action range from unofficial but pervasive social discrimination at one end. of the spectrum to genocide at the other. . .
Lieberman J, Arndt J, Personius J, Cook A. “Vicarious Annihilation: The Effect of Mortality Salience on Perceptions of Hate Crimes”. Law & Human Behavior (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.). December 2001;25(6):547. Available from: Business Source Alumni Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 1, 2014.
Jr., Bernard E. Whitley and Mary E. Kite. The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2010. Web.
Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination all include the process of grouping people together that either have or perceived to have a direct interaction with one another, are a member of the same social category, or have a shared common fate. A stereotype is the belief about individuals based on a generalization of their group membership. Stereotypes are usually assumptions that all individuals have a certain trait if they are apart of a shared group. Prejudice is the feeling one has about an individual based on their group membership. It is an emotional response including but not limited to hate, disgust, and/or fear when interacting with or thinking about an individual that is apart of a certain group. Discrimination is your actual behavior as a result of an individual’s group membership. They act upon their prejudices, and behave in a way that is hurtful to a certain group or helpful to a favorable group. All three are seen in the movie, Schindler’s List.
This brings attention to why race and ethnicity exist so predominantly in society. There are a number of theories that observe why racism, prejudice, and discri...