Open AccessArticle
Perceiving Migrants as a Threat: The Role of the Estimated Number of Migrants and Symbolic Universes
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Ankica Kosic, Silvia Andreassi, Barbara Cordella, Serena De Dominicis, Alessandro Gennaro, Salvatore Iuso, Skaiste Kerusauskaite, Terri Mannarini, Matteo Reho, Giulia Rocchi, Alessia Rochira, Fulvio Signore and Sergio Salvatore
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Abstract
As immigration is one of the dominant issues in contemporary public discourse, it is important to explain the mechanism of prejudice against immigrants from a cultural psychology perspective. Several studies in the literature have confirmed a significant relationship between perceptions of the estimated
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As immigration is one of the dominant issues in contemporary public discourse, it is important to explain the mechanism of prejudice against immigrants from a cultural psychology perspective. Several studies in the literature have confirmed a significant relationship between perceptions of the estimated size of the immigrant population and negative attitudes towards them. This study aims to investigate whether this relationship is moderated by symbolic universes, i.e., affect-laden generalized worldviews. The study involves a representative sample of 3020 Italians who participated in a computer-assisted web survey and completed a questionnaire containing items measuring their estimates of the size of the migrant population in Italy, political orientation, cultural worldviews (symbolic universes), and the perceived threat posed by migrants. The results confirm that the relationship between the estimated size of the migrant population and the perceived threat is moderated by symbolic universes, being stronger for participants who hold both pessimistic and idealizing symbolic universes. The results are interpreted within the framework of semiotic cultural psychology theory.
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