Terror Management and Attitudes Toward Immigrants

Original Articles and Reviews

Terror Management and Attitudes Toward Immigrants Differential Effects of Mortality Salience for Low and High Right-Wing Authoritarians David R. Weise,1 Thomas Arciszewski,2 Jean-François Verlhiac,3 Tom Pyszczynski,4 and Jeff Greenberg1 1

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2University of Provence – Centre PsyClé, Aix-en-Provence, France, 3University of Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense, Paris, France, 4University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA Abstract. Previous terror management theory research has shown that mortality salience (MS; a death reminder) leads to the derogation of those who are perceived to be threats to or violators of one’s cultural worldview. Immigrants may be viewed as such a threat, but not necessarily to all majority group members of the culture. The studies presented here tested the hypothesis that, depending upon the nature of the participants’ worldview, MS would either increase or decrease liking of an immigrant. After being reminded of their mortality or a control topic, French and American college students evaluated an immigrant. To assess differences in worldview, participants completed a measure of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Consistent across two studies, MS led to more negative evaluations of an immigrant among those high in RWA, but more positive evaluations for those low in RWA. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for understanding the interplay of mortality concerns and RWA in determining attitudes toward immigrants. Keywords: terror management theory, attitudes toward immigrants, tolerance, right-wing authoritarianism

Much attention of late has been focused on issues surrounding immigration and immigrants in both the United States and Europe (e.g., Connelly, 2010; Dickey, 2005; ‘‘Clashes,’’ 2009; Nadeau, 2008a; ‘‘Immigration,’’ 2010). Some native residents feel that the large numbers of immigrants in their countries are taking away jobs, putting a strain on the medical and social welfare systems, increasing crime, and changing the traditional culture of their nations. Blatant discrimination and hate crimes directed toward immigrants are common phenomena (e.g., Applebome, 2008; Barnard, 2009; Crary, 2008; Nadeau, 2008b), although reactions to immigrant surely vary. In backlash to perceived negative treatment, these immigrant groups have participated in organized protests and acts of civil disobedience, some of which have turned violent. Most notably in October and November of 2005 and more recently in November 2007, immigrant youth took part in violent riots in Paris, which quickly spread to other parts of France and to other European countries. The present experiments apply terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1986) to the study of attitudes toward immigrants. Specifically, we examined the interactive effects of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA; Altemeyer, 1988) and death reminders (or mortality salience; MS) on evaluations of immigrants in both France and the United States. 2011 Hogrefe Publishing

Although TMT has not yet been applied to the study of attitudes toward immigrants, studies show that MS motivates derogation of threatening out-group members (e.g., Greenberg et al., 1990) and increased aggressiveness toward such groups (McGregor et al., 1998; Pyszczynski, Abdollahi et al., 2006). However, research has also shown that worldviews emphasizing the value of tolerance can neutralize this tendency (Greenberg, Simon, Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Chatel, 1992). The current studies extend this literature by exploring the hypothesis that although MS will increase negativity toward immigrants among those who have rigid authoritarian worldviews (Altemeyer, 1988), on the other hand it will increase positivity toward immigrants among those with tolerant nonauthoritarian worldviews.

Terror Management Theory Inspired by the writings of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker (1973), TMT posits that human behavior in part is driven by the need to manage the potential for anxiety that arises from the juxtaposition of death awareness and an inherent desire to live. To subdue this potential, we human beings have faith in a cultural worldview and pursue self-esteem according to the standards of our particular European Psychologist 2012; Vol. 17(1):63–72 DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000056

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D. R. Weise et al.: Terror Management and Immigrants

worldview. Cultural worldviews are shared systems of belief which answer basic questions about the nature of reality (e.g., where did we come from?, where are we going?), provide standards for valued behavior, and bestow death transcendence on those who believe in the worldview and live up to its standards. Pursuits of self-esteem as endorsed by a worldview enable the person to conceive of him- or herself as a valuable contributor to a meaningful universe, ultimately promising either literal or symbolic death transcendence. Literal immortality is provided by the vast majority of the world religions in the form of the belief that life continues after physical death, in heaven, reincarnation, or other ways that enable some part of the individual to persist into eternity. Symbolic immortality is the idea that one will live on as a part of something greater than oneself, such as a family, nation, political movement, or religious group. Symbolic immortality often takes the form of leaving a permanent mark on others or the culture in general (e.g., by contributing something that will affect future generations, such as a great novel, idea, or work of art). People require consensual validation from others to maintain faith in their cultural worldviews. When others share one’s worldview, it increases faith in these conceptions and thus enhances their ability to shield deathrelated concerns. When others view the world differently than we do, it undermines this faith and thus makes us more vulnerable to existential terror. Consequently, people are attracted to those who share their worldviews and threatened by those who hold different worldviews. From the perspective of TMT, much intergroup conflict and hostility results from the threat to one’s worldview and self-esteem posed by those who adhere to alternative worldviews. However, TMT also suggests that mortality concerns can also contribute to tolerance toward outgroups (Greenberg et al., 1992). Empirical support for TMT has been provided by tests of a variety of distinct hypotheses in diverse countries and cultures (for a recent review, see Greenberg, Solomon, & Arndt, 2007). The current studies are guided by the MS hypothesis; this hypothesis suggests that if certain psychological constructions function to protect us from our fear of death, then a reminder of that fear should engender increased need for these protective structures. Studies have supported the MS hypothesis by showing that death reminders lead to: (a) harsher judgments of those who challenge or violate one’s cultural worldview and more positive judgments of those who support or exemplify it (Greenberg et al., 1990; Rosenblatt, Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, & Lyon, 1989); (b) preferences for simple structure in the social world (Landau, Johns, et al., 2004a); (c) more vigorous pursuits of self-esteem (for a review, see Pyszczynski, Greenberg, Solomon, Arndt, & Schimel, 2004); and (d) increased reliance on salient cultural values (Jonas et al., 2008). Many studies have shown that the effects of MS are specific to thoughts of death and that parallel effects are not found in response to reminders of other aversive events (e.g., uncertainty, future bouts of uncertain pain, meaninglessness). However, some studies have shown that thoughts of other aversive events sometimes do lead to effects similar to MS (e.g., McGregor, Zanna, Holmes, & European Psychologist 2012; Vol. 17(1):63–72

Spencer, 2001). For a discussion of possible resolutions for these contradictory findings, which would go beyond the scope of the present investigation, see Pyzsczynski, Greenberg, Solomon, and Maxfield (2006).

Attitudes Toward Out-Group Members and TMT The terror management perspective on intergroup conflict is highly compatible with the central concepts of social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Both theories view group membership as an important source of both meaning and self-esteem and both posit a motive to view oneself and one’s group in a distinctively positive light. Thus emphasizing the superiority and distinctiveness of one’s group relative to others serves a useful psychological function and derogating out-groups and their members can help accomplish this. Social identity theory focuses on the utility of out-group derogation for establishing the identity and value of the in-group, and Hogg and Abrams (1993) suggest that this ultimately functions to provide a stable conception of the social world and reduce uncertainty. TMT does not take issue with these ideas, but adds that certainty regarding the identity and value of one’s group functions, at least in part, to help manage death concerns. For a more thorough discussion of the relationship between social identity theory and TMT, and a review of evidence documenting the effect of death reminders on the maintenance of in-group distinctiveness and superiority, see Castano and Dechesne (2005). Germane to anti-immigrant attitudes, research has shown that reminders of mortality often intensify derogation of outgroup members. MS led Christian participants to negatively evaluate a Jewish target (Greenberg et al., 1990), Americans to blame a foreign auto manufacturer more than an American carmaker in a hypothetical law suit (Nelson, Moore, Olivetti, & Scott, 1997), German university students to distance themselves from a Turkish target by sitting farther away from the target in a waiting room (Ochsmann & Mathy, 1994; see Castano & Dechesne, 2005 for other examples of this phenomenon). But TMT does not view hostile reactions to out-groups as the only way of managing existential concerns or an inevitable response to reminders of one’s mortality. People cope with their awareness of death by clinging to salient beliefs and values that are central to their internalized worldview. Stable individual differences in participants’ worldviews consequently moderate how MS influences reactions to out-group members. MS increased negativity toward prostitutes only occurred among people who view prostitution negatively (Rosenblatt et al., 1989). MS led politically conservative Americans to be more negative toward out-group members, but this effect does not tend to emerge among American liberals (Greenberg et al., 1992; Pyszczynski et al., 2006). MS led high authoritarians to derogate an attitudinally dissimilar other but this effect was not observed among low authoritarians (Greenberg et al., 1990). In considering how MS would affect attitudes toward immigrants, this latter work suggests that the effects of 2011 Hogrefe Publishing


MS depend on participants’ level of RWA. A large body of research has shown that people high in RWA (Altemeyer, 1988) are generally more prejudiced toward diverse outgroups, including immigrants (Altemeyer, 1981; Quinton, Cowan, & Watson, 1996). RWA thus seems like a particularly important dimension of cultural worldviews. Altemeyer (1981) defines RWA as the covariation of these three components: (1) Authoritarian submission – a high degree of submission to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives. (2) Authoritarian aggression – a general aggressiveness, directed against various persons, which is perceived to be sanctioned by established authorities. (3) Conventionalism – a high degree of adherence to the social conventions which are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities. (p. 147–148). People who view the world in this way are especially likely to be threatened by people such as immigrants who are different from themselves, and further, are likely to view such people as inferior and even evil. Thus one would expect that people high in RWA would respond to reminders of their mortality by viewing immigrants more negatively. On the other hand, people who hold less authoritarian, more tolerant, and open-minded attitudes are less likely to perceive out-group members as threatening. To the extent that low RWA individuals value tolerance and diversity, immigrants may offer an avenue for dealing with death concerns through the expression of these values in the form of positive attitudes toward out-group members. Consistent with this possibility, Alteyemer (1988) characterizes the people who score low on RWA as ‘‘fair-minded, evenhanded, tolerant, nonaggressive persons’’ (p. 262) and Greenberg et al. (1992) found that political liberals, who tend to be low in RWA (Altemeyer, 1981; see Crowson, Thoma, & Hestevold, 2005 for two studies investigating the relationship between RWA and conservatism), rated an out-group target more positively after MS.

Hypothesis MS should increase high RWA participants’ negativity toward immigrants and increase participants’ positivity toward immigrants among those low in RWA.

Study 1 This is the first study we are aware of that has tested TMT hypotheses in France. In this study, following personality 1

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measures (including the RWA scale) and the MS manipulation, we presented French college students with a passage from an immigrant; the immigrant in the passage commented on his and his family’s integration into French culture. After reading the passage, participants evaluated the target immigrant.

Method Participants One hundred and ten participants from Paris X Nanterre University participated and were entered into a lottery drawing where several prizes were awarded (gift cards to a local store).1 This sample included 92 females and 18 males with age ranging from 18 to 60 (M = 20.55, SD = 6.13). Procedure and Materials The study was conducted in several large psychology courses; at the beginning of the sessions, the experimenter explained that the study investigated the effects of personality on evaluations of interviews conducted with immigrants. Participants were instructed to complete the questionnaire packet in the order the pages were presented, not to spend too much time on any particular question and just to go with their first gut-level responses. Following this introduction, participants filled out the RWA scale, were randomly assigned to the MS or dental pain control condition, and read about and evaluated an immigrant. All the materials were first translated into French by one individual and then back-translated into English by another person to ensure accuracy. The materials in the packets were presented in the following order. RWA Scale. A French version of the 20-item RWA scale (Altemeyer, 1988) was created and used to assess the degree to which the participants espouse an authoritarian worldview. Participants indicated their responses on 1 (very strongly disagree) to 9 (very strongly agree) scales. Example items from the RWA scale are as follows: ‘‘What our country really needs, instead of more ‘civil rights,’ is a good stiff dose of law and order’’ and ‘‘What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path.’’ Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was acceptable (a = .79); thus a composite RWA score was computed for each participant. Personality Questionnaires. We included a French version of the 12-item belief in a dangerous world scale (BDW; Altemeyer, 1988) to investigate whether it moderates the effects of MS on evaluations of immigrants. For the BDW

One participant did not complete the dependent variable and therefore was not included in any of the analyses. Further, all participants who indicated that they or one of their parents were not native French were also excluded (n = 35).

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scale, participants indicated their responses on Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (very strongly disagree) to 9 (very strongly agree). Example items from this scale include: ‘‘There are many dangerous people in our society who will attack someone out of pure meanness, for no reason at all’’ and ‘‘Things are getting so bad, even a decent law-abiding person who takes sensible precautions can still become a victim of violence and crime.’’ This scale was shown to be reliable (a = .81) and therefore composite scores were computed for each participant. Participants also completed the 30-item Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Kurdek, 2002).

Table 1. Study 1 correlations between individual predictors and the dependent variable

MS Manipulation. Presented as the ‘‘Projective Life Attitudes Assessment,’’ participants in the MS condition were asked the prototypical open-ended questions regarding their mortality used in many past TMT studies (Rosenblatt et al., 1989): ‘‘Please briefly describe the thoughts and emotions that the thought of your own death arouses in you’’ and ‘‘Jot down as specifically as you can, what you think will happen to you as you physically die and once you are physically dead.’’ Participants in the control condition responded to parallel questions regarding the aversive topic of dental pain. Fifty-seven participants responded to the MS prompt and 53 to the control.

responded to five questions evaluating the immigrant in the interview by indicating their responses to the following questions on 1 (Not at all) to 9 (Very much) scales: ‘‘How much do you like this person?,’’ ‘‘How intelligent do you think this person is?,’’ ‘‘How knowledgeable do you think this person is?,’’ ‘‘How much do you agree with this person’s opinion of immigration in France?,’’ and ‘‘From your perspective, how true do you think this person’s opinion of immigration in France is?’’

Variables RWA BDW MS Immigrant evaluations

RWA

BDW

MS

–

.53** –

.08 .05 –

Immigrant evaluations .10 .02 .03 –

Note. ** indicates significance at the .001 level.

Results Test of Hypothesis: Attitudes Toward the Immigrant

Delay/Distraction. Past TMT research has shown that there must be a short delay/distraction period immediately following an MS induction in order to see MS-related effects (see Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999). Thus, participants completed the PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1991) following the MS manipulation; this measure also functioned to assess whether or not MS influenced self-reported emotion. Immigrant Rating. Participants were instructed that ‘‘the national commission of immigration carried out hundreds of interviews that were later transcribed. The following passage is one of those transcriptions. After reading this passage, we ask that you evaluate the person in the passage on the following page.’’ Participants thus read a passage ostensibly based on an interview with an immigrant living in France.2 After reading the interview, participants

2

The five immigrant evaluation items were found to be internally consistent (a = .84) and therefore an average score for each participant was computed (M = 5.85, SD = 1.55); higher scores on the dependent variable indicate increased positivity toward the immigrant (see Table 1 for the correlations between individual predictors and the dependent variable). To test our hypothesis, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed using MS (dummy coded with dental pain coded as zero), RWA (centered at the mean; M = 3.73, SD = .93), and the RWA · MS interaction as predictors of evaluations of the immigrant (see Aiken & West, 1991). This analysis provided support for our hypothesis, in the form of a significant two-way interaction between MS and RWA (b = .82, SE = .31, b = .36, p = .01; see Figure 1). All other effects were nonsignificant (ps > .3). The simple slopes depicting the relationship between immigrant evaluations and RWA in each condition

We manipulated the attitudes expressed by the immigrant in the interview. Participants, in combination with being randomly assigned to the MS manipulation, were randomly assigned to read one of three versions of the immigrant interview. One conveyed that France is a difficult country for an immigrant and that generally speaking France is not a good place. The second conveyed that it is difficult to start a new life in France and that the French people are not always tolerant of outsiders, but that the immigrant believed that it is still possible to have a good life there. The third one conveyed that French people are very tolerant of immigrants, and that France is a great country. Our intention was to create interviews that would give a generally negative, neutral, or positive impression of the immigrant. However, initial analyses revealed only a main effect indicating that the neutral immigrant was liked more than the negative and positive immigrants, and that the negative immigrant was liked marginally more than the positive (p < .06). This suggests that this manipulation was not successful, and not surprisingly, it did not moderate the results. We can only speculate about why the manipulation failed. In light of the widespread riots and protests by French immigrants the year before we conducted this study, the neutral-mixed attitude immigrant may have been preferred because the person was optimistic but still expressed a realistic and credible view given the current situation, whereas the positive immigrant may have been viewed as out of touch with reality.




Figure 1. Evaluation of immigrant (high scores reflect more positive evaluations of the immigrant) as a function of RWA at two standard deviations above and below the mean and MS.

are as follows: (a) dental pain control condition, b = .27, SE = .23, b = .16, p = .23; and (b) MS condition, b = .55, SE = .22, b = .33, p = .01. Thus whereas in the dental pain condition RWA was not significantly associated with immigrant evaluations, in the MS condition, high RWA was significantly associated with negative immigrant evaluations. We then assessed the effects of MS on high and low RWA participants by comparing MS to dental pain at two standard deviations (see Goldenberg et al., 2003, Study 3; Jaccard, Turrisi, & Wan, 1990; Vess, Arndt, Cox, Routledge, & Goldenberg, 2009) above and below the mean on RWA (Aiken & West, 1991). In line with our predictions, low RWA participants primed with MS showed significantly more positive evaluations of the immigrant compared to those in the dental pain condition (b = 1.59, SE = .65, b = .52, p = .02); in contrast, MS engendered more negative evaluations among high RWA participants compared to the dental pain condition (b = 1.47, SE = .65, b = .48, p = .03).

Secondary Analyses Given that RWA is significantly positively correlated with BDW (in the current sample: r = .53, p < .001; Altemeyer, 1988) and that BDW is positively related to out-group prejudice (Altemeyer, 1988; Duckitt, Wagner, du Plessis, & Birum, 2002), parallel analyses to those conducted above were performed substituting in BDW for RWA as the individual difference predictor (centered at the mean; M = 4.71; SD = 1.22). This hierarchical regression analysis revealed only a significant two-way interaction between BDW and MS (b = .80, SE = .23, b = .44, p < .01; see Figure 2); all other effects did not reach significance (ps > .7). Simple slope analyses indicated a significant negative relationship 2011 Hogrefe Publishing

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Figure 2. Evaluation of immigrant as a function of BDW at two standard deviations above the mean and MS.

between BDW and evaluations of the immigrant in the MS condition (b = .44, SE = .17, b = .35, p = .01), and surprisingly a significant positive relationship between BDW and evaluations of the immigrant in the dental pain control condition (b = .36, SE = .16, b = .28, p = .03). Pairwise comparisons comparing evaluations of the immigrant in the MS condition to those in the control condition were conducted at two standard deviations above and below the mean of BDW. MS led those scoring high on BDW to more negatively evaluate the immigrant compared to the dental pain control condition (b = 1.88, SE = .64, b = .61, p < .01); participants who scored low on BDW provided more positive evaluations following MS compared to the control condition (b = 2.04, SE = .64, b = .66, p < .01). The results generated by BDW, for the most part, mirrored the results of the RWA analysis, which is not surprising given the correlation between them (see Table 1). We view these similar findings as evidence that MS-induced responses toward out-groups not only vary as a function of the authoritarian personality but also extend to individual differences in perceptions of the world as a dangerous place (see Duckitt et al., 2002 for a discussion of the relationship between RWA and BDW). Since the current paper is focused on the authoritarian personality, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis which statistically controlled for BDW to investigate whether the significant interaction between MS and RWA would still hold. Specifically, we controlled for BDW at Step 1, RWA and MS main effect terms were entered at Step 2, and the interaction between RWA and MS was entered at Step 3. The interaction between RWA and MS remained significant after controlling for BDW (b = .83, SE = .31, b = .36, p = .01); all other effects were nonsignificant (ps > .3). Affect Consistent with past TMT research, separate one-way ANOVAs revealed that MS did not influence self-reported European Psychologist 2012; Vol. 17(1):63–72

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positive, F(1, 107) = .07, p = .80, or negative affect, F(1, 107) = .23, p = .63.3 To test whether or not affect mediated the relationship observed between MS · RWA and immigrant evaluations, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed where both positive and negative affect scores were entered at Step 1, MS and RWA main effect terms at Step 2, and the RWA · MS term at Step 3. This analysis indicated that the RWA · MS term remained significant after controlling for affect (b = .80, SE = .31, b = .35, p = .01).

Study 2 Given that MS-induced positivity toward out-group members is a somewhat unusual finding in the TMT literature, the question arises as to whether or not this effect may have something to do with the generally liberal nature of French culture and in particular the university where the data from Study 1 were collected.4 In order to assess this, we designed Study 2 to conceptually replicate Study 1 and collected the data at a large state university in the southwest United States which could be characterized as moderately liberal. Study 1 and Study 2 were conceptually the same, but the materials depicting the immigrant in Study 2 were redesigned. In Study 2, we asked American college students to form an impression of a facebook profile of an immigrant from Mexico. We chose to use an immigrant from Mexico because in the southwestern United States, the most common immigrants are from Mexico, and though welcomed and treated well by many, they have in some cases become targets of discrimination and prejudice (Fears, 2006; Wagner, 2008).

Method Participants Eighty-four University of Arizona college students participated for course credit in their introductory to psychology course and 62 of these participants were female (age: M = 19.12, SD = 2.32).5 A majority of the participants reported that they were white (94%); 2.4% reported that they were African American; 1.2% identified themselves as Asian; and 2.4% indicated other.

3 4

5

Procedure and Materials Participants were run in groups of 5. The experimenter introduced the study as investigating the relationship between personality and impressions of others, and that participation would include responding to various personality questionnaires and then forming an impression of a person in a facebook profile. Participants were encouraged to not spend too much time on any particular question and to go with their first gut-level responses. After the introduction, participants were ushered into separate cubicles to complete one of four questionnaire packets only differing by the experimental manipulations: 2 (MS vs. Uncertainty Salience) · 2 (Immigrant Facebook Content: Profile 1 vs. Profile 2). Once the participants completed the packet, the experimenter thoroughly debriefed the participants and thanked them for their participation. The materials used in the questionnaire packets are listed below in the order of presentation. Filler Personality Questionnaire. To aid the cover story, at the beginning of the questionnaire packet, all participants responded to a measure of social desirability (Crown & Marlow, 1960). RWA Scale. Participants completed the 30-item RWA scale similar to that used in Study 1 (Altmeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). This scale was found to be highly reliable (a = .93) and thus composite scores were computed for each participant. MS Manipulation. This manipulation was the same as used in Study 1 except uncertainty salience replaced dental pain salience as the control condition. In the uncertainty control condition, participants responded to two open-ended questions which asked them to ‘‘Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of experiencing uncertainty arouses in you’’ and to ‘‘Jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think will happen to you as you physically experience uncertainty and once you have physically experienced uncertainty.’’ Forty-four participants responded to the MS prompt and 40 to the control. Delay/Distraction. Participants then completed the PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1991) and the Morningness ¨ stberg, 1976). and Eveningness Questionnaire (Horne & O

Two participants did not complete the PANAS-X and thus were not included in both the analyses examining the influence of MS on affect and the mediational analysis. We conducted an independent samples t test to assess whether the French sample from Study 1 differed in levels of RWA compared to the American sample in Study 2. The French sample (M = 3.73, SD = .93) scored significantly lower on RWA than the American sample (M = 4.30, SD = 1.24; df = 188, t = 3.66, p < .001). These results suggest that the French sample is indeed more liberal than the American sample. One participant was removed due to suspicion, and four other participants were removed from the analyses because they were identified as multivariate outliers (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Further, all participants who identified themselves as either Hispanic (n = 17) or an immigrant (n = 8) were removed from all analyses.




Immigrant Facebook Profiles. Participants were instructed to form an impression of a facebook profile. Participants were presented with one of two facebook profiles both of an immigrant student from Mexico. In both profiles, participants viewed the immigrant student’s name (Hector Martinez) gender, birthday, hometown (Mexico City, Mexico), personal information, where the student went to high school (Universidad Motolinia del Pedregal), and where he is attending college (University of Arizona). However, we varied the profiles’ personal information; this was done to demonstrate that the interactive effect of RWA · MS will hold across different personal information. Also, various grammatical mistakes were included in the personal information to lend support to the idea that the immigrant is still learning English. The personal information in Profile 1 is as follows: Activities: Read books, play soccer with friends, and going to U of A sports. Interests: Playing my guitar and listening nortenõ music. I also like talking day off! Favorite Movies: Without doubt The Matrix. About Me: I move to Tucson from Ciudad de Me´xico two years ago and still working on my English, and one day would like to be U.S. citizen. The personal information in Profile 2 is: Activities: Play baseball with friends, talk about movies, watch movies, and eating. Interests: I’m really interested in cook authentic mexican meals. Also, I enjoy exercise (mainly running). Favorite Movies: Old Star Wars movies About Me: I move to Tucson from Ciudad de Me´xico two years ago and still working on my English, and one day would like to be U.S. citizen. Forty-four participants viewed Profile 1 and 40 viewed Profile 2. Immigrant Facebook Ratings. After viewing one of the two immigrant profiles, participants encountered the dependent measure. Specifically, participants were asked to respond to four questions regarding the immigrant facebook profile they just viewed and to indicate their responses on 1 (Not at all) to 9 (Extremely/Completely) scales. The questions include: ‘‘To what extent do you think you would like the person in the facebook profile?’’; ‘‘To what extent do you think you would enjoy a conversation with the person in the profile?’’; ‘‘To what extent do you think you would like to meet the person in the facebook profile?’’; and ‘‘To what extent do you think you would avoid a social interaction with the person in the profile’’ (reverse coded). Demographic Information. At the end of the questionnaire packet, all participants reported their age, gender, immigrant 6

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status, and race (options listed: African American, White, Hispanic, Asian, and Other).

Results Test of Hypothesis: Attitudes Toward the Immigrant A composite impression score of the immigrant was computed by averaging together the four immigrant facebook rating items (M = 5.57, SD = 1.60; a = .90); higher scores indicate increased positivity toward the immigrant (see Table 2 for the correlations between individual predictors and the dependent variable). To test our hypothesis, we used the same hierarchical regression procedures as used in Study 1. Specifically, we used RWA (centered at the mean; M = 4.30, SD = 1.24), MS (dummy coded with the uncertainty control condition coded as zero), facebook content (dummy coded with Profile 2 coded as zero), and all possible interactions as predictors of attitudes toward the immigrant (Aiken &West, 1991). This analysis only revealed the anticipated two-way interaction between level of RWA and MS (b = .71, SE = .31, b = .43, p = .03). All other effects were not significant (ps > .05). Follow-up analyses of the significant two-way interaction explored both simple slopes, and compared MS to the uncertainty control condition at two standard deviations above and below the mean of RWA (see Goldenberg et al., 2003, Study 3; Jaccard, Turrisi, & Wan, 1990; Vess et al., 2009). Simple slope analyses indicated that in the MS condition there was a significant negative relationship between RWA and attitudes toward the immigrant (b = .71, SE = .28, b = .55, p = .01), but no relationship was revealed in the uncertainty control condition (b = .001, SE = .24, b = .001, p = .99). In pairwise fashion, MS led low RWA participants to increase positivity toward the immigrant compared to those in the uncertainty control condition (b = 1.72, SE = .84, b = .54, p = .04). In contrast, those high on RWA showed more negativity toward the immigrant following a death reminder compared to the control condition (b = 1.93, SE = .84, b = .60, p = .02; Figure 3).

Affect In line with past TMT research, two separate ANOVAs revealed that MS did not influence levels of both selfreported positive, F(1, 81) = .94, p = .33, and negative affect, F(1, 81) = 1.91, p = .17.6 To investigate whether affect mediated the relationship between MS · RWA on attitudes toward the immigrant, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed where both positive and negative affect were entered at Step 1 and MS, RWA, and facebook content main effects at Step 2, and all possible two-way interactions at Step 3, and the three-way interaction at Step 4. This analysis indicated that the RWA · MS interaction remained

One participant did not complete the PANAS-X scale and therefore was removed from the analyses involving affect.



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Table 2. Study 2 correlations between individual predictors and the dependent variable Variables RWA Content MS Immigrant evaluations

RWA

Content

–

.06 –

MS .06 .05 –

Immigrant evaluations .15 .04 .04 –

Figure 3. Evaluation of immigrant as a function of RWA at two standard deviations above the mean and MS.

significant (p = .04) after controlling for self-reported positive and negative affect.

General Discussion Our interaction hypotheses were supported in two separate studies: MS led those who scored high on RWA to decrease liking of immigrants, and those who scored low on RWA to increase liking of the same immigrants. This hypothesis was thus supported with samples from two different cultures, using two different aversive control conditions, and using immigrants from two different countries. Thus the interactive effect of MS and RWA on reactions to immigrants seems to have some generalizability. Although immigrants are likely to be a worldview threat to high RWAs, they are more likely to be viewed positively by people who value open-mindedness and tolerance, as is true for low RWAs. A moderating effect of authoritarianism has been found in one previous TMT study (Greenberg, et al., 1990). However, previous TMT research has focused on the fact that MS leads high authoritarians to respond with increased negativity toward a dissimilar other (Greenberg et al., 1990); the current studies provide clear evidence that those who do European Psychologist 2012; Vol. 17(1):63–72

not characterize themselves as authoritarians (i.e., those who value tolerance) show increased positivity toward out-group members following a death reminder. Consistent with prior work, the specific content of the participants’ worldviews must be considered in order to predict how they will respond to MS (e.g., Dechesne, Janssen, & van Knippenberg, 2000; Greenberg et al., 1992; Pyszczynski et al., 2006).

Limitations and Conclusion In the separate samples the number of male participants was too low to reliably assess the potential role of gender in the analyses reported above; therefore, we combined both samples to test for gender-related effects (N = 194; female = 154, male = 40). Following the hierarchical regression procedures mentioned above we entered gender (dummy coded with males coded as zero), RWA, and MS at Step 1, all two-way interactions at Step 2, and the three-way interaction at Step 3. This analysis revealed only the significant two-way interaction between RWA and MS on evaluations of the immigrant (b = .61, SE = .21, b = .33, p < .01); all other effects were not significant. Gender alone or in combination with the other variables did not predict attitudes toward the immigrant. In times of increased salience of terrorism which has been shown to function as a death reminder (see Landau, Solomon, et al., 2004b), it is important to understand how native people respond to immigrant groups, and the current research shows that fear of death can fuel either tolerant or intolerant attitudes toward immigrants, depending on their levels of RWA. It is also critical to consider the determinants of RWA to gain a more complete picture of the combined effects of RWA and MS on attitudes toward immigrant groups. Recent investigations by Dallago and Raccoto (2010) suggest a positive correlation exists between perceived threat to societal safety and levels of RWA; other evidence indicates that during periods of high societal threat levels of authoritarian attitudes and behavior become elevated (Doty, Peterson, & Winter, 1991). Integrating these findings with those of the current research, during times of heightened societal threat (e.g., immediately following a large-scale terrorist attack, economic instability) levels of RWA should increase and MS should generally magnify intolerance toward out-group members. In contrast, when perceived threat to societal safety is low, mortality reminders might engender increased tolerance toward different other people. Given the speculative nature of this reasoning, additional research is needed to test if the determinants of RWA do indeed interact with mortality concerns to predict attitudes toward out-group members. In closing, TMT research indicates that less hostile responses can be provoked through temporarily making the values of tolerance and compassion salient. Specifically, this research shows that making tolerance highly accessible (Greenberg et al., 1992), priming compassionate values in the form of Biblical and Koran passages (Rothschild, Abdollahi, & Pyszczynski, 2009), activating a sense of common humanity (Motyl et al., 2009), and priming a secure interpersonal relationship (Weise et al., 2008) can lessen intergroup conflict. We know that peaceful relations 2011 Hogrefe Publishing


between people with different worldviews and backgrounds are no easy feat, but it seems clear from this research that fear does not necessarily have to lead to aggression, derogation, and the like, but can indeed provoke behavior that is conducive to building positive interpersonal relations across groups of people.

Acknowledgment We would like to thank Katie Pardi for her help with the data collection for Study 2.

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Received June 8, 2009 Accepted June 30, 2010 Published online May 13, 2011

About the authors David Weise is a graduate student at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA who has done graduate work with both Tom Pyszczynski at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA and with Jeff Greenberg at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, where he is currently finishing his graduate studies. All three are interested in understanding human motivation through the lens of terror management theory. Thomas Arciszewski is currently a professor at University of Provence – Centre PsyCle´, Aix-en-Provence, France. His research explores how fear and psychological threats influence political preferences. Jean-François Verlhiac is a professor at Paris X Nanterre University in Paris, France. His broad research interests include studying the effects of cognitive and motivational processes on perceptions of risk. Tom Pyszczynski is a professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. His research focuses on understanding the motivational underpinnings of human behavior mainly through the lens of terror management theory. Jeff Greenberg is a professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on understanding the motivational underpinnings of human behavior mainly through the lens of terror management theory.

David R. Weise Department of Psychology University of Arizona P.O. Box 210068 1503 East University Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85721 USA E-mail [email protected]
