Influence of abstract thinking style on morality and sociability attributed to immigrants by people with more conservative ideologies
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In current society, immigration is a reality that poses important challenges. Identifying factors that favor a more positive evaluation of immigrants could lead to new avenues of intervention to achieve more positive intergroup relationships and greater social well-being. Given that a more abstract thinking style promotes less focus on obstacles and difficulties, the aim of the present study was to examine the link between construal level and stereotype, focusing on people with a more conservative ideology, a population that tends to have a higher level of prejudice towards immigrants. We hypothesized that conservative people with a more abstract thinking style would report less negative stereotypes than those with a more concrete thinking style. In a sample of Spanish adults (N = 1,208, 60.1% women), we applied a questionnaire measuring thinking style, ideology, the degree to which immigrants are perceived as competitors, and the dimension of warmth (morality and sociability) of the stereotype content of that group. We found that more conservative people perceived, to a greater extent, immigrants as competitors and considered them less moral and sociable. However, the warmth (morality and sociability) attributed to immigrants was significantly higher for those conservative individuals who presented more abstract thinking style, with perceived competition as the mediating variable. As it is possible to induce a more abstract thinking style, the results of this study open a new avenue for intervention in promoting more positive attitudes toward immigrants, especially in more conservative people who tend to present more negative stereotypes towards this collective.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal retains the economic copyright of contributions that are accepted for publication. This means that it acquires the exclusive use of the document to be edited, disseminated, preserved, etc. in any support and for the time stipulated by the local legislation that regulates the performance of the publication.
Psychology, Society & Education is published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
References
Abele, A. E., & Wojciszke, B. (2007). Agency and communion from the perspective of self versus others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 751-763. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.751 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.751
Abele, A. E., & Wojciszke, B. (2014). Communal and agentic content in social cognition. A Dual Perspective Model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 50, 195-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800284-1.00004-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800284-1.00004-7
Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper & Brothers.
Altemeyer, B. (1998). The other “authoritarian personality”. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 30 (pp. 47-92). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60382-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60382-2
Brambilla, M., & Leach, C. W. (2014). On the importance of being moral: The distinctive role of morality in social judgment. Social Cognition, 32(4), 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2014.32.4.397 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2014.32.4.397
Brambilla, M., Sacchi, S., Pagliaro, S., & Ellemers, N. (2013). Morality and intergroup relations: Threats to safety and group image predict the desire to interact with outgroup and ingroup members. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(5), 811-821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.04.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.04.005
Brambilla, M., Sacchi, S., Rusconi, P., & Goodwin, G. P. (2021). The primacy of morality in impression development: Theory, research, and future directions. In B. Gawronski (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 64 (pp. 187-262). Academic Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2021.03.001
Brambilla, M., Rusconi, P., Sacchi, S., & Cherubini, P. (2011). Looking for honesty: The primary role of morality (vs. sociability and competence) in information gathering. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(2), 135-143. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.744 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.744
Bülbül, C., & Menon, G. (2010). The power of emotional appeals in advertising: The influence of concrete versus abstract affect on time-dependent decisions. Journal of Advertising Research, 50(2), 169-180. https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849910091336 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849910091336
Burscher, B., Van Spanje, J., & De Vreese, C. H. (2015). Owning the issues of crime and immigration: The relation between immigration and crime news and anti-immigrant voting in 11 countries. Electoral Studies, 38, 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2015.03.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2015.03.001
Carrera, P., Fernández, I., Muñoz, D., & Caballero, A. (2020). Using abstractness to confront challenges: How the abstract construal level increases people’s willingness to perform desirable but demanding actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 26(2), 339-349. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000244 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000244
Cuadrado, I., López-Rodríguez, L., & Navas, M. (2016). La perspectiva de la minoría: estereotipos y emociones entre grupos inmigrantes. Anales de Psicología, 32, 535-544.
Cuddy A. J. C., Fiske S. T., & Glick P. (2007) The BIAS map: Behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(4), 631-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.631 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.631
Cuddy, A. J. C., Fiske, S. T., & Glick, P. (2008). Warmth and competence as universal dimensions of social perception: The stereotype content model and the BIAS map. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 40 (pp. 61-149). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(07)00002-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(07)00002-0
Eberl, J.-M., Meltzer, C., Heidenreich, T., Herrero, B., Theorin, N., Lind, F., Berganza, R., Boomgaarden, H., Schemer, C., & Strömbäck, J. (2018). The European media discourse on immigration and its effects: A literature review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 42(3), 207-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2018.1497452 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2018.1497452
Esses, V. M., Jackson, L. M., & Armstrong, T. L. (1998). Intergroup competition and attitudes toward immigrants and immigration: An instrumental model of group conflict. Journal of Social Issues, 54(4), 699-724. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.911998091 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.911998091
Fiske, S. T. (2018). Stereotype content: Warmth and competence endure. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(2), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417738825 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417738825
Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., & Glick, P. (2007). Universal dimensions of social cognition: Warmth and competence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(2), 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.005
Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.82.6.878
Freitas, A. L., Gollwitzer, P., & Trope, Y. (2004). The influence of abstract and concrete mindsets on anticipating and guiding others’ self-regulatory efforts. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(6), 739-752 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2004.04.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2004.04.003
Fujita, K., Trope, Y., Liberman, N., & Levin-Sagi, M. (2006). Construal levels and self-control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 351-367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.3.351 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.3.351
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach (Methodology in the Social Sciences) (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). (2023). Las principales nacionalidades de los inmigrantes. Nota de prensa. Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Jacobs, L., Meeusen, C., & D’Haenens, L. (2016). News coverage and attitudes on immigration: Public and commercial television news compared. European Journal of Communication, 31(6), 642-660. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323116669456 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323116669456
Kervyn, N., Fiske, S. T., & Yzerbyt, V. (2015). Forecasting the primary dimension of social perception: Symbolic and realistic threats together predict warmth in the Stereotype Content Model. Social Psychology, 46(1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000219 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000219
Leach, C. W., Ellemers, N., & Barreto, M. (2007). Group virtue: The importance of morality (vs. competence and sociability) in the positive evaluation of in-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(2), 234-249. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.2.234 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.2.234
Leach, C. W., & Livingstone, A. G. (2015). Contesting the meaning of intergroup disadvantage: Towards a psychology of resistance. Journal of Social Issues, 71(3), 614-632. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12131 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12131
Levy, S. R., Freitas, A. L., & Salovey, P. (2002). Construing action abstractly and blurring social distinctions: Implications for perceiving homogeneity among, but also empathizing with and helping, others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1224-1238. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1224 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.5.1224
Lipset, S. M., & Raab, E. (1978). The Politics of Unreason: Right Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1977 (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
López-Rodríguez, L., Cuadrado, I. & Navas, M. (2013). Aplicación extendida del Modelo de Contenido de Estereotipos (MCE) hacia tres grupos de inmigrantes en España. Estudios de Psicología, 34(2), 197-208. https://dx.doi.org/10.1174/021093913806751375 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1174/021093913806751375
Luguri, J. B., Napier, J. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (2012). Reconstruing intolerance: Abstract thinking reduces conservatives’ prejudice against nonnormative groups. Psychological Science, 23(7), 756-763. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611433877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611433877
McCrea, S. M., Wieber, F., & Myers, A. L. (2012). Construal level mind-sets moderate self and social stereotyping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(1), 51-68. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026108
Mehta, R., Zhu, R. J., & Cheema, A. (2012). Is noise always bad? Exploring the effects of ambient noise on creative cognition. Journal of Consumer Research, 39, 784-799. https://doi.org/10.1086/665048 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/665048
Milkman, K. L., Akinola, M., & Chugh, D. (2012). Temporal distance and discrimination: An audit study in academia. Psychological Science, 23(7), 710-717. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611434539 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611434539
Napier, J. L., & Jost, J. T. (2008). Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Psychological Science, 19(6), 565-572. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02124.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02124.x
Nguyen, T., Togawa, T., Scholer, A. A., & Fujita, K. (2020). A cross-cultural investigation of metamotivational knowledge of construal level in the United States and Japan. Motivation Science, 6(4), 386-400. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000178 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000178
Nicolas, G., Fiske, S. T., Koch, A., Imhoff, R., Unkelbach, C., Terache, J., ... & Yzerbyt, V. (2022). Relational versus structural goals prioritize different social information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(4), 659-682. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000366 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000366
Sibley, C. G., & Duckitt, J. (2013). The Dual Process Model of ideology and prejudice: A longitudinal test during a global recession. The Journal of Social Psychology, 153(4), 448-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2012.757544 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2012.757544
Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2003). Temporal construal. Psychological Review, 110(3), 403-421. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.3.403 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.3.403
Vallacher, R. R., & Wegner, D. M. (1989). Levels of personal agency: Individual variation in action identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4), 660-671. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.660 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.57.4.660
White, K., Macdonnell, R., & Dahl, D. W. (2011). It’s the mind-set that matters: The role of construal level and message framing in influencing consumer efficacy and conservation behaviors. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(3), 472-485. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.472 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.472
World Bank (2023). Migrants, refugees and societies. World Bank Group.
Ybarra, O., Chan, E., & Park, D. (2001). Young and old adults’ concerns about morality and competence. Motivation and Emotion, 25, 85-100. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010633908298 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010633908298