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The number of asylum seekers and refugees across the world is rapidly increasing. Negative attitudes toward these groups are globally prevalent and typically hostile because most receiving country citizens perceive them to be a security threat and an economic burden. This paper aims to understand the antecedents of negative attitudes toward a large refugee group currently garnering a great deal of attention—Syrian refugees, and experimentally test ways to ameliorate negative attitudes. In Study 1 (N = 122), we investigated predictors of social distance—as a proxy for prejudice—and found right‐wing authoritarianism and intergroup anxiety to be significant predictors. In Study 2 (N = 162), we tested whether perceived acculturation orientation would predict social distance and found that Americans were less prejudiced toward Syrians who preferred to assimilate rather than integrate. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 153), we tested if a form of vicarious contact could reduce social distance via reduced intergroup anxiety; we found initial evidence for this mediation link. We discussed the potential for the vicarious contact intervention to foster positive intergroup relations and contribute to refugee wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How receiving society members perceive and respond to immigration are crucial factors that shape the context of reception for immigrants coming to a new country. In this paper, we examine these processes through the lens of intergroup contact research, with a focus on relations between immigrants and members of receiving societies, to discern ways in which receiving societies are or are not welcoming toward immigrants. Reviewing recent theorizing with illustrative empirical studies and ongoing programs of research that focus on new immigrants in Germany and the United States, we describe how direct and indirect forms of positive and negative contact can serve either to facilitate or inhibit positive immigrant‐receiving community relations. We also discuss factors that may contribute to the emergence of positive and negative contact experiences between immigrants and receiving society members. We close with a discussion of policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the racial trends and countertrends in American organizational behavior. The present state of affairs is typified by a general disjuncture between life in black U.S. and the people, practices, and resources typically required for entry into the world of a corporate American more oriented to the "bottom line" than ever before. About the only positive aspect of this situation is the consensus of both papers that this state of affairs is not necessarily permanent. For some intrinsic reason, intergroup behavior in American business organizations actually differs from such relations in society at large--or at least it should. In this view, the often-cited liberalization of American racial attitudes since World War II should have reached the boardrooms and personnel offices of American corporations, if it did not actually begin there in the first place. The efficacy of the assumption of an increasingly racially liberal United States is highly questionable. Whatever the trend in society-at-large, corporate management, as an enlightened elite, should hold comparatively liberal racial views.

In the four decades since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation decision, social psychologists have generally avoided direct involvement in policy making in the arena of intergroup relations. A review of research and theory on the social psychology of intergroup relations since the 1960s is used to argue that it is time to renew such involvement. In recent years, policy making in the United States has shifted from assimilationism to various forms of pluralist or multicultural politics. This paper suggests that the route to multiculturalism may be perilous unless better informed by relevant social psychological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual and gender minorities experience disparities in mental and physical health often attributed to structural discrimination through policies that do not promote equal rights and interpersonal-intrapersonal processes. Social issues research on stigma and intergroup relations can explicate the intervening processes that explain health. In this introduction to the special issue entitled Translating Stigma and Intergroup Relations Research to Explain and Reduce Sexual and Gender Minority Health Disparities, we call social issues researchers to focus their work on sexual and gender minority stigma and intergroup relations processes in order to understand and ultimately reduce health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actions agencies have been established in order to combat intergroup tensions present in the American society. Three states have set fair employment practice commissions and a variety of new agencies, privately supported, have been activated nationally. Some of these are the American Council on Race Relations, the Commission on Community Inter-relations of the American Jewish Congress and the Bureau of Intercultural Education. Thus far the newness of this action for unity initiative has hindered the development of a working relationship among various agencies. This article discusses techniques and methods for influencing intergroup relations in the U.S.

National discourse about immigration in the United States has become increasingly unwelcoming. In two studies, we examine whether regional‐level (state) information about welcoming (vs. unwelcoming) immigrant policies in the context of either stable or increasing rate of immigration can influence intergroup relations in receiving communities. Among Whites (Study 1), welcoming policy proposals elicited more positive attitudes toward immigrants generally and toward Latinos, the ethnic group most closely associated with immigration in the United States, but only when rate of immigration is constant. In contrast, among Latinos (Study 2), an unwelcoming reception led to more positive attitudes toward immigrants (legal and undocumented) but again only when rate of immigration is constant. Asians' attitudes (Study 2) toward immigrants were not affected by contextual information about immigration. Together, these findings suggest that local conditions can affect community members' attitudes toward immigrants and toward specific ethnic groups associated with immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for psychologists to educate White Americans about the reality of racism and racist violence in the United States in order to enlist White Americans to protest in support of the Civil Rights Movement. While most research on collective action focuses on in‐group identity, recent research suggests that social dominancy theory's focus on ideology and intergroup behavior may be more relevant to explain collective action participation among dominant group members. We used latent variable modeling with two samples of White Americans (N = 265 for Study 1; N = 383 for Study 2) to test a social dominance theory (SDT) model of collective action. After observing suppression results in Study 1 centering on the measurement of symbolic racism, Study 2 results supported the importance of social dominance orientation, rejecting racist beliefs, and expressing anger at Black's social disadvantage in understanding White American's collective action willingness to reduce racial inequality. Discussion focuses on White American support for hierarchy‐attenuating social policy and advocacy and the utility of SDT in understanding hierarchy‐attenuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how intergroup processes and stigma contribute to pervasive health disparities that exist between LGB and heterosexual individuals. In particular, we focus on how the hierarchical organization of groups and the intergroup dynamics that arise from this structure operate at structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels to impact psychological and physiological processes that negatively influence health among LGB individuals. We focus on how these various manifestations of stigma act as additional stressors with which LGB individuals must contend and how this stress impacts health via stress-related physiological reactivity, coping strategies, and health care interactions. Throughout we highlight how specific aspects of LGB identities (i.e., concealability and 'nontribal' nature) present concerns that diverge from those documented in research on race and gender-based stigmas. We end by discussing areas for future research and implications for social policy and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in contemporary U.S. broadband policy, an emerging area of communication policy that attempts to address merging media and telecommunications competition, diversity and inclusion issues for the digital age. A summary of three dominant themes in the literature regarding media diversity outlines the primary concerns of digital media policy. An interpretative policy analysis of the National Broadband Plan sheds lights on how regulators address diversity and access issues in the digital transition, particularly for communities of color. The analysis reveals that unlike prior exclusions of certain racial and ethnic groups in communications infrastructure, the unfolding broadband framework is attempting to be explicit about the inclusion of historically marginalized populations. We argue that the emerging media governance framework is both influenced by the problematic history of media diversity as well as a discursive and material shift that emphasizes market orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political debates and policies related to the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples have psychological and social impacts on lesbian, gay, bisexual individuals and same-sex couples and also on their families, friends, and communities. The overarching goal of this issue was to significantly advance the previous sparse literature on these impacts. The result is an international, interdisciplinary, methodologically, and theoretically diverse collection of original empirical research articles that collectively address three broad questions: (1) What are the social and psychological effects of marriage amendment campaigns and policies? (2) How does civil marriage compare to other statuses for same-sex couples or marriage in other countries? (3) How do anti-gay initiatives affect heterosexual allies and intergroup relationships? Across the diverse approaches and populations that comprise this volume, findings converge in demonstrating that the denial of civil marriage rights is a significant public health issue with important policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes a stigma-based analysis of anti-equality marriage laws and campaigns. Three major themes are discussed. First, being denied the legal right to marry because of one's sexual orientation is an instance of stigma. Second, being the target of stigma is stressful, and the political campaigns surrounding anti-equality marriage amendments are a source of heightened stress for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. Third, structural and individual manifestations of sexual stigma are interrelated; the initial enactment and continuing existence of anti-equality marriage laws depend on the opinions and actions of the voting public. Social psychological knowledge can be useful for understanding heterosexuals' attitudes toward those laws. Building on findings from studies of prejudice and intergroup contact, suggestions are offered for future research on how individuals influence the opinions of their family and friends about marriage equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing in postwar America became a critical focal point for issues of race and social equality. Housing and race relations became a real-world laboratory for psychologists and other social scientists, including several of the leaders of , to examine developing theories of intergroup relations, especially as potential means to reduce prejudice. Further, it is argued that psychologists sought to impact emerging housing policy and to ameliorate an enduring social problem. The author concludes that the efforts by social scientists to provide workable solutions, typically from an unacknowledged place of White privilege, proved largely ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many changes in American race relations have occurred in the three decades since the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Some of these changes are related to school desegregation and have been extensively studied--e.g., changes in racial attitudes among both blacks and whites, and changes in black self-esteem and achievement-test performance. In contrast, relatively little is known about the long-term effects of school desegregation on assimilation--full and equal participation of blacks in the social, economic, and political life of the society. When school desegregation is viewed in the context of the long-term functions of education, it seems important for researchers and policy makers to ask whether it promotes the social integration of blacks and whites in adult life and enhances the career attainments of blacks. These important issues have recently begun to receive empirical research attention. This article reviews recent research on the long-term effects of school desegregation on black assimilation, emphasizing evidence from several national surveys. Implications for social policy, intergroup relations, and interracial equity are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Southville study in southern states of the U.S., designed to get more knowledge about the nature of the images the different groups in the community have of each other, as well as of the realities behind them, particularly in a time of acute conflict. The Southville community consisted of three groups: segregationists, people who prefer not to have colored students admitted to "white schools," even if the law says so; integrationists, people who prefer to have colored students admitted to "white schools" even if the law does not say so; and Negroes, devoted to the goals of the NAACP. The relations between the three groups was examined.

In this article, the author discusses findings of social research in intergroup relations in the U.S. Problems with regards to certain aspects of conduct and sentiment of the minority group have emerged. There are many forces which tend to develop in the children, adolescents and adults of minorities deep-seated antagonism to their own group. Many whites in the South seem to realize that one requirement for progress is the enhancement of self-esteem of the southern Negro. On the other side, the idea of a positive program of increasing group loyalties seems to be paradoxical to many liberals. The author suggested that the development of intergroup relations is full of danger and the development of social science in this field faces many obstacles.