The role of short-term and longer term immigration trends on voting for populist radical right parties in Europe

The success of populist radical right parties (PRRPs) in Europe has, in part, been attributed to growing immigration, but previous findings have found an inconsistent relationship between immigration and voting for PRRPs. We address previous inconsistencies by suggesting a time-focused perspective on intergroup relations. We disentangle short-term from longer term immigration trends and argue that a recent increase in immigration should predict PRRP support. With time, however, citizens will adapt to these demographic changes and voting for PRRPs could decline. We drew on official immigration records and representative data from the European Social Survey, capturing the voting behavior of 75,874 individuals from 15 European countries between 2002 and 2014. We found that a recent increase in immigration predicted more PRRP voting, and this relationship was strengthened under conditions of higher economic strain and inequality. In contrast, sustained immigration in the longer term was not related with PRRP votes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

When group members forgive: antecedents and consequences

Whether forgiveness is essential for intergroup reconciliation may be disputable, but its potential ability to repair human relationships following offenses committed based on group membership remains of considerable importance. The primary focus of this Special Issue is on the social-contextual factors that encourage forgiveness of past wrongs and the extent to which forgiveness results in meaningful improvement in intergroup relations. The concept of Intergroup Forgiveness has only appeared on the research agenda of social psychologists over the last decade, so there is still much room for conceptual clarification, empirical validation and applications to understanding intergroup reconciliation. Significant progress has been made by investigating predictors and correlates of intergroup forgiveness, and the research presented in this Special Issue further illuminates the processes involved in Intergroup Forgiveness, as well as important consequences. This collection of empirical articles, based on diverse theoretical perspectives and empirical approaches to studying the phenomenon of intergroup forgiveness inside and outside of the laboratory, advance our understanding of when and how improvement emerges across a wide range of real and enduring conflicts.Key words: intergroup forgiveness, intergroup relations, conflict, victim, perpetrato

The effects of recalling positive and negative contacts on linguistic discrimination towards migrant people

The present research aims to test whether varying the sequential position in which majority members recall positive and negative contacts with migrants affects the linguistic descriptions of these episodes - in terms of abstraction and valence - provided by majority group members. We also tested whether participants' prior contact with migrants and distance in time of the recalled contact experiences moderated the effect of the recall on linguistic discrimination. Across two experimental studies, evidence consistently showed that participants who recalled first positive and then negative interactions expressed less linguistic discrimination against migrants in the second event recalled, compared to those who recalled two negative interactions. Moreover, participants who reported having fewer positive intergroup experiences expressed less linguistic discrimination against migrants in recalling negative and then positive interactions, compared to recalling two positive interactions. Findings of Study 2 also revealed an effect of the temporal distance of the recalled events, with more beneficial effects of positive-negative sequences of contact when participants retrieved temporally recent compared to distant intergroup encounters. Overall, this research highlights the key role of positive contact in counteracting the effects of negative contact, leading to a reduction in linguistic discrimination

The opportunities and challenges of diversity: explaining its impact on individuals and groups

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Demographic trends reveal that modern societies have become increasingly diverse. Within the social sciences, these changes have been reflected in concerns about the implications of social diversity. Whilst early research noted that diversity may have negative consequences for societies and individuals, more recent scholarship has indicated that diversity is not always translated into negative outcomes. These inconsistent findings initiated a scholarly debate concerning the impact of many different forms of diversity for a host of social outcomes. It is now clear that the boundary conditions of these effects are yet to be fully understood. This Special Issue offers a collection of research advances identifying mediating and moderating variables addressing when and why diversity impacts intergroup relational outcomes. By focusing on different levels of diversity (i.e., in the society and in groups), this research also sheds light on the effectiveness of ideologies and policies for managing diversity.This research was supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (627982) awarded to the first author, grants from The Leverhulme and the Economic & Social Research Council (ORA programme) to the second author, and a fellowship from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being program to the fourth author

Neuere Forschungen über Intergruppenkonflikte: Konsequenzen für den Umgang mit Migration und Integration

"Vorurteile gegenüber Migranten und deren Diskriminierung gehören heute bedauerlicherweise zur sozialen und politischen Szenerie Europas. Solche Feindseiligkeiten, ein Makel für einen modernen, kosmopolitischen Kontinent, sind dabei keineswegs eine deutsche Besonderheit. Denn Vorurteile sind unter den Deutschen nicht stärker verbreitet als in etlichen anderen europäischen Ländern. Im Folgenden wird auch die Auswahl der Beispiele deutlich machen, dass wir es mit einem Problem aller europäischen Gesellschaften zu tun haben. Interkulturelle Konflikte sind ein besonderer Fall so genannter Intergruppenkonflikte. Unter diesem Begriff werden viele unterschiedliche Phänomene subsumiert: Vorurteile, Diskriminierung, Ungerechtigkeit, fortwährende Ungleichheit, Unterdrückung, 'ethnische Säuberung' bis hin zum Völkermord. Dieser Beitrag wird sich hauptsächlich mit Vorurteilen und Diskriminierung beschäftigen, da diese beiden Aspekte als die für das Thema Migration und Integration relevantesten Ausprägungen von Intergruppenkonflikten erscheinen. Auch ein Großteil der sozialpsychologischen Forschung hat sich eben diesen Problemen – Vorurteilen und Diskriminierung – gewidmet. Unter 'Vorurteil' soll hier die negative Einstellung gegenüber einer Gruppe, zu der man selbst nicht gehört, – der so genannten out-group oder Fremdgruppe – und gegenüber deren Mitgliedern verstanden werden, und zwar im Vergleich zur eigenen Gruppe, der so genannten in-group. 'Diskriminierung' ist das negative Verhalten gegenüber einer solchen Fremdgruppe und ihren Mitgliedern. Obwohl im Folgenden eine sozialpsychologische Perspektive vorgestellt wird, bedeutet das nicht, dass die Sozialpsychologie die einzige relevante oder gar Hauptdisziplin für die Erforschung dieser Probleme wäre. Die Feindseligkeiten, die sich gegen Zuwanderer richten und die Schwierigkeiten, unter denen sie deswegen zu leiden haben, bedürfen einer Analyse aus unterschiedlichen sozialwissenschaftlichen Perspektiven. So werden in diesem Beitrag beispielhaft auch einige bedeutende Erkenntnisse aus der Ökonomie, der Politikwissenschaft und der Soziologie angeführt. Die anschließenden Erläuterungen gliedern sich in zwei Hauptteile, die jeweils einen recht kurzen und selektiven Überblick über eine weite Forschungslandschaft geben. Der erste Teil beleuchtet die Reaktionen auf die neuen zugewanderten Minderheiten in Westeuropa und die diesen Reaktionen zugrunde liegenden Ursachen. Der zweite Teil stellt einige der vielversprechendsten sozialpsychologischen Interventionsmöglichkeiten vor, die die Integration von Migranten in unsere Gesellschaften verbessern könnten." (Autorenreferat