The Effect of Geography on Group Threat Theory and Attitudes toward Latin American Immigrants
This secondary analysis examined group threat theory by looking at the relationship between the perceived number of immigrants in a particular area and the prejudicial attitudes toward Latin American immigrants. Traditionally, group threat theory has been shown to have an effect on attitudes toward Blacks but not toward Latinos. Findings from this study indicate that estimating high numbers of immigrants is not a reliable predictor of strong prejudicial attitudes toward Latin American immigrants. However, predictions of higher numbers of immigrants do appear to vary significantly by geography, suggesting that Latinos are impacted by group threat theory but have been overlooked because of a national sample that was suppressing the relationship.