Ethnocentrism and ethnic categorization of immigrants: the role of epistemic motivation and perceived numerosity

In this study we examine how host nationals (i.e., Italians) categorize foreigners, and the role of epistemic motivation (i.e., need for cognitive closure) and ethnocentrism in this process. In our research, photographs of male faces from 16 immigrant groups were shown to the participants (N=305). They were asked to identify the national origin of each person in the photographs. The researchers found that (a) participants tended to categorise immigrants as members of the two largest immigrant groups (i.e., Albanian or Moroccan), (b) participants who perceived Albanians or Moroccans to be the most numerous were the most likely to categorise immigrants as belonging to these groups, (c) this effect was most pronounced when participants had high ethnocentrism and high need for cognitive closure.