Ethnic Categorization: The Role of Epistemic Motivation, Prejudice, and Perceived Threat

In this study we first examine how host nationals (i.e., Italians) categorize immigrants; second, we look into the roles played by estimation of size and composition of immigrant population, perceived threat, prejudice, and need for cognitive closure in that process. In the first part of the study, participants responded to questionnaires measuring the variables just mentioned, including an estimation of which immigrant group was the largest in Italy. In the second part of the study, 96 photographs of male faces from 16 immigrant groups were shown to participants (N = 195). They were asked to identify the country of origin of each person in the photographs. Results showed that perceived threat enhanced the effect of prejudice and need for cognitive closure in the process of ethnic categorization. Individuals with a high need for cognitive closure and prejudice toward ethnic groups classified more immigrants as members of the group estimated as being the largest in their country when they perceived immigrants as a threat. The implications of outgroup overclassification for prejudice against immigrants are discussed.