Distinctive groups have been known to develop bias against other groups, based on underlying identities, such as race, ethnicity, social class, nationality, or other unifying and distinguishing factors. Biases are complex, although systematic: they differ based on ethnic/ racial group and are not limited to the polarities of love-hate (Dovidio & Fiske, 2012). Events around the world, especially in developing nations have made Western countries a destination of choice in recent times, Britain included (Harvey, 2012). Increased immigration has created unprecedented levels of concern about immigrants by the British public as never experienced before, especially in the last decade. There have been successful waves of immigrants to the UK in the last six decades, especially from former British colonies that helped the country during the second world war. During this period, there was no significant increase in public concerns about the immigrants until the later periods on the nineties (Wadsworth, Dhingra, Ottaviano & Van Reenen, 2016). The period between 2003 and 2008 saw a significant increase in concerns about immigrants, helped in part by a wave of immigrant workers made possible by the operationalization of the EU (European Union) free movement of workers across borders (Page, 2009). Social and economic pressures made the situation worse, culminating in the recent surprising, but understandable vote by Britons to exit the EU (Brexit Vote). There was more foreign nationals arriving than were leaving, and this created a social anxiety as witnessed by the surprising Brexit vote (Bulman, 2017). This paper seeks to understand the attitude Britons have towards foreigners by undertaking a study using a questionnaire to gauge these attitudes. This paper starts by describing the methodology of the research, including the research design, the materials used, and the research procedure, followed by a discussion of the results that will culminate in a conclusion.
This research is based on the primary (null) hypothesis that when a group is viewed in disgust, the elicited levels of harm will be higher than when when viewed with contempt
Variables: The dependent variable in this research is Active harm, while the independent variables are Monroes viewed with contempt versus disgust
This research was undertaken using a primary research design following a quantitative descriptive research.
The people that participated in this research were British citizens considered of indigenous heritage whose qualification was that they have not been immigrants into Britain at least in the last two generations (last half a century) and are currently resident in Britain. The participants, after qualifying to meet the mentioned criteria, were randomly selected and had the questionnaire administered to them
This research followed a descriptive research design to help understand the research question (area) as defined by the research problem (topic) (Mitchell & Jolley, 2013). The research design was employed to get information on the present status of the attitudes of Britons towards foreigners on the phenomena of immigration, to try and understand the attitudes that Britons have towards immigrants to determine whether it is disgust or contempt, and the active harm levels caused by such attitudes. This is motivated by the considerable rise in concern about immigrants in the last one and a half decades, especially after the EU mandated countries to allow free flow of immigrant workers into the UK and the subsequent BREXIT vote which signifies a protest against immigration and social anxiety hat people feel there is too much immigration into Britain.
The study was conducted through the use of a self administered questionnaire with the questions used having been pre-tested before being administered. The survey was undertaken in an online platform that automatically collected and collated the survey results
After pre-testing the questions, participants were sought in an online platform consisting of BREXIT supporters, and made largely of adult Caucasians, citizens of Britain. The potential participants were first told the purpose of the study and why it was being done, as well as where the data would be use for. The participants were also told their rights while participating in the research as well s their obligations. No inducements were given or used while undertaking this research whatsoever. The randomized selection of the participants was done so that every member of the target population had an equal chance for participation, and to ensure that the findings were representative of the general target population. Further, these steps helped ensure that the research was valid and reliable, in that a repeat of the same survey in a different time frame would result in similar results (Solomon, Cavanaugh & Draine, 2009). The research was administered online as stated earlier, and participants were given a two week window in which to respond fully to the survey.
From the survey results, most Britons were either likely of very likely to help immigrants, with just a few saying they were unlikely of highly unlikely to help the immigrants. On being asked whether they would protect them, the respondents stated that they were likely to protect them (40%), followed by those that were very likely to protect the refugees (23%). A significant number stated they were somewhat likely to do the same, and 5% said they were extremely likely to protect the immigrants. A few said they were either unlikely or extremely unlikely to protect the immigrants ( a total of 28%), while the remaining were not sure. From the results, there was a high level of statistical significance in the research findings, with a significance of 0.56 at 95% confidence levels. In summary, the results show that while there is considerable contempt for immigrants by the British public, there is no hatred, and if it is there, the hatred in attitudes towards these immigrants is very low. Evaluating the correlation between the dependent variable (Active harm levels) and the independent variables, the results show a positive correlation with a correlation coefficient of 0.671, which is positively strong.
The findigs from the research reveal interesting patterns and outcomes. In general., the British public, especially among the younger demographics, are likely or highly likely to be more tolerant of immigrants. As the survey results show, they are more likely to help them, or highly likely to do so. Further, they are more likely to protect them and interact with them. This is especially true among the younger people that participated inn the survey. However, while there is tolerance, the results also show that attitudes towards immigrants have hardened in recent times, as per the results. This is because the survey showed that a significant number of Britons ( just over a quarter) have a hard stance against immigrants and would not help them or protect them. The findings also are consistent with past research on the same topic; while there is overall acceptance about immigration and a reality that societies have changed, there are still instances of extreme resistance to immigration, and this is based on demographics. The younger people aged below 30 are more tolerant of immigrants, possibly because they have lived and interacted more with immigrants as they grew up, as opposed to older people between the ages of 35 and 65, who have experienced the waves of immigrants, especially the increased immigration from EU countries between 2003 and 2008 (Page, 2009). Most people believe the immigrants are good for the economy, consistent with past surveys and research, especially where they are viewed as skilled or semi skilled workers.
The findings show that the British public has some concerns over immigration, especially in the context of social and economic pressures. However, the concern is mostly at the level of contempt, rather than outright hate, and as such, the levels of active harm due to the contempt is low than would be expected if the overriding emotional outlook was that of hate for immigrants. This is consistent with a past study that examined inter group bias maps on how intergroup behaviors impact stereotypes. The study established that behavioral tendencies are predicted by emotions more strongly than stereotypes: the emotions mediate the stereotype to behavior tendency links (Cuddy, Fiske & Glick, 2007). There are qualitative differences in prejudices and stereotypes towards different groups of people, and these differences can be explained by the stereotype content model. The model also offers a conceptual framework that can explain when and why the differences occur. Racism, for example, follows psychological dynamics that are distinct and explain how different groups have historically been treated.
The Europeans looked at Africans as a low status group that they could domesticate safely and exploit, especially given their technological superiority. In Germany, because many natives lost power and status to the Semites, they were viewed with hate, as a hyper potent enemy, and the consequences were drastic, with the Jews suffering high levels (lets say very extreme levels) of harm (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002). These findings further lend credence to the findings of this research and the null hypothesis; the level of harm different groups suffer are based on psychological stereotypes and the levels of emotional response to these groups. In the Britain case, the British have not suffered any significant loss of power and and status because of immigrants, and hence the response is mild, with the survey results showing there is contempt, but no hate, and hence the immigrant populations have suffered little of insignificant levels of harm due to the feelings of the natives.
For instance, a 2011 Migration Observatory/IpsosMORI contemplate found that states of mind toward low-talented work transients, more distant family individuals, and shelter searchers were considerably more negative than dispositions to high-gifted vagrants, understudies, and close relatives. This general example was discovered again in a Migration Observatory/YouGov think about led in both Scotland and England/Wales. Before that review, a 2010 overview found that 72% upheld conceding more specialists and medical caretakers from different nations to adapt to expanding human services requests, while 51% bolstered conceding more care laborers to help the weights of a maturing populace. Similarly as with past discoveries, understudies were the minimum contrarily saw. Comparative extents of respondents saying that they are a net positive for Britain as said that they are a net negative. Work vagrants will probably be viewed as a net negative, and were seen likewise whether from inside or outside the EU. At long last, spousal gathering vagrants were the most contrarily seen by this measure, with 14% considering them to be bringing more advantage than cost, against 57% seeing such transients as bringing more cost than advantage.
People form impressions about other based on psychological feelings and responses ; the element of prime importance in constructing feelings is warmth while for others, the moral traits is the primary dimension on the information people consider in developing their impressions about others. Feelings of belonging and group differentiations are due to common binding factors such as race, ethnicity, or nationality: the immigrants are thus viewed as ‘others’ by the locals and impressions are formed based on warmth, mediated by feelings of status and power. The interpretation of moral character has a stronger influence on the impressions people form about others (Goodwin, Piazza & Rozin, 2014). The immigrants to Britain, especially from the EU are people with nearly similar moral underpinnings, and so while they are from different nationalities, the impressions locals have about them, as the survey results show, are more warm or positive rather than cold. The locals, faced by social and economic pressures, feel social anxiety, but it does not reach levels of hate, rather it is a mere contempt (Hall, 2016): a view of immigrants as being an irritant, rather than an existential threat to their status and power.
Conclusions
This paper undertook research to gauge the attitudes of the British public towards immigrants. The study undertook a quantitative descriptive research design, involving participants that are British citizens and who had not migrated into Britain in the past half a century. Using a randomized selection process, a pre-tested questionnaire was administered to the respondents through an online platform. From the findings, most Britons have a positive attitude towards immigrants, believing they would help the economy. The results of the findings are significant based on the statistical analyses. The findings are consistent with past research that show, especially among the younger Britons, that there is a higher level of tolerance and positive attitudes towards immigrants. However, the concerns about immigration is rising, especially among the older generations and this is due to increased economic and social pressures in the past one and a half decade. The null hypothesis that when a group is viewed in disgust, the elicited levels of harm will be higher than when when viewed with contempt is therefore accepted. This is based on the research findings that show a fairly moderate to strong correlation between the dependent and independent variables, with strong significance levels in the findings. The British public still retain feelings of power and prestige in light of the immigrants, and therefore, show contempt towards the immigrants due to social and economic pressures, rather that hatred. As a consequence, the levels of active harm on the immigrants due to emotional feelings by Britons is low.
References
Bulman, M. (2017). Britain voted to leave the EU to stop immigration, definitive study finds. The Independent. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-news-leave-eu- immigration-main-reason-european-union-survey-a7811651.html
Cuddy, A., Fiske, S., & Glick, P. (2007). The BIAS map: Behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 92(4), 631-648. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.631
Dovidio, J., & Fiske, S. (2012). Under the Radar: How Unexamined Biases in Decision-Making Processes in Clinical Interactions Can Contribute to Health Care Disparities. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(5), 945-952. https://dx.doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2011.300601
Fiske, S., Cuddy, A., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.82.6.878
Hall, R. (2016). How the Brexit campaign used refugees to scare voters. Public Radio International. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-24/how-brexit- campaign-used-refugees-scare-voters
Harvey, N. (2012). Why do some conflicts get more media coverage than others?. New Internationalist. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from https://newint.org/features/2012/09/01/media-war-coverage
Mitchell, M., & Jolley, J. (2013). Research design explained (p. 272). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Page, B. (2009). (Wadsworth, Dhingra, Ottaviano & Van Reenen, 2016) (pp. 1,3,4). Washington, DC: The Transatlantic Council on Migration.
Solomon, P., Cavanaugh, M., & Draine, J. (2009). Randomized controlled trials. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wadsworth, J., Dhingra, S., Ottaviano, G., & Van Reenen, J. (2016). Brexit and the Impact of Immigration on the UK (pp. 4-5). London: The London School of Economics: center for Economic performance. Retrieved from https://cep.
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