Effects of Perceived Economic Competition on People’s Willingness to Help Empower Immigrants

Based on models of intergroup competition and social dominance, we examined the impact of perceived economic competition with immigrants on support for empowering and non-empowering forms of assistance for immigrants. In Study 1, a manipulation of perceived economic competition with immigrants caused attenuated support for empowerment but not for non-empowering forms of help. In Study 2, people higher in social dominance orientation were less willing to endorse empowerment for immigrants than were people lower in social dominance orientation, and this relation was mediated by the belief that economic and power gains for immigrants result in economic and power losses for members of host populations. It is suggested that people’s desire to maintain a discrepancy in economic and power resources between immigrants and host populations undermines support for empowering forms of help for immigrants.