Political science opinions and perspectives

¶ … political opinions he or she holds?

What causes an individual to hold the political opinions he or she holds?

Political Attitudes Toward Immigration and Racial Stereotypes

Immigration has been a prominent political issue heighted by legislation introduced over the last few decades. People hold various political opinions of immigrants, especially those in the U.S. illegally, which tends to be divided along racial lines. It is interesting that in a country built by immigrants that many people have negative attitudes toward immigrants that are perpetuated by stereotypes and prejudice against racial groups. Stereotypes are widely used to generalize about the characteristics of groups of people through the assignment of simple labels alleged to represent group traits which are frequently based upon perceived wrongs of one group by another (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). Some of the most prominent stereotypes that have been the subject of psychological investigation involve ethnic identity (Burns and Gimpal, 2000).

Racial and ethnic stereotypes are relevant to opinion formation about public policy, because they influence information processing and decision making (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). Those who believe immigrants to be unintelligent, dirty, unwilling to learn English, or unwilling to work hard are more likely to oppose immigration than those who do not have such beliefs (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). This is also seen in other political opinions in the U.S. And other countries. For example, perceptions of welfare recipients' motivation to work are a universal driver of personal and public support for welfare across different nations and different welfare systems (Peterson et al., 2010). The formation of political opinions about immigration involves the attitudes and beliefs about different racial groups and how they are perceived by individuals and groups.

B. Media Influences in Political Attitudes on Immigration and Stereotypes

The media is a major source of information about ethnic groups, frequently covering criminal conduct where black and Latino faces are often shown in connection with arrests and stories about the use of welfare and social security benefits by immigrants (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). People who watch news may be more influenced by the appearance of racial groups in these stories in forming political opinions on immigration. This is consistent with the research done by Ferguson and Hassin, finding that the perception of any stimulus activates an array of associated memories that can then unconsciously influence how the person interprets and responds to his or her world (2007). As immigration issues have increasingly become the subject of heated political debate and news coverage, people form political opinions about the issue based upon their association of negative stereotypes with immigrants. These opinions develop in relation to people's attitudes toward welfare, education, gender, and age which all consistently influence negative stereotyping (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). The association of immigrants with welfare use and the connection between welfare use and negative racial stereotypes explain how immigration can be translated into a racial issue (Burns and Gimpal, 2000).

C. Automation of Political Attitudes

Once a political opinion is formed, people appear unable to break free of their prior sentiments when evaluating arguments on political issues, even when they are motivated to be impartial (Lodge and Tabor, 2005). Political beliefs, feelings, intentions, and actions will, if repeatedly associated, become automatic in everyday thinking, feeling, and acting (Lodge and Tabor, 2005). This is apparent from viewing two studies conducted four years apart measuring peoples political attitudes toward immigration in terms of the personal and national economic outlook and stereotypes.

The study conducted in 1992 showed that those respondents who were pessimistic about the national economy were especially likely to blame blacks and Hispanics for economic conditions, and those who were optimistic were especially likely to credit whites (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). The study found that race and ethnicity are strong influences on the likelihood of respondents to stereotype positively or negatively their own group and other groups (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). The conclusion of the study was that negative stereotypes of blacks and Hispanics were highly associated with a desire for decreased immigration in 1992. (Burns and Gimpal, 2000).

The same study was conducted in 1996 after a significant change in the political issues surrounding immigration, especially of Hispanics (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). In 1996 the study found that respondents who had a pessimistic personal economic outlook viewed Hispanics more harshly, but personal economic circumstances were not highly related to views of blacks and whites (Burns and Gimpal, 2000). The personal economic outlook of respondents had some linkage to negative views of blacks and whites in the 1992 study, but there was little relationship to attitudes toward Hispanics (Burns and Gimpal, 2000).

The development of people's political views on immigration of particular nationalities changes with the perception of that group's economic pressure on the native society. The roots of the stereotypes, attitudes and feelings toward immigrants are grounded in deep psychological processes (Peterson et al., 2010). The development of political opinions toward immigration requires the incorporation of people's perceptions about the economy, stereotypes, the nationalities of the groups affected by the immigration policies and people's emotions related to the perceptions of other groups behaviors. The attitudes toward immigrants tend to shift from group to group depending on the perceived threat of emerging immigrant populations.

D. Strong Political Views Bias Information Processing