Community attitudes toward refugees: a Northern Australian case

Despite there being a marked increase in the number of refugees settling in northern Australia, there is little research into the attitudes held by the community toward refugees. Past studies have suggested that prejudice reflects negative affect which is associated with out-groups. As individuals entering a different society, refugees are able to be conceptualised as an out-group, and so prejudicial attitudes towards them may be influenced by this status. Past research has also suggested that prejudice occurs both overtly and covertly. Overt or direct prejudice is known as classical prejudice, while covert or subtle prejudice is known as modern prejudice. While the two types of prejudice are highly correlated, they are distinguishable. Research has also consistently illustrated that symbolic and realistic threats can serve to predict prejudicial attitudes toward outgroups. By surveying the attitudes held by the communities in northern Australia, this paper investigates the relationship between symbolic and realistic threat and racial prejudice. A total of 200 participants took part in the survey which was comprised of the following scales: The 46-item questionnaire includes the following standardised scales: the Classical and Modern Racial Prejudice Scale, the Realistic and Symbolic Threat Scale and the Prejudicial Attitude Survey. Realistic and symbolic threats were highly correlated with each other and both were good predictors of general prejudicial attitudes. The perceptions of both realistic and symbolic threats predict prejudicial attitudes within the sample. Realistic threat, compared to symbolic threat, is a stronger predictor.

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48th Australian Psychological Society Annual Conference

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