Personality and Attitudinal Predictors of Support of Proposition 187—California's Anti‐Illegal Immigrant Initiative1

Right‐wing authoritarianism, stereotypes about illegal immigrants relative to legal immigrants (and nonimmigrants), and collective self‐esteem were investigated as predictors of attitude toward California's Proposition 187—the 1994 initiative making illegal immigrants ineligible for public serv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied social psychology 1996-12, Vol.26 (24), p.2204-2223
Main Authors: Quinton, Wendy J., Cowan, Gloria, Watson, Brett D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Candidates
Self esteem
Stereotypes
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Summary:Right‐wing authoritarianism, stereotypes about illegal immigrants relative to legal immigrants (and nonimmigrants), and collective self‐esteem were investigated as predictors of attitude toward California's Proposition 187—the 1994 initiative making illegal immigrants ineligible for public services. Among both Latinos (n= 92) and Caucasians (n= 79), right‐wing authoritarianism and negative stereotypes about illegal immigrants predicted Proposition 187 support and reported vote. For Latinos, low collective self‐esteem and high levels of acculturation predicted support and vote in favor of Proposition 187. In contrast, high collective self‐esteem among Caucasians was related to Proposition 187 support and vote. The results suggest that 3 perspectives on prejudice—personality, cognitive, and cultural—contribute to the understanding of attitudinal and behavioral support of Proposition 187.
ISSN:0021-9029
1559-1816
DOI:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1996.tb01796.x