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Category: Project

Description: Present research conducted in the context of Spain aimed to test the hypothesis that European attachment among Spanish participants is associated with stronger support for restrictive and inclusive policies in response to different intergroup threats, including the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers to Europe, international terrorism, and the presence of Muslims. In Study 1, we examined the relationship between European attachment and agreement with restrictive (i.e., support for closing borders, strict security and control, and military intervention) and inclusive (i.e., pro-integration) policies and the mediating role of the perceived intergroup (both realistic and symbolic) threat posed by the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers in this link. In Study 2, conducted with a more diverse community sample in the context of terrorist attacks in Brussels in 2016, we extended findings from Study 1 by investigating whether, in this context, European attachment predicts attitudes towards restrictive and inclusive policies via one type of realistic threat such as international terrorism (i.e., safety threat). In Study 3, we examined a similar relationship in the context of terrorist attacks that affected Spaniards more directly, that is, in the context of terrorist attacks in Barcelona in 2017. In Study 4, we additionally accounted for the national identification of the participants and tested whether European attachment predicts support for policies oriented at Muslim community (restricting vs. granting rights) indirectly through perceived (again, symbolic and realistic) threat from the Muslim community. Finally, in Study 5, we examined the effects of European attachment on support for restrictive (i.e., support for closing borders and strict security and control) and inclusive (i.e., pro-integration) policies via perceived (symbolic and realistic) threat towards minorities experimentally.