<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In response to a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in the European Union, in the fall of 2015 Latvia agreed to accept several hundreds of refugees on its soil. Nevertheless, Latvian society remains very sceptic about these plans, and reportedly demonstrates strong negative attitudes towards refugees. According to the survey, by the end of 2015 the factual experience of interaction with refugees did not exceed ten per cent of Latvian population. This suggests that most of the real attitudes are formed by mass media and other socialisation agents. In order to uncover the nature of these feelings, the present study has been designed to make an in-depth social psychological study on attitudes. One thousand Latvian residents evenly representing Latvia’s demography have taken part in this study. A modified Stephan’s Prejudicial Attitude Survey has been used to study prejudice. Negative stereotyping represents one of the emotional components of attitudes towards refugees. The results illustrate the palette of emotions and the level of their expression in Latvian society, and highlight the feelings, which may shape the identity of the in-group.</p></abstract>

In response to a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in the European Union, in the fall of 2015 Latvia agreed to accept several hundreds of refugees on its soil. Nevertheless, Latvian society remains very sceptic about these plans, and reportedly demonstrates strong negative attitudes towards refugees. According to the survey, by the end of 2015 the factual experience of interaction with refugees did not exceed ten per cent of Latvian population. This suggests that most of the real attitudes are formed by mass media and other socialisation agents. In order to uncover the nature of these feelings, the present study has been designed to make an in-depth social psychological study on attitudes. One thousand Latvian residents evenly representing Latvia’s demography have taken part in this study. A modified Stephan’s Prejudicial Attitude Survey has been used to study prejudice. Negative stereotyping represents one of the emotional components of attitudes towards refugees. The results illustrate the palette of emotions and the level of their expression in Latvian society, and highlight the feelings, which may shape the identity of the in-group.

Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping

Economics and Business

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

{"article-title":"Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping"}

In response to a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in the European Union, in the fall of 2015 Latvia agreed to accept several hundreds of refugees on...

Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping

Published Online: Sep 10, 2016

Page range: 56 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eb-2016-0022

Keywords
Attitudes, emotions, negative stereotyping, prejudice, refugees

© 2016 Vadims Murašovs et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping

Published Online: Sep 10, 2016

Page range: 56 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eb-2016-0022

KeywordsAttitudes, emotions, negative stereotyping, prejudice, refugees

© 2016 Vadims Murašovs et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

Keywords
Attitudes, emotions, negative stereotyping, prejudice, refugees