Research Article
Prejudice toward immigrant workers among Dutch employees: integrated threat theory revisited
Petru Lucian Curşeu,
Ron Stoop,
René Schalk,
Corresponding Author
Petru Lucian Curşeu
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University; Room, S161; Warandelaan 2, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.Search for more papers by this authorRon Stoop
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRené Schalk
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorPetru Lucian Curşeu,
Ron Stoop,
René Schalk,
Corresponding Author
Petru Lucian Curşeu
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University; Room, S161; Warandelaan 2, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.Search for more papers by this authorRon Stoop
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRené Schalk
Department of Organisation Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Integrated Threat Theory (ITT) (Stephan & Stephan, 1993, 1996) describes four types of threats as mediators in the relation between antecedent factors (previous intergroup conflict, intergroup contact, status inequalities, in-group identification, knowledge about the out-group, and intergroup contact) and prejudice. The four mediating types of threats, which influence prejudice according to ITT are: intergroup anxiety, negative stereotyping, realistic and symbolic threats. In this study, the ITT model was tested using structural equation modeling on data collected in sample of 187 Dutch employees. Two alternative explanatory models are proposed in which, first intergroup anxiety and then negative stereotyping mediate the relation between the other ITT threats and prejudice. The data show a good fit with the model in which negative stereotypes are considered as mediator variable. The implications of these findings for ITT are discussed in the context of recent theoretical developments in the study of stereotypes and prejudice. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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