Emerging Adult College Students’ Perceptions of Immigrants: A Multisite Experimental Study

The United States has consistently had the largest populations of immigrants worldwide over the last two centuries. A central point of focus has been attitudes toward immigration, which prior research has noted is influenced by both individual level and sociopolitical contextual factors. However, few studies have examined these attitudes comparatively across differing immigrant populations. Nor has the influence of perceivers’ stage of identity and social development beenconsidered. Utilizing quantitative methods, the current project will employ the Stereotype Content Model to: (1) explore the relationship between attitudes toward immigrants, demographic variables, and sociocultural variables among emerging adult college students attending university in Florida, Texas, and California, and (2) identify the effect of an experimental stimulus on attitudes toward immigrants among emerging adult college students attending an HSI in a predominately Hispanic urban center. These findings will help inform policy makers on emerging adult views on immigration, as well as the experiences of immigrants within differing receiving contexts in the U.S. Findings will also help inform university-level programs targeted to improve immigrant student mental health and academic outcomes.

Major Professor: Dr. Dionne Stephens