Contact information: Thijs Bouman t.bouman@rug.nl www.rug.nl/staff/t.bouman Threat by association: When distant threats cause intolerance towards local outgroups Thijs Bouman, Martijn van Zomeren, & Sabine Otten University of Groningen Introduction. Threats from distant outgroups can make people intolerant toward outgroups nearby (e.g., Dutch citizens became more intolerant toward Turkish- Dutch after reading about potential threats from the Egyptian uprisings; Bouman, van Zomeren, & Otten, 2013). An important yet unanswered question is what causes these carry-over effects? We hypothesize that carry-over effects specifically occur when simultaneously with the threat a “superordinate outgroup” (e.g., Middle-East, Muslim) is activated that includes both the distant group causing the threat and specific local outgroups. Current (online) study (N = 61). Manipulation. We created a (bogus) report about symbolic threats (e.g., radicalization; Stephan & Renfro, 2002) from the distant and relatively unknown nation Tajikistan. In this report, Tajikistan was presented as being part of the superordinate group “Asian” or “Middle-Eastern”. Predictor: Perceived threats from Tajikistan. “Do you feel threatened by the current situation in Tajikistan?” (1 not at all and 7 completely, M = 2.78, SD = 1.49). Outcome variable: Feelings toward local groups. Three feeling thermometers (0 unlikeable, cold, negative to 100 likeable, warm, positive): Indonesian-Dutch (α = .93, M = 71.14, SD = 18.32), Moroccan-Dutch (α = .92, M = 50.51, SD = 20.98), and Turkish-Dutch (α = .96, M = 53.13, SD = 21.91). Main predictions: > When Tajikistan is presented as Asian, threats from Tajikistan relate to intolerance toward Indonesian- and Turkish-Dutch; > When Tajikistan is presented as Middle-Eastern, threats from Tajikistan relate to intolerance toward Moroccan- and Turkish-Dutch. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Threat Moroccan-Dutch 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Threat Turkish-Dutch 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Feelings Threat Indonesian-Dutch Discussion. Threats from a distant outgroup influence intolerance toward local outgroups that share a superordinate membership with the distant outgroup. Effects were most pronounced for Indonesian-Dutch—a minority group generally conceived more positively than the Turkish- and Moroccan-Dutch. Possibly, the positive reputation of Indonesian-Dutch left more room for variation, whereas the Turkish- and Moroccan-Dutch’ reputation was already quite negative and associated to the threat itself. Conclusion. Our results confirm the hypothesis that distant symbolic threats carry over to local intolerance when the distant and local outgroups share a superordinate group membership. Results. In line with our expectations, only when the superordinate category Asian was activated, threats from Tajikistan predicted negative feelings toward Indonesian-Dutch (B = -7.03, p = .003, r 2 = .27). Only when the superordinate category Middle-Eastern was activated, threats from Tajikistan predicted negative feelings toward Moroccan-Dutch (B = -4.51, p = .053, r 2 = .10). Within both experimental conditions, threats from Tajikistan were related to negative feelings toward Turkish-Dutch (B = -4.79, p = .008, r 2 = .11). Website: Linkedin: References: Bouman, T., van Zomeren, M., & Otten, S. (2013). Threat by Association: Do distant intergroup threats carry over into local intolerance? British Journal of Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/bjso.12046 Stephan, W.G. & Renfro, C.L. (2002). The role of threat in intergroup relations. In D. Mackie, & E.R. Smith (Eds.), From prejudice to intergroup emotions: Differentiated reactions to social groups (pp. 191-208). New York: Psychology Press.