Perceived threat and prejudice towards immigrants and Russian minorities living in Finland

Abstract

This study is an attempt to better understand the relationship between Finns and Russian minorities living in Finland. This study considers the role of perceived threats to the attitudes of Finnish adolescents towards Russian minorities. The theoretical framework for this study was the integrated threat theory (ITT). Even though ITT has been revised and threats have been reduced to two major threats (realistic and symbolic threats) (Stephan et al., 2015), this study utilized the original conceptualization of ITT which stipulates that prejudice and negative attitudes towards minorities can be explained by four types of threats that are: realistic threats, symbolic threats, negative stereotypes, and intergroup anxiety. Realistic threats are threats to the physical and economic wellbeing and political power of the in-group; symbolic threats are threats that arise because of differences in norms, values and morals with the out-group; negative stereotypes are implied threats to the in-group; and intergroup anxiety refers to the anxiety the in-group might experience in the process of interaction with members of the out-group especially when both groups have had a history of antagonism (Stephan & Stephan, 1996, 1998, 2000). First, this study showed Finns in general do percieve Russian minorities as a threat (realistic threat, symbolic threat, and negative stereotypes) and that among the different types of threat, realistic threat and symobolic threat were more prevalent among older Finns than among younger Finns. No significant difference was found between both groups for negative stereotypes. This study also showed perceived threat to be a significant predictor of prejudice, and that among the different types of threat, negative stereotyping was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes towards Russian minorities. This study also revealed that Finnish adolescents generally perceive immigrants as a threat and that among the different types of threats, realistic threat and symbolic threat were the most perceived threats from immigrants in Finland. This is especially important because realistic threat and symbolic threat were found to be positively related to prejudice or negative attitudes towards immigrants and this positive relationship between threat and prejudice was the same among early, middle, and late adolescents.