Integration policies shape ethnic-racial majorities’threat reactions to increasing diversity

Increasing ethnic and racial diversity often fuels feelings of threat among ethnic-racial majorities (e.g., self-identifiedwhite Americans and European nationals). We contend that these threat perceptions depend on the policy context.Across four studies, we test whether more inclusive immigrant integration policies attenuate ethnic-racial majori-ties’ threat reactions. Studies 1 to 3 (n = 469, 733, and 1745, respectively) used experimental methods with whiteAmerican participants in the United States. Study 4 (n = 499,075) used secondary analysis of survey data compar-ing attitudes of nationals in 30 European countries and measured the impact of actual changes in diversity andpolicies over 10 years. Our results show that integration policies shape threat reactions even in those situationswhen increasing diversity could be seen as the most threatening: when narratives highlight the majority’s impend-ing minority position or when diversity suddenly increases. When policies are more inclusive toward immigrants,ethnic-racial majority participants report less threat (or no threat) in response to increasing diversity.

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