The dark side of heterogeneous ingroup identities: National identification, perceived threat, and prejudice against immigrants

The present research examined the impact of perceived ingroup identity heterogeneity on intergroup relations. We predicted that the effect of a heterogeneous national identity on perceived ingroup threat and prejudice toward immigrants would be moderated by strength of national identification. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two studies (N = 230) in which we evaluated national identification and experimentally manipulated national identity heterogeneity (low versus high), and then assessed perceived ingroup threat and prejudice toward immigrants. Study 1 showed that perception of immigrants as a threat increased as national identification increased. Moreover, national identity heterogeneity increased the perceived threat when national identification was high, but not when it was low. Study 2 extended these findings to a measure of prejudice against immigrants from both similar and very different countries. We discuss our findings in terms of the impact heterogeneous social identities may have when there is a perceived threat to the clear and representative definition of the ingroup identity.