Concerns About Automation and Negative Sentiment Toward Immigration

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Sociology
• Economics

Background:

• The increasing prevalence of automation raises concerns about its societal impact.
• Understanding the relationship between automation anxiety and social attitudes is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between concerns about automation and attitudes toward immigrants.
• To explore the mediating role of intergroup threat perceptions.
• To examine the behavioral consequences of automation concerns on intergroup relations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of archival data from 1986-2017 across the US and Europe (Studies 1a-1g).
• Correlational and experimental designs to assess the link between automation concerns and immigration policy support (Studies 2a-3).
• Experimental manipulation to test automation's impact on discriminatory behavior during layoffs (Study 4).

Main Results:

• A robust association was found between automation concerns and more negative attitudes toward immigrants.
• Concerns about automation predicted increased support for restrictive immigration policies.
• Perceptions of realistic and symbolic intergroup threat mediated this association.
• Automation concerns led to increased discriminatory behavior toward immigrants in layoff scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Concerns about automation are associated with increased perceptions of threat and competition with immigrants.
• Automation anxiety contributes to anti-immigration sentiment and discriminatory actions.
• Findings highlight the socio-economic implications of automation on intergroup dynamics.