Status of immigrants' country of origin and Americans' assimilation expectations

Building on perspectives on triadic group relations and status hierarchies, we predicted that Americans would be more likely to expect immigrants from a perceived low-status rather than high-status country of origin to assimilate to the U.S. mainstream culture and that ethnocentrism would mediate this effect (N = 2,246). Using 60 countries/areas as targets, Study 1 showed that perceived country status negatively predicted assimilation expectations for immigrants from that country. In Studies 2 through 3, participants were exposed to a news article which emphasized China's shortcomings, achievements, or status-irrelevant attributes. In Studies 4 through 7, including one preregistered study, participants were presented with a portrayal of a fictitious country with high (or intermediate) or low status. Compared with high-status (or intermediate status) conditions, American participants were more likely to expect immigrants from a low-status country to assimilate to the United States, and ethnocentrism (causally) mediated these effects even when alternative mediators were controlled. Moreover, assimilation expectations mediated the effect of country status on a tendency to Anglicize a new immigrant's name. A meta-analysis supported a significant effect of country status on assimilation expectations, and a mega-analysis verified the mediating role of ethnocentrism. This research reveals a status bias toward immigrants, broadening our views on how international relations affect domestic relations, highlighting the importance and malleability of ethnocentrism. The generalizability of current American findings to other countries is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).