Side Effects of Multiculturalism: the Interaction Effect of a Multicultural Ideology and Authoritarianism on Prejudice and Diversity Beliefs

We studied the influence of right-wing authoritarianism (rwa) on the relationship between a multicultural ideology and attitudes about ethnic diversity and immigrants. we hypothesized that a multicultural ideology poses a threat to authoritarian individuals,which leads to a decrease in positive diversity beliefs and an increase in prejudice toward immigrants. on the basis of representative survey-data from 23 european countries,we showed that the negative relationship between rwa and positive diversity beliefs was stronger the more a country engages in multiculturalism (study 1). in addition,in two experiments we demonstrated that rwa moderated the relationship between a video promoting multiculturalism (study 2) or a picture showing a multicultural group (study 3) and attitudes toward immigrants and diversity. as expected,for high-rwas,both stimuli led to an increase in prejudice. in study 3,perceived threat mediated the relationship between a multicultural norm and prejudice for people high in rwa. © 2013 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.