Status, relative deprivation, and moral devaluation of immigrants.

Immigration has been a prominent political issue for decades, but particularly so with rising national populism. To understand current anti-immigration opinion, we turn to the concept of relative deprivation, which, we argue, is fundamentally about entitlement and is at the heart of popular backlash against immigration. Examining the United Kingdom context, we predicted that immigration attitudes would be contingent on immigrant group status, with immigrants from low-status or poorer countries (Poland, India) more likely to be perceived as encroaching on the majority group's entitlements than those from high-status or richer countries (Germany, Australia). We further proposed moral devaluation (dehumanization and distrust) as a novel mechanism (over and above prejudice) underlying the conditional effects of relative deprivation on support for formal (anti-immigration policies) and informal (hate crime) means of immigrant exclusion. A pilot study (n = 245) and cross-sectional survey (n = 490) results supported our main prediction that status matters: participants felt more deprived relative to low- than high-status immigrants, and this predicted stronger support for anti-immigration policies both directly and through higher distrust (but not dehumanization). This research highlights the need to unpack the generic 'immigrant' category and study anti-immigration sentiment in terms of group status and moral devaluation.

The Inaccuracy of National Character Stereotypes.

Consensual stereotypes of some groups are relatively accurate, whereas others are not. Previous work suggesting that national character stereotypes are inaccurate has been criticized on several grounds. In this article we (a) provide arguments for the validity of assessed national mean trait levels as criteria for evaluating stereotype accuracy; and (b) report new data on national character in 26 cultures from descriptions (N=3,323) of the typical male or female adolescent, adult, or old person in each. The average ratings were internally consistent and converged with independent stereotypes of the typical culture member, but were weakly related to objective assessments of personality. We argue that this conclusion is consistent with the broader literature on the inaccuracy of national character stereotypes.

Stereotypes of age differences in personality traits: universal and accurate?

Age trajectories for personality traits are known to be similar across cultures. To address whether stereotypes of age groups reflect these age-related changes in personality, we asked participants in 26 countries (N = 3,323) to rate typical adolescents, adults, and old persons in their own country. Raters across nations tended to share similar beliefs about different age groups; adolescents were seen as impulsive, rebellious, undisciplined, preferring excitement and novelty, whereas old people were consistently considered lower on impulsivity, activity, antagonism, and Openness. These consensual age group stereotypes correlated strongly with published age differences on the five major dimensions of personality and most of 30 specific traits, using as criteria of accuracy both self-reports and observer ratings, different survey methodologies, and data from up to 50 nations. However, personal stereotypes were considerably less accurate, and consensual stereotypes tended to exaggerate differences across age groups.

Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates.

College students (N=3,435) in 26 cultures reported their perceptions of age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional areas of functioning and rated societal views of aging within their culture. There was widespread cross-cultural consensus regarding the expected direction of aging trajectories with (a) perceived declines in societal views of aging, physical attractiveness, the ability to perform everyday tasks, and new learning; (b) perceived increases in wisdom, knowledge, and received respect; and (c) perceived stability in family authority and life satisfaction. Cross-cultural variations in aging perceptions were associated with culture-level indicators of population aging, education levels, values, and national character stereotypes. These associations were stronger for societal views on aging and perceptions of socioemotional changes than for perceptions of physical and cognitive changes. A consideration of culture-level variables also suggested that previously reported differences in aging perceptions between Asian and Western countries may be related to differences in population structure.

The schizophrenia phenotype in 22q11 deletion syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the schizophrenia phenotype in 24 subjects with 22q11 deletion syndrome (22qDS) and schizophrenia (22qDS-schizophrenia), a rare but relatively homogenous genetic subtype of schizophrenia associated with a microdeletion on chromosome 22. Individuals with 22qDS are at genetically high risk for schizophrenia. METHOD: Standard measures of signs, symptoms, and course of schizophrenia were assessed in 16 adults with 22qDS-schizophrenia who did not meet criteria for mental retardation and in 46 adults with schizophrenia without evidence of 22qDS from a community familial sample. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age at onset, lifetime or cross-sectional core positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms, or global functioning between the two groups of patients with schizophrenia. Patients with 22qDS-schizophrenia had higher excitement subscale scores and less lifetime substance use than the comparison patients with schizophrenia, but no significant differences in anxiety-depression symptom severity were found between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the core clinical schizophrenia phenotype would not distinguish individuals with a 22qDS subtype from those with schizophrenia who did not have the 22qDS subtype. The results provide further support for the utility of 22qDS-schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia as well as support for prospective studies of individuals with 22qDS to help identify precursors of schizophrenia.