Intergroup anxiety arises from anticipated negative consequences and perceived threats

Evidence

Intergroup anxiety is thought to stem from the anticipation of negative consequences during contact, such as embarrassment, rejection, discrimination, or misunderstanding, and may therefore be exacerbated by minimal prior contact with the outgroup and large status or numerical differences between the ingroup and the outgroup (Stephan & Stephan, 1985). Anxiety may also result from intergroup threat, either symbolic or realistic, a distinction that is prominent in Stephan and Stephan’s (2000) Integrated Threat Model. Symbolic threat is conceptualized as a threat to the value system, belief system, or worldview of the ingroup, whereas realistic threat is a threat to the political and economic power, or physical well-being, of the ingroup. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1832

A third core social motive, also relevant to prejudgment, entails controlling the ingroup’s outcomes by protecting it from dangerous outgroups. A variety of perceived threats to ingroup values and economic status create intergroup anxiety, which fuels prejudice (Duckitt, 2001, ch. 24 this volume; Stephan & Stephan, 2000). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 336

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the anxiety-versus-threat distinction: anxiety stems from anticipating one’s own negative experiences, whereas symbolic vs realistic threat concern perceived dangers to the ingroup.
• XREF: Connects to vault claims about threat-driven Islamophobia — perceived value and economic threat as prejudice triggers. — connects to: Perceived outgroup threats damage intergroup relations even without hostility — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 38; Negative stereotypes both accompany intergroup threats and independently predict outgroup attitudes — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 127; Greater similarity to the Other heightens rather than eases intergroup fear — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1386 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 7 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1832; John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 336