The Effects of Patriotism and Race on Attitudes About Immigration

It is imperative to understand what influences peoples’ attitudes about immigration in order to help combat prejudice. This study measured self-reported levels of blind patriotism, constructive patriotism, perceived realistic threat, and attitudes about immigration from validated instruments in a sample of 96 individuals from two diverse college campuses in Baltimore, MD. Prior work in this area has noted a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in their samples, and this project aimed at replication and extension of prior work by including a more diverse sample of participants. Results replicated prior work showing that blind patriotism is positively correlated to perceived threats, but negatively correlated with constructive patriotism and positive attitudes about immigration. This study expands on findings that have typically focused only on White and Latino individuals and replicated the findings in a more diverse sample.