What shapes the social perception of immigrant groups in Kazakhstan? The role of ethnic- and language-based identities and underlying threat and benefit perceptions

Abstract

In this study, we go beyond previous literature studying social perception of immigrant groups in Western, rich, educated, industrialized, and democratic contexts by contributing the first study of this kind in Kazakhstan, a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country. Utilizing the stereotype content model framework, we investigated which immigrant groups are salient in Kazakhstani society (pilot study, N = 401). Building on these findings, we examined differences in warmth and competence perceptions across salient immigrant groups in Kazakhstani society in our main study (N = 500). Finally, we investigated the role of the ethnic and language-based identity of the perceiver in shaping the social perceptions for a subgroup of immigrant groups, and extended the stereotype content model framework with the threat and benefit model to investigate whether perceived societal threats or benefits explained these differences. Meaningful differences emerged along both dimensions of warmth and competence. Additionally, findings suggested that Russian-speakers perceived immigrant groups as warmer and more competent than Kazakh-speakers, which was explained by higher benefit rather than threat perceptions. Overall, we contributed novel insights on the social perception of immigrants and its determinants in a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual context, which we hope will provide a fertile ground for future investigations in under-researched areas and beyond.