Threat mediates the effect of perceived anti-prejudice social norms on adolescents’ preferences for immigrants’ acculturation

Successful integration of immigrants in the receiving society depends on the acceptance of the majority population and their preferences for immigrants’ acculturation orientations. However, political discourse often promotes hostility and feelings of threat from immigration, which contribute to the increased perception of prevalence and acceptability of anti-immigrant attitudes in the society. Such social norms may also shape the acculturation attitudes among the majority youth, as adolescents are particularly sensitive to social norms. Previous research has shown significant effects of parental and peer norms on adolescents’ intergroup attitudes, while there is a lack of studies examining the role of social norms in acculturation preferences. Moreover, the role of perceived norms from broader social environments, such as the normative climate on the national level, is not yet well understood. The study was conducted in Slovakia, where the percentage of immigrants at the time of the research was low, but the topic of immigration was highly politicised. We examined the role of perceived parental, classmates’, and national level anti-prejudice social norms as well as perceived threat in majority adolescents’ (N = 438) preferences towards immigrants’ acculturation. Our findings point to significant associations between adolescents’ perceptions of anti-prejudice norms and their preferences for immigrants’ culture maintenance and preferences for contact. The relationship between perceived norms and acculturation attitudes was mediated by perceived threat, suggesting that, in the context of low intergroup contact, social norms may transmit perceptions of threat, which in turn negatively affect acculturation attitudes.