The effect of symbolic threat and positive social emotions on Norwegian students' willingness to engage in collective action on behalf of immigrants

Abstract

Migration numbers are steadily rising and inequality in immigrant receiving countries is a challenge that many are facing. Collective actions arranged by the advantaged group in a receiving country can be strategic tools in moving governments towards creating immigrantfriendly policies while managing to reduce inequality. Such collective actions include participation in demonstrations, signing petitions or protesting. In this thesis we present a study investigating if perceived symbolic or realistic threat, affects Norwegian students’ intentions to engage in collective actions and if social emotions mediate this effect. Our sample consisted of 172 native Norwegian students. The study was conducted as an online survey. Regression and mediation analyses were performed to test the hypotheses and showed a significant relationship between symbolic threat and collective action intentions, and that positive social emotions mediated this relation. Our finding indicate that the less Norwegian students perceive immigrants as a symbolic threat, the more they report positive social emotions towards the immigrants. This in turn positively relates to their motivation to engage in collective actions supporting immigrants. These findings add insight to how Norwegians can be encouraged to engage in collective actions on behalf of immigrants, and thereby push forward policies that increases immigrant inclusion and reduce inequality within Norwegian society.