Mechanisms of exclusion: attitudes toward allocation of social rights to out-group population

This study examines the ways in which perceived socioeconomic threat, perceived threat to national identity, and prejudice (as reflected in negative stereotypes and desire for social distance) prompt objection to allocation of rights to out-groups. The paper presents a simultaneous test of three theoretical explanations and delineates the complex interrelationships among all concepts, using data from a representative sample of Israelis in structural equation models. This study finds that: (1) perception of socioeconomic threat is positively associated with perception of threat to national identity; (2) the two types of threat do not directly affect attitudes toward allocation of rights, but instead tend to increase negative stereotyping of the out-group; (3) negative stereotypes are likely to contribute to a desire for social distance from the out-group; and (4) the attribution of negative characteristics and a sense of social distance tend to increase objection to allocation of social rights to the out-group.