Emotional Disposition Between Experience and Xenophobic Attitudes

Abstract

The study is based on the assumption that emotions represent a dependent, moderating, or independent variable of a person's everyday behavior. They are not just the result of social configurations, but also have an influence on perceptions and interpretations of social factors and thereby affect the external environment. The paper analyzes the ways in which emotional disposition plays a mediating role between interaction with immigrants and the development of xenophobic attitudes on the one hand and active discrimination against minorities on the other.

Even though the findings show that such a relationship exists, the connection is weaker than was previously supposed. This may be due to the fact that (mostly rare) actual experiences with immigrants have less impact on the development of permanent emotional dispositions than have crucial biographical events. Hence we come to the conclusion that in order to understand the mediating process of emotions with regard to immigrants, it will be necessary to place more emphasis analyzing the situational causes of the relevant emotional dispositions.