Abstract

This study attempted to identify the relationships between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO) and xenophobia, an exclusive and discriminatory attitude toward immigrants, and to verify the mediating effects of dehumanization of immigrants in these relations. RWA and SDO have been noted as predictors of prejudice against many outgroups, and dehumanization was considered as important mediating variables in this relations because it may justify and perpetuate xenophobia. For these purposes, an online survey was conducted for college students nationwide. After excluding unreliable responses, a total of 191 data was analyzed using SPSS 21 and PROCESS Macro v4.1 programs. The results showed that RWA, SDO, dehumanization towards immigrants and xenophobia were significantly positively correlated with one another. In addition, RWA had both direct and indirect effects through dehumanization on xenophobia, whereas SDO had only an indirect effect through dehumanization. This study confirmed that RWA and SDO are individual difference variables that can predict xenophobia, and have indirect effects through dehumanizing perceptions of immigrants in these relationships, respectively. Finally, we discussed the implications and limitations of this study, and suggestions for future research.