Mark Rubin

Publications (27) View all

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  Available from: Mark Rubin

  Article: A processing fluency explanation of bias against migrants

  Mark Rubin, Stefania Paolini, Richard J Crisp
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  ABSTRACT: This research investigated whether people are biased against migrants partly because they find migrants more difficult to cognitively process than nonmigrants. In Study 1, 181 undergraduate students evaluated migrant and nonmigrant members of two minimal groups and reported the difficulty that they experienced in thinking about each type of target. Participants rated migrants less positively than nonmigrants, and difficulty ratings partially mediated this effect. Study 2 (N = 191) replicated these findings and demonstrated similar findings for individuals who had been excluded from minimal groups. This evidence implies that migrant bias can be explained partly in terms of the difficulty that people have in processing information about migrants, and that it is related to migrants’ exclusion from their original group.
  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 04/2013; 46:21-28.
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  Article: The contact caveat: Negative contact predicts increased prejudice more than positive contact predicts reduced prejudice.

  Barlow, F. K, Paolini, Pedersen, Hornsey, M. J, Radke, H. R. M, Harwood, Rubin, Sibley, C. G
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  ABSTRACT: Contact researchers have largely overlooked the potential for negative intergroup contact to increase prejudice. In Study 1, we tested the interaction between contact quantity and valence on prejudice toward Black Australians (n = 1,476), Muslim Australians (n = 173), and asylum seekers (n = 293). In all cases, the association between contact quantity and prejudice was moderated by its valence, with negative contact emerging as a stronger and more consistent predictor than positive contact. In Study 2, White Americans (n = 441) indicated how much positive and negative contact they had with Black Americans on separate measures. Although both quantity of positive and negative contact predicted racism and avoidance, negative contact was the stronger predictor. Furthermore, negative (but not positive) contact independently predicted suspicion about Barack Obama’s birthplace. These results extend the contact hypothesis by issuing an important caveat: Negative contact may be more strongly associated with increased racism and discrimination than positive contact is with its reduction.
  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 12/2012; 38(12):1629-1643. · 2.22 Impact Factor
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  Article: Immigrants’ social integration as a function of approach-avoidance orientation and problem-solving style.

  Rubin, Watt, S. E, Ramelli
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  ABSTRACT: Previous research has shown that immigrants’ approach orientation positively predicts their attitudes towards contact with host nationals (Matschke & Sassenberg, 2010). The present research builds on this previous work by investigating the extent to which immigrants’ independent vs. interdependent problem-solving style moderates the relation between approach-avoidance orientation and social integration. Interdependent problem-solvers rely on other people to achieve their goals. This interdependence was expected to reduce the influence of approach-avoidance orientation on integration among immigrants. Immigrants to Australia (N = 137) completed a questionnaire that included measures of approach-avoidance orientation and problem-solving style. Participants also completed three measures of social integration: (1) proportion of Australian friends, (2) feelings of inclusion in Australian society, and (3) satisfaction with employment, accommodation, and life in Australia. Consistent with previous research, there was a positive relation between approach and social integration and a negative relation between avoidance and social integration. Consistent with predictions, problem-solving style moderated the relation for approach orientation: Only immigrants who were independent problem–solvers showed a significant positive relation between approach and social integration. The results are discussed in relation to Gable’s (2006) model of approach and avoidance social goals and motives, and the implications for immigration services are considered.
  International Journal of Intercultural Relations 06/2012; 36(4):498-505. · 1.14 Impact Factor
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  Article: Social class differences in social integration among students in higher education: A meta-analysis and recommendations for future research.

  Rubin
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  ABSTRACT: A meta-analysis of 35 studies found that social class (socioeconomic status) is related to social integration among students in higher education: Working-class students are less integrated than middle-class students. This relation generalized across students’ gender and year of study, as well as type of social class measure (parental education and parental income). However, type of social integration measure was a significant moderator. In particular, the social subscale of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire obtained the largest effect (r = .18, p < .001). Significant effects were also found using measures of the sense of belonging and participation in formal and informal social activities. Future research in this area should use multidimensional measures of social integration and investigate potential mediators of the social class-social integration relation.
  Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 03/2012; 5:22-38. · 0.68 Impact Factor
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  Article: Group status is related to group prototypicality in the absence of social identity concerns.

  Rubin
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  ABSTRACT: Based on self-categorization theory, group status should be positively related to group prototypicality when the relevant superordinate category is positively valued. In this case, high status groups should be perceived to be more prototypical than low status groups even in the absence of concerns about maintaining a positive social identity. To test this hypothesis, a minimal group study was conducted in which participants (N = 139) did not belong to any of the groups involved. Consistent with predictions, participants perceived high status groups to be significantly more prototypical than low status groups. Consistent with self-categorization theory’s cognitive analysis, these results demonstrate that the relation between group status and group prototypicality is a relatively basic and pervasive effect that does not depend on social identity motives.
  The Journal of Social Psychology 01/2012; 152:386-389. · 0.64 Impact Factor