Leiden University Student Repository

Bach, Julia (2021)

Investigating Low-Level Predispositions of Individual Differences in Intergroup Prejudice: The Role of Implicit Threat Sensitivity

Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)

Previous research investigating the factors that shape a person’s degree of intergroup prejudice has focused primarily on relatively high level ideological and personality traits. In a largely separate body of work, psychophysiological predispositions towards threat sensitivity have been linked to ideological constructs. The current work integrates these two bodies of work by introducing a novel approach to measure implicit threat sensitivity and (theoretically) linking it to intergroup prejudice. Specifically, it was investigated whether individual differences in cognitively assessed sensitivity to threatening information were associated with a greater degree of implicit bias and explicit prejudice towards a stereotypically threatening minority-group (i.e., Muslims). While results did not support a relationship between threat sensitivity and intergroup prejudice, exploratory data, as well as limitations and implications of the current work, encourage future research.

Author

Bach, Julia

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Social and Organisational Psychology

Supervisors

Ruisch, B.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en