South Africa and Johannesburg are rapidly becoming global entities in the worldwide domain. The history of South Africa embodies a place of segregation and discrimination. At present, South Africa is characterised as a place of promise for the future. As a result, South Africa (specifically Johannesburg), “has become a magnet for people from other provinces, the African continent, and indeed, the four corners of the world” (Masondo, 2004). Yet these movements are not always met with a positive response. This study sought to investigate whether the Integrated Threat Theory (ITT) of prejudice (Stephan & Stephan, 1996) explains prejudice and social distance towards African immigrants in South Africa. The theory suggests that the factors, inter-group anxiety, realistic threats, symbolic threats and negative stereotypes, affect prejudice. Nature of communication was also used as a predictor of prejudice. The sample consisted of 345 South African citizens. A questionnaire was issued to the participants in order to establish how they feel (perception) or have felt, interacting with immigrants from African countries. Various scales were used to ascertain this information. Multiple linear regression and path analyses were conducted. Findings indicated that intergroup anxiety, symbolic threats, realistic threats and stereotypes as well as the nature of communication predicted prejudice to a large extent (68% of the variance explained) and predicted social distance to a moderate extent (42% of the variance explained).

abstract: Using integrated threat theory as the theoretical framework, this study examines the impact of perceived realistic threats (threats to welfare) and symbolic threats (threats to worldview) on anti-immigrant sentiment among a nationally representative sample in the U.S. Analysis of the antecedents of prejudice is particularly relevant today as anti-immigrant sentiment and hostile policies toward the population have risen in the past two decades. Perceived discrimination has also become salient within immigrant communities, negatively impacting both mental and physical health. Using logistic ordinal regressions with realistic threat, symbolic threat, and immigrant sentiment scales, this study found that both realistic and symbolic threats increased participants' likelihood of selecting a higher level of anti-immigrant sentiment, suggesting both are predictive of prejudice. However, symbolic threats emerged as a greater predictor of anti-immigrant sentiment, with an effect size over twice that of realistic threats. Implications for social work policy, practice, and future research are made. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.W. Social Work 2014

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