The central role of social exclusion when representing ethnic minorities and its association with intergroup attitudes.

A mixed-methods approach was used to analyze the social representations of four ethnic minorities in southern Spain. Following a between-subjects design, Spanish participants (n = 532) were assigned to evaluate either Romanian Roma, Spanish Roma, Moroccan, or Romanian non-Roma people, with a free-association task and scales of stereotypes, emotions, and behavioral tendencies. Results showed that Romanian Roma was the most devalued target, eliciting the worst representation and attitudes. The content analysis revealed that participants described minorities mainly in terms of social exclusion, culture, appearance, personality, opportunity seeking, stigmatization, and personalization/equality, with social exclusion being a key category associated with worst attitudes.

"Si eres moral y competente adoptaré elementos de tu cultura": el rol mediador de las emociones positivas en el proceso de aculturación de inmigrantes ecuatorianos en España / "If You are Moral and Competent, I Will Adopt Your Culture": The Mediating Role of Positive Emotions in the Acculturation Process of Ecuadorian Immigrants in Spain

Resumen Los procesos psicosociales implicados en las preferencias de aculturación de las personas inmigrantes son importantes para comprender las relaciones interculturales en contextos multiculturales. Este trabajo analiza las relaciones entre tres dimensiones estereotípicas y las emociones positivas experimentadas hacia españoles con las preferencias de aculturación de inmigrantes ecuatorianos en España. La muestra estuvo conformada por 92 personas ecuatorianas (53.3 % mujeres; Medad = 31.58 años) que respondieron a un cuestionario que evaluaba la moralidad, sociabilidad y competencia percibidas en los españoles, las emociones positivas experimentadas hacia ellos y sus preferencias de mantenimiento y adopción cultural. Los resultados muestran que la percepción estereotípica de ecuatorianos sobre españoles (en las dimensiones de moralidad y competencia) predice su preferencia por adoptar costumbres españolas a través de las emociones positivas.

Abstract The psychosocial processes involved in the acculturation preferences of immigrants are important to understand intercultural relationships in multicultural contexts. This work analyzes how three stereotype dimensions and positive emotions are related to the acculturation preferences of Ecuadorians living in Spain. A sample of 92 Ecuadorians (53.3% female; Mage = 31.58 years) answered to a questionnaire expressing how moral, sociable and competent they perceived Spanish people were, to what extent they felt positive emotions towards Spanish people, and their own acculturation preferences regarding maintenance of their original culture and adoption of the Spanish culture. Results show that the way Ecuadorians perceive Spanish people (especially regarding their morality and competence) predicts their preference for adopting Spanish customs through positive emotions.