Do foreign threats negatively impact local group relations?

What is it about?

The paper uses an experimental approach to test whether media messages on foreign situations (i.e., Arab uprisings, Turkish accession to EU) can impact more local intergroup relations (i.e., within the Netherlands). Findings show that mainly perceived symbolic threats (i.e., regarding world views, ideologies) from foreign groups negatively impact local intergroup relations. Thereby offering important understanding of how external and foreign events can negatively impact relationships between local groups.

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Why is it important?

People are often confronted with negative and threatening foreign news. Although these situations might look remote, our studies show they do have real local consequences. That is, local intergroup relationships often deteriorate due to such messaging. This highlight the important role - and possibly responsibility - the media has in providing accurate and representative images of foreign situations.

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