FEELINGS ASSOCIATED WITH ROMAPHOBIA
Lisa Pagotto & Anna Maria Meneghini (University of Verona, Italy)
[email protected]
Different emotions have different implications for adaptive actions (Frijda, 1986). This is particularly important for intergroup relations: some group behaviours are
characterised by the tendency to move away from another group (out-group) when the presence of that group is associated with fear. On the contrary group behaviour may
be characterised by a tendency to move towards an out-group if anger is elicited (Mackie et al., 2000).
Traditional measures of prejudice seem to obscure the rich texture of emotional experiences associated with a specific out-group and, as a consequence, the reactions that
shape intergroup relations (Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005).
The Roma are a stigmatised group of people who have suffered discrimination throughout Europe for centuries. However, the recent massive migrations of Roma from
Romania to Western Europe have exacerbated this so called Romaphobia (Ljujic et al., 2013) and Antiziganism (Piasere, 2012) in host countries.
Empirical data (Ljujic et al., 2012) support the notion of Romaphobia as a qualitatively distinct type of prejudice.
AIMS
CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this study is to map the feelings of a group of Italian citizens towards the
Romanian Roma (RR). In addition, perceived threats, attitudes towards the RR and
stereotypes attributed to the RR were analysed, focusing on the association between
these feelings and the perceived threats.
The emotions elicited in our group of participants by the RR are both positive
and negative. This might be a cue to the presence of a potential ambivalence
in feelings. However, on the whole, the latter are more intense.
PARTICIPANTS and INSTRUMENTS
An on-line questionnaire was administered to 221 Italian residents. Most of the
participants were women (87.7%) and students (89.1%) who reported little or no
interaction with the RR.
Like most Italians, the participants had only learned about the RR from newspapers or
television news (77.3%). Romaphobia was measured by means of a list of 16 emotions
(8 positive and 8 negative). The questionnaire also included measures of general
attitudes towards different ethnic groups (feeling thermometer), the RR stereotype (16
adjectives). In addition there were some questions about the extent to which the
participant felt threatened by the presence of the RR in 5 areas of life.
RESULTS
Results showed that the most negative attitude is towards
RR (Tab.1).
It appears that the participants believe that the RR are sly,
dirty, poor, dangerous and criminal, (stereotypes). The only
positive characteristic associated to RR was musically
talented (Tab.2).
Table 1: Attitudes towards
different groups
Immigrants
55.30
Romanians
51.05
Roma (general)
42.10
Romanian Roma
41.51
With reference to the intensity of the threats perceived as a result of the presence of the
RR, the most intense are: the threats to public health, personal safety and private property
(Graph.1).
The participants expressed negative feelings more intensely than positive feelings. The
most intense negative emotions elicited by the RR were mistrust, fear and anxiety.
Interestingly, the participants were also curious and interested in the RR (Tab.2).
The results of the correlational analysis showed that negative emotions are strongly and
positively associated with perceived threats. Among these feelings, irritation, disgust and
anger showed the highest correlations with the perceived threats to public health, personal
safety and private property (Tab. 3). Moreover, there seems to be a specific pattern related
to the threat to personal safety as it is associated also with mistrust, fear and anxiety
whereas there was a high correlation between threats to health and private property and
contempt.
Theorists of emotion (e.g. Frijda, 1986) associate specific feelings with
specific action tendencies. As a consequence, people have the urge to attack
those who anger them, escape from those who frighten them, and to avoid
close contact with those who disgust them. The results of the present study
showed that the RR elicit emotions that lead both to an avoidance of
contact as well as to a desire to intimidate the people belonging to this
ethnic group in order to force them to leave. This is in agreement with the
conflictual intergroup relationships reported by the Italian press and media in
the last few years. Moreover, it testifies the difficulty found by those who try to
promote positive relationships between the RR and the Italian population.
This is the first study on the emotions elicited by the RR and the associations
between these emotions and the perceived threats. Greater knowledge of
these dynamics may help communities to plan actions (with reference to the
contact theory: Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006) aimed at successfully integrating the
RR into the Italian society.
Table 2: Stereotypes and
Feelings with higher values
as reported by the participants
mean
SD
STEREOTYPES
Sly
3.94
1.59
Dirty
3.59
1.76
Musically
3.53
1.72
talented
Poor
3.27
1.75
Dangerous
3.21
1.65
Criminal
3.21
1.64
FEELINGS
Mistrust
3.28
1.76
Fear
2.67
1.82
Anxiety
2.53
1.78
Curiosity
2.35
1.80
Interest
1.89
1.71
Irritation
1.83
1.83
Fondness
1.64
1.61
Disgust
1.62
1.77
Anger
1.60
1.76
Contempt
1.42
1.70
Table 3: Correlations
EMOTIONS
public
health
Mistrust
.338**
Fear
.387**
Anxiety
.366**
Curiosity
-.368**
Interest
-.349**
Irritation
.489**
Disgust
.531**
Anger
.510**
Contempt
.481**
THREATS
personal
safety
.477**
.547**
.494**
-.301**
-.299**
.501**
.526**
.510**
.468**
Graph.1: Threats
REFERENCES
Cottrell C.A. & Neuberg S.L. (2005). Different Emotional Reactions to Different Groups: A Sociofunctional Threat-Based Approach to "Prejudice". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(5), 770-789.
Frijda N.H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press.
Ljujic V., Vedder P., Dekker H., Van Geel M. (2012). Romaphobia: A Unique Phenomenon? Romani Studies. 22(2), 141-152.
Ljujic V., Vedder P., Dekker H., Geel M. (2013). Romaphobia among Serbian and Dutch adolescents: The role of perceived threat, nationalistic feelings, and integrative orientations. International Journal of Psychology, 48(3), 352-362.
Mackie D.M., Devos, T. & Smith E.R. (2000). Intergroup emotions: Explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(4), 602-616.
Pettigrew T.F. & Tropp L.R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(5), 751-783.
Piasere L. (2012). Scenari dell'antiziganismo. Firenze: SEID.
private
property
.403**
.409**
.417**
-.233**
-.313**
.487**
.504**
.546**
.519**