Attitudes Towards Undocumented Immigrants: Influences of Political Ideology, Media Bias Exposure, Race/Ethnicity, and Ethnocultural Empathy

This study examined the relationships among political ideology, media bias exposure, ethnocultural empathy, and attitudes toward immigrants, with a focus on the mediating role of ethnocultural empathy. A sample of 402 undergraduate psychology students at a large public university in Texas completed measures assessing political conservatism, media consumption habits, ethnocultural empathy, and attitudes toward immigrants. Correlational analyses supported hypotheses that political ideology predicted media bias exposure, which in turn was negatively associated with ethnocultural empathy. Racial/ethnic minority participants reported higher ethnocultural empathy compared to White participants, and greater empathy was associated with more positive immigration attitudes. Mediation analyses revealed that ethnocultural empathy mediated the relationships between media bias exposure and immigration attitudes, and between racial/ethnic identity and immigration attitudes. These findings underscore the central role of empathy in shaping attitudes toward immigrants and suggest that empathy-based interventions and balanced media consumption may help mitigate prejudice in politically polarized environments.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychological Research

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Umanzor, Marden

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Oberle, Crystal

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Czyzewska, Maria
• Mendez, Roque V.

• undocumented immigrants
• race
• ethnicity
• political ideology
• media bias exposure

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/22380

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/22380