“They Think We Are…” Mexican Immigrants’ Meta- Stereotypes of White-Americans

Event Center A&B

With the increasing number of Mexican nationals migrating to the United States, there has also been an increase in rejection seen from American society. Stereotyping is one of the consequences that Mexican immigrants face when they migrate to the United States. This stereotyping is a problem because people are negatively affected when they are stereotyped, especially by groups of higher social positions. Most researchers have examined these effects from the perspective of the higher status group, that is, in terms of how high status groups’ stereotypes influence how they perceive and treat lower status group members. In our study, we examined the perceptions that Mexican Americans/immigrants have regarding the stereotypes that White-Americans have about them. We are interested in how these “metastereotypes” 1) correspond with White-Americans’ actual stereotypes, and 2) affect Mexican immigrants/Americans in terms of self-esteem, health, academic performance, and perceived position on the social ladder. We expect that Mexican immigrants will have an accurate sense of White-Americans’ stereotypes about Mexican immigrants. Specifically, Mexican immigrants’ meta-stereotypes will match with the stereotypes that White-Americans hold about them. Moreover, we hypothesize that Mexican immigrants’ self-esteem, health, academic performance, and perceived social position will be negatively affected by their awareness of these stereotypes.