Abstract

MAMANI, Amy G. Weisman de; ROSALES, Grace A.  and  NAVARRO, Mona. Personal efficacy, attitudes towards immigrants, and voting behavior among latino and white university students. Interam. j. psychol. [online]. 2007, vol.41, n.3, pp. 341-348. ISSN 0034-9690.

This study tests a model linking attitudes towards immigrants with personal efficacy and voting behavior on proposition 187 (an endorsement of an anti-immigrant ballot initiative in California). Using a sample of 218 White and Latino university student results indicated that whites endorsed greater negative attitudes towards immigrants (on the Attitudes Towards Immigrants Scale) as compared to Latinos. In addition, Latinos were more internal in their personal efficacy (on the Spheres of Control Scale) when compared to Whites. Consistent with research drawn from a subset of attribution theory, we also found that for Whites, greater internal personal efficacy was associated with more negative attitudes towards immigrants. Also supporting a subset of research in attribution theory, for Whites, greater internal personal efficacy was associated with support for proposition 187. For both Whites and Latinos, those who held more negative attitudes towards immigrants were more likely to report having voted for proposition 187. For Latinos, no relationships were found between personal efficacy and neither attitudes towards immigrants nor voting behavior. Study implications are discussed.

Keywords : Attitudes; Immigrants; Personal efficacy; Voting behavior.

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