Host Country Nationals’ Acculturation Preferences: The Interplay of Social Dominance, Stereotype Content, Perceived Threats and Benefits, and Diversity Ideologies

Host-country nationals’ (HCNs’) acculturation preferences are critical in understanding how immigrants acculturate. Therefore, previous research has examined how different theoretical models and approaches, along with their corresponding intercultural elements, are associated with HCNs’ acculturation preferences. Among the most prevalent intercultural elements are social dominance orientation from Social Dominance Theory, perceived social structures and stereotypes from the Stereotype Content Model, perceived threats and benefits from the Threat-Benefit Model, and diversity ideologies from the Intergroup Diversity Ideologies model. However, there seems to be less clarity as to which of these elements, when competing together, are most associated with HCNs’ acculturation preferences in private and work settings, particularly toward Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. We address this question using a latent profile analysis and logistic regression in a sample of 647 HCNs in the U.S. Our results indicate that most HCNs preferred some sort of integration in both private and work settings, with only a few adopting an “indifference” acculturation preference in which HCNs have no definitive acculturation preference. Moreover, when competing together, we found that HCNs reporting higher levels of perceived symbolic benefits, multiculturalism, and polyculturalism were more likely to prefer a form of integration as opposed to an “indifference” acculturation preference.