Emily Nyeswa | 2026 I.S. Symposium
Name: Emily Nyeswa
Title: Bridging the Divide: Understanding and Alleviating Diasporic Tensions between African Immigrants and African Americans
Major: Psychology
Advisor: Amber Garcia
The relationship between African Americans and African immigrants has been characterized by tension, stereotyping, and social distancing, despite sharing a common racial identity. This experimental study tested whether priming a superordinate identity emphasizing shared fate and common adversity could improve intergroup attitudes compared to priming salient subgroup identities. The study contained (N = 189) African Americans, first-generation African immigrants, and second-generation African immigrants who were randomly assigned to either a superordinate identity condition or a subgroup identity condition. Outgroup evaluations, future contact intentions, and intergroup contact willingness were used as dependent measures to test the priming effect. Results revealed no significant main effects of the priming condition, meaning that a single exposure to superordinate priming messaging was not enough to alter intergroup relations. Despite no effect of prime, a significant main effect for ethnicity was found for intergroup contact willingness, with African Americans reporting significantly lower willingness to engage with African immigrants compared to how immigrants reported willingness to engage with African Americans. This finding goes against previous literature that states that African immigrants are the group that is more reluctant to engage with their outgroup. Additional analyses also revealed a significant interaction effect between second-generation immigrant status and promotion of mistrust on outgroup evaluations. The results suggest that single-exposure messaging interventions may not be powerful enough to override the deeply ingrained attitudes shaped by lifelong socialization and lived experience.
Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.
