1. Arthur T. Hatton, Thomas E. Hatton, & Michael Nielsen
Political and psychological traits shape opinions about migrant farmworkers, refugees, and related populations.
Arthur T. Hatton, Thomas E. Hatton, & Michael Nielsen

2. Migrant Farmworkers Migrant farmworker Vast majority from Mexico
Worker who is required to be absent from permanent place of residence for the purpose of agricultural work
Special visa granted for farm work (HB-1)
Vast majority from Mexico
Can be documented or undocumented
Many physical and mental health risks
Depression is between 40-50% (Hiott et al., 2008)
Stress, family and cultural separation, educational/financial disruption, work demands (Magana & Hovey, 2003)
Some evidence that contact with American culture is a mental health risk (Finch, Frank, & Vega, 2004)

3. Refugees Seeking asylum in the United States
Largely associated with the Syrian Civil War (though there are many others)
Public discourse around whether they should be banned
Vetting process
Understanding how the American public views Farmworkers and Refugees

4. Method Two survey samples, Spring 2016
Online sample:
437 Amazon Mechanical Turk survey workers
206 male, 226 female, 3 transgender
Mean age = 37.9
Student sample
465 undergraduate students from Southeastern university
245 female, 215 male, 4 transgender
Mean age = 20.4
Part of a larger study on political attitudes

5. Online Sample

6. Possible predictors Affect (Clore & Huntsinger, 2007)
PANAS
Psychological inflexibility (Levin et al., 2016)
AAQ-II
Religiosity (Rowatt, Shen, LaBouff, & Gonzalez, 2013)
CRS
Political orientation (Wronski, 2015)
Liberal or conservative Likert-type scale
Demographics
Education, income, sex, age
Geographic variables:
Proximity to migrant farmworkers (Allport, 1954)
Independent estimates of farmworker populations
Urban vs. rural (Burns & Gimpel, 2000)
U.S. Census data for county population, 2012
Hispanic Americans per capita in county from U.S. Census

7. Feelings of Warmth
“Please indicate to what degree you feel ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ regarding the following groups, people, and brands.”
List of 30 people, groups, political parties, presented randomly:
Brands (e.g., Abercrombie & Fitch, Walgreens)
Ethnic and religious groups (e.g., Jews, African Americans)
Politicians (Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush)
Dependent variables:
Mexican migrant farmworkers
Hispanic Americans
Illegal Immigrants
Refugees
Slider
Zero labeled as “cold” and 100 labeled as “warm”
Default set to 50

8. Sample characteristics
Online Sample
Student Sample
Leaned slightly liberal
Higher income
Higher education level
Older
Leaned slightly conservative
Lower income
Lower education level
Younger

9. Feelings toward Groups

10. Results (Student Sample)
Significant predictor(s) for all four groups
Political conservatism
Hispanic Americans (B = -3.20, p < .05)
Mexican Migrant Farmworkers (B = -2.47, p < .05)
Refugees (B = -4.64, p <.05)
Illegal Immigrants (B = -6.07, p < .05)
Significant predictor(s) for Illegal Immigrants
Income (B = -1.51, p < .05)
Inflexibility
Non-significant predictor(s)
Education
Sex
Age
Positive Affect
Negative Affect
Religiosity

11. Results (Online) for Refugees
Significant
Non-Significant
Education (B = 3.13, p < .01)
Political Conservatism (B = -6.73, p < .001)
Religiosity (B = 3.47, p < .01)
Income
Sex
Age
Positive Affect
Negative Affect
Religiosity
Inflexibility
County Population (2012)
Hispanic Per Capita in County
Farmworker Per Capita in County

12. Results (Online) for Farmworkers
Significant
Non-significant
Political conservatism (B = -4.33, p < .001)
Income
Education
Sex
Age
Affect
Religiosity
Inflexibility
County Population (2012)
Hispanic Per Capita in County
Farmworker Per Capita in County

13. Results (Online) for Illegal Immigrants
Significant
Non-Significant
Education in Block 1 (B = 3.86, p < .01)
Political conservatism (B = -9.11, p < .001)
Negative Affect (B = .52, p < .05)
Religiosity (B = 2.91, p < .05)
Income
Sex
Age
Positive Affect
Inflexibility
County Population (2012)
Hispanic Per Capita in County
Farmworker Per Capita in County

14. Results (Online) for Hispanic Americans
Significant
Non-Significant
Political conservatism (B = -3.39, p < .001)
Positive Affect (B = .46, p < .001)
Religiosity (B = 2.62, p < .05)
Female sex in Block 1 (B = 5.10, p < .05)
Income
Education
Age
Negative Affect
Inflexibility
County Population (2012)
Hispanic Per Capita in County
Farmworker Per Capita in County

15. What Does Conservatism Mean?
Not all Conservatives are the same
Conservatism may be a combination of beliefs about morality, namely:
Care/harm
Fairness
Loyalty
Authority
Purity

16. Preliminary Results
For all labels, Authority and Purity represent opposite poles of Conservatism
Respect for authority = lower feelings toward all groups
Belief in purity/sanctity = higher feelings toward all groups
This may reflect a more “religious” conservatism and a more “authoritarian” conservatism

17. References
Available on Request