To what extent does unconscious bias affect individuals’ perceptions of migrant workers from the MENA region?

Immigrant workers are susceptible to discrimination from the local population (Satyen and Becerra, 2022). However, public perceptions of immigrants can present differently depending on the ethnic origin of the immigrant group (Timberlake et al. 2015). Certain groups may be perceived as culturally integrated, while others can be seen as threats to social continuity or economic stability. Timberlake et al.’s (2015) research found that respondents of White ethnic background had a higher negative perception of immigrants, especially those who were considered culturally divergent. According to Almeida et al. (2015), immigrant candidates’ qualifications are often dismissed by employer’s expectations that an employee must fit into the organizational culture, which includes aspects such as communication skills, social affinity, and shared values. Stereotypes of immigrant applicants can critically hinder the recruitment outcomes of an applicant (Almeida et al., 2015). This research will assess how Middle East and North African (MENA) migrant workers are perceived within a working context. While there is an extensive amount of research on perceptions of immigrant workers in general, there is limited research on how Arabs are perceived in the workplace. Bartkoski et al. (2018) carried out a meta-analysis on hiring discrimination against Arab/Muslim individuals. They found that Arabs and Muslims face a sizeable level of discrimination within the hiring process compared to non- Arabs/Muslims. Additionally, employers with limited exposure to diverse environments were more capable of holding negative perceptions and displaying discriminatory behaviour towards Arab applicants. Abu-Ras and Abu-Bader’s (2009) also found that 63% (n=170) of Arab and Muslim Americans reported a negative experience in the workplace related to their ethnic identity. A similar study by de Bruijn et al. (2020) investigated interethnic prejudice amongst White Dutch children against Muslim peers. Their findings presented as negative stereotypes and exclusionary attitudes, highlighting the early development of interethnic prejudice against Muslims, who are often associated with the Arab ethnicity. Moreover, Brown et al. (2013) examined how ethnic-sounding names can influence how individuals may be perceived. They found that names associated with MENA backgrounds had less positive perceptions as opposed to a Western name, illustrating how names can trigger prejudice within individuals. However, there is a need for further research to understand better the impact of migrant status and MENA ethnicity on workplace evaluations. As a result, this study aims to add to the existing literature, exploring how Arab immigrant workers will be perceived by the British population compared to their European counterparts in a work setting. This study will use a between-subjects experimental design to evaluate how individuals think that workers of different migrant status (migrant vs. non-migrant) and different ethnicities (MENA vs. European) will be perceived by their co-workers. Each participant will view one worker profile, consisting of a facial photograph and name manipulating ethnicity, and a written profile manipulating migrant status. They will then complete a demographic questionnaire as well as manipulation checks and dependent measures, including the Reysen Likability Scale (adapted from Reysen, 2005), Organisational Fit Scale (adapted from Gaucher et al., 2011), Social Distance Measure (adapted from Penn et al., 1994), and Competence and Warmth Stereotypes (adapted from Marcus et al., 2016) . Data will be analysed using SPSS and/or Jamovi. There are three hypotheses to be analysed: H1: There will be a main effect of migrant status such that non-migrant profiles will elicit more positive responses than non-migrant profiles. H2: There will be a main effect of ethnicity such that European profiles will elicit more positive responses than MENA profiles. H3: There will be an Interaction effect of migrant status and ethnicity such that migrant profiles with a MENA ethnicity will be evaluated more negatively than migrant profiles with a European ethnicity. To explore the data, I will carry out correlation analyses, t-tests on manipulation checks, and calculate Cronbach alpha scores for all scales. To test hypotheses, I will carry out regression analysis.