Procesos de recepción y efectos socio-cognitivos de películas sobre inmigración. El papel moderador del prejuicio hacia inmigrantes

The results of a research on the impact of films onimmigration in attitudes towards immigration are presented. Aquasi-experimental study with 142 high school students was carriedout, establishing two conditions: watching a movie that emphasizeddiscrimination and empathy reactions towards immigrants (Poniente)or watching a movie that emphasized the positive intergroup contactbetween ingroup and out-group characters (El Próximo Oriente). Amonth before viewing the movies participants filled a questionnairethat contained a scale to measure modern racism. Immediatelyafter viewing the movies identification with ingroup and out-groupcharacters, attitude towards immigration and other relevant receptionprocesses were measured. It was observed that the film designed tostimulate empathy towards immigrants provoked greater identificationwith out-group characters, which in turn induced more positiveattitudes towards immigration, but only when modern racism was lowor moderate.