Social media usage and the perception of immigrants in Singapore

Abstract

The rise of anti-immigrant sentiments among Singaporeans is a potential threat to the nation’s social stability and economic growth. Social media platforms are rampant with hate speech and anti-immigrant content. This study examines Singaporeans’ attitudes towards three prominent immigrant groups in Singapore, namely Chinese nationals, foreign workers, and Caucasian expatriates, while looking into social media’s role in stereotype formation and examining Stereotype Content Model (SCM) application in Singaporean context. 424 valid survey responses were collected from Singaporean undergraduates. Findings revealed that a) different immigrant groups were perceived differently in terms competence and warmth; b) status consistently predicted competence while competition did not consistently predict warmth; c) social media usage in terms of consumption, contribution, and network heterogeneity played a role in stereotype formation, and their effects differed across the groups.