A Measure of Perceived Identity Threat and of Distancing Relevant Others: Development of the Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire

This paper reports the development of the Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire (MTPQ), a complex, multidimensional measure that assesses both identity threat on different dimensions of identification and the psychological distancing of outgroups relevant to each dimension. While main-stream approaches to prejudice focus on target groups and/or develop unidimensional measures, we present an instrument measuring the subjective perception of threat to different identity dimensions, which provides the condi-tion to distance the other and to construct prejudice reinforcing and stabiliz-ing self-boundaries. The present study confirmed the hypothetical factor structure based on data from 1482 participants. that


Introduction
The motivation behind scientific literature of prejudice is not only the scientific understanding of those phenomena related to it, but also how to contribute to reduce it [1]. Looking at prejudice as psychological distancing of perceived threat stimuli, intervention plans for its reduction need to take into account subjects psychological and identity states, more than the information biases concerning target groups. Prejudice is much more functional than we thought, and its reduction should be based on the psychological empowerment of the producers. To create these kinds of interventions we need an instrument that can capture identity-states related to relevant others.
At first we will present those theoretical considerations that fit to the acknowledgement of prejudice as a process of psychological distancing the Other, than without being exhaustive we present the existent measurements of prejudice and perceived threat, highlighting the demand of an instrument which is able to capture: oscillations of threat perceptions in different identity dimensions; the distancing of identity relevant Others; and the connectedness among them. Once embedded theoretically and presented a few alternatives, we present our two-scale instrument, the Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire (MTPQ). However the development of the instrument followed a longer process, the analysis will report the last validation with the data of 1482 Hungarian participants, confirming the hypothetical factor structure. At last we report a few critical considerations, propose further directions of investigation and present possible fields for usage.

Prejudice as Context-Based Relevant Self-Other Categorisations
Tajfel [2] draws attention to the ways individuals, through their group membership, perceive situations and society from their membership perspective, and think and behave accordingly. Prejudice and stereotypes are social as, when consensual, they arise from the constructed relations between the perceived social groups of a given context. They arouse from the shared perception of this contextual organization and individuals' adaptation to their social environment. As Tajfel highlights their social function, groups using stereotypes can ideologize collective actions, find causal explanations for large-scale social events to diminish anxiety, justify future and past actions against other groups, and reinforce differences between the ingroup and outgroup.
In the process of prejudice, the term social context not only refers to the social structure and the ongoing group conflicts but to all the social representational fields, a fabric of meanings through which communities and group members are able to communicate with each other. Constructivist approaches focus on the ways these contents and meanings structure psychological processes. With each act of representation, when we create and use knowledge, as well as prejudiced knowledge of who the others are, we also perform an act of identification: we define and recreate our perspective. To reduce anxiety and cope with the unknown, we "domesticate" the world around us [3] and by making sense of everyday life, we reconstruct differences between ourselves and others [4]. The social context paves the way for prejudice in the social arena, where the criteria for categorizations, the acknowledged groups to identify with as well as the contents associated with these groups are constructed by people and are objects of the symbolic struggle for power [5]. These meta-theoretical assumptions formed the theoretical basis for the development of an instrument measuring prejudice in its complexity.
Our basic assumption is that prejudice is a reaction to subjective perception of Psychological processes such as categorizations and subsequently prejudice are strictly related to the contents through which they work. These contents are not only bits of information on a stimulus but emerge from and anchored in a very narrow way to the historical and social context in which we live. The social context and the power relations embedded in it define 1) the categories we are allowed to use in thinking 2) and the relevance of these categories. These categories define both other and self-representations, which in this way are inseparable from each other. In other words, identity and prejudice are the two sides of the same coin. Furthermore, the more significant a category is for us, the more we will distinguish it from other categories. The more important a quality is for us, the more extreme judgment we make of ourselves and of the others through this quality, with the aim of distinction [2]. According to Reicher, Haslam and Rakshi [6], acts of extreme inhumanity become possible when there is a constellation of the following conditions: ingroup identification, outgroup exclusion, outgroup threat and ingroup virtue. In our perspective, when people perceive others as threatening and think about self-other relations as repressive relations, where there is always a winner and a loser, psychological distancing and continuous social comparison become "useful" defense mechanisms.
Prejudice is a strong separation between the constructed self-image based on a relevant group membership and the others inherent in that membership. The more a group membership becomes important for the individual, the more the offered intergroup relations associated with that membership become relevant, and the more the ingroup-related representations, knowledge and possible actions will be activated, especially when facing unusual phenomena or situations.
From this perspective, prejudice is a defense mechanism, a reaction to subjectively experienced fear and threat to relevant identity dimensions. It provides a sense of security through creating psychological distance from the other, devaluating this other, and sometimes even depriving she/he of her/his human essence. The idea of deprivation of the other of her/his human essence is basic to theories and theoretical concepts such as dehumanization [2] [7] [8] [9], infrahumanization [10], and ontologization [11] [12] [13].
The instability arising from threat increases the need for reinforcing group boundaries, strongly framing and narrowing down the normal (ingroup) and the deviant (outgroup) categories (essentialism [14], 2011, naturalization [15]; or entitativity [16] [17]). The psychological instability caused by threat is inseparable from self-definition through differences, a permanent need to emphasize uniqueness and distinctiveness. According to Sociofunctional approach different groups Outgroup exclusion is often conceptualized as a consequence of perceived outgroup threat, which arises from the narrow definition of the ingroup and the instability of the group identity [19]. Furthermore, threat can lead to changes in stereotypes [20] and to increased perceived homogeneity of the outgroup [21].
According to the Intergroup Threat Theory [22], high attachment to the ingroup, mistrust towards the outgroup, rigid social hierarchies, authoritarian norms, and negative intergroup relations in the past are all conditions that could predispose the perception of intergroup threat. Both the Sociofunctional approach and the Integrated Threat Theory create a causal relation between threat and prejudice, while the Justification-Supression Model [23] states that threat can be used to justify psychological and social distance from social groups. According to this model the expressed and experienced prejudice depends on those contextual elements that permit to justify or to suppress genuine prejudice. Thus perceived threat caused by prejudice but only if it is plausible and acceptable [24].
There is a debate on the relationships between perceived threat, negative feelings towards a group, and prejudice. Some authors suggest that these constructs do not differ sharply from each other [25] [26], while Shcheepers, Gijberts and Coenders [27] and Akrami, Ekehammar, Bergh, Dahlstrand and Malmsten [28] considers perceived threat and distancing as distinct processes. As Schaller, Park and Mueller states "all sorts of unnecessary antisocial acts-from bullying to gang violence to tribal warfare-are precipitated by threat and perceived vulnerability to danger" ( [28], p. 1). According to our view, if we consider the self-other relationship as a unit of inquiry, there is no causal relationship between insecurity, threat and distancing the other. They are circular processes based in representations of hierarchical relationships, which reinforce each other in a circular way, when the social and normative frame allows it.

Measuring Prejudice
In most studies, prejudice is measured with paper-and-pencil tests focusing on negative/exclusive attitudes towards specific target groups. Social distance scale [29] was developed in 1924, and it is still widely used. Based on a similar approach, the Ethnic Group Rating [30] includes three items concerning general like and trust judgments regarding relevant outgroups, while the Thermometer Scales assess affective reactions to social groups [31].
Another frequently used self-report method enables the measurement of a distal constellation of attitudinal factors or ideological frame [32]. One of these more distal approaches focuses on the measurement of conventionalism, authoritarian aggression and authoritarian submission collectively referred to as  [33]. The 30-item instrument devised by Altemeyer [34] has been widely used, and a short version has also been developed [35]. Another distal approach to measure the ideological frame of prejudice is the Social Dominance Orientation Scale [36] based on the theory of social dominance. The 16-item version of the questionnaire distinguishes between those who prefer a hierarchically organized society based on status differences and those who believe in egalitarian communities. Both SDO and RWA proved positive predictors of prejudice and ethnocentrism.
Most questionnaires focus on one single dimension of prejudice, such as race, gender or age. A large number of questionnaires are still more concrete and specific to one target group of otherness. For instance, the Pro-Black/Anti-Black Attitude Questionnaire [37] and the Attitudes toward Roma Scale [38] assess attitudes towards one specific target group. The Fabroni Scale of Ageism [39] measures negative attitudes towards elderly people with 29 items composing three dimensions: antilocution, avoidance and discrimination. The Modern Sexism Scale [40] includes eight items which are worded in terms of denial of discrimination against women, opposition to women's request for impartial treatment and lack of support of anti-discrimination policies. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory [41] differentiates between hostile and benevolent sexism. The former dimension is in line with the classic hostility-based conceptualization, whereas benevolent sexism can be defined as a set of attitudes that are seemingly positive and prosocial while actually being limited to stereotypical roles and gender hierarchy.
In line with the approaches proposed by Swim, Aikin, Hall & Hunter [40], some researchers make a distinction between the two forms of prejudice (e.g., Maas, Castelli and Arcuri [45] propose an alternative approach to prejudice measurement focusing on more spontaneous forms of linguistic expressions such as respondents' descriptions of outgroup behavior, which reflect subtle linguistic biases stemming from prejudice. Other indirect measures such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT; [46]) are also available. The IAT is based on a forced categorization task requiring participants to rapidly categorize social stimuli under a positive or negative attribute.

Measuring Threat
Perceived threat is often measured explicitly with unidimensional scales [47], and not clearly distinguishing between threat and prejudice [48]. The Belief in a Open Journal of Social Sciences Dangerous World Scale by Altemeyer [49] consists 12 item, while Schlueter, Schmidt and Wagner [50] assessed perceived group threat with three items addressing both realistic and symbolic threat posed by "foreigners", similarly to Stephan and Stephan [19].

Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire (Mptq)
Our initial assumption was that prejudice assessment should focus on the dynamic aspects of identity stabilization and construction rather than on the representations of the outgroups. While identity threat could be investigated by its internal recognition or its external acknowledgement, the primary cue to prejudice is perception, thus internal recognition in our view. However, it has to be noted that threat perception is often incongruent with its normatively described conditions. The perception of threat and the threatening target arise together with the activated and often triggered abilities and strategies employed to deal with it. Socially shared and accepted coping strategies also consider the target as the object creating anxiety. One of the strategies to cope with threat is to create psychological distance from its object, preferably through devaluation if possible.
With these considerations in mind, we constructed two main scales.  The more individuals naturalize a group membership assumed to be given by birth, the more they psychologically close group boundaries. I see it harder and harder to provide an adequate standard of living for myself/ my family. (8) It is unfair that while state leaders enjoy welfare, many are starving.
I often think about the possibility of losing everything I have. (7) Rich people exploit others.
I am assured that I will be able to provide for my children in the future. Those having a lower standard of living should not have children.  The stability of our country is at risk because of a lack of adequate economic growth. (5) The cheap labour coming from abroad should not be admitted into the country. (6) I am worried about the quality of the international representation of national economic interests. (4) The levels of import should be reduced. (5) I am not worried that domestic producers would be in a disadvantaged position as opposed to foreigners (reversed item).
It is beneficial for our economy that there are foreign companies operating in our country. (reversed item).

Socio-National dimension
The way equality before the law is applied in the jurisdiction makes me feel anxious. (6) The national political elite is interested in undermining the cohesion of the society.
It makes me feel worried that more and more people are deprived of access to education in the current system. I am fed up with groups promoting views of social exclusion.
It makes me feel upset that in this nation we are unable to have respect for the differences between us.
It is the economic actors that are responsible for the increasing tensions in our society. (7) Gender dimension I would feel distressed if someone of my own gender would flirt with me.
I would feel distressed if I learned that a friend of mine was homosexual. (14) I would feel upset if I were considered being homosexual. (14) I think that men and women have the same rights and obligations.
As a woman, I would feel upset if it was not my duty to take care of the children in my family.
Women themselves are responsible for their failing to obtain leading positions.
As a man, I would feel upset if it was not my duty to provide the necessary resources for my family. Perceived cultural homogeneity of a nation is based on shared values, traditions, language, history, lifestyles and worldviews, as the concept of subtle prejudice concern exaggerated cultural differences [44]. While this unity is perceived as being maintained by socialization and long-term shared existence, and thus it provides adequate stability, it also allows better permeability between psychological group boundaries and better chances of change. Target groups are threatening because they represent different cultural values and lifestyles.
Thinking about the nation as an economic unity is associated with different threats and target groups. The nation in this case is perceived as a community of shared economic interests whose members are interdependent in terms of material well-being. There is a competition with foreign corporations and workers that threaten the ingroups' economic system.
Finally, a nation could be perceived as an imagined community that defines the conditions of inclusion at a societal level including education, health care and all those issues that are of common interest to those living in a delimited space called a nation. In this case, target groups of prejudice could be considered those groups that hinder the development of the community.
Items addressing gender identity threat were based on traditional gender roles or sexual orientations. We assumed that traditional roles and heterosexual orientations would frame individuals with strictly limited and still dominant representations on how to behave according to their roles. Traditional representations of gender tend to biologize gender differences, and individuals sharing this kind of representations think about these differences as innate and genetically coded including both others and themselves. Any other kind of behavior, role or sexual orientation is viewed by these individuals as deviant and thus threatening. We think that those having a gender identity or sexual orientation outside the limits of traditional and dominant norms also feel threatened by anticipated social exclusion. However, we chose to measure threats associated with traditional representations of gender and sexuality because these are the threats underlying normative and socially dominant prejudice. Two different sets of items were designed to measure threats perceived by female and male respondents.
Threat to one's religious identity is posed by the anticipated restriction of one's freedom of religious credo to the advantage of other religious views. Prejudice or distancing the other on this identity dimension could be measured by assessing the implicit or explicit desire to restrict others' religious views. Items were constructed in the most general form possible, without embracing a specific religious credo. While the perceived threat concerns the religious credo in itself, distancing or prejudice is more closely related to religious affiliation and religious intergroup relations. In this respect, religion could be represented as a normative frame of a shared way of living, thus its diversity threatens the norms and values forming the basis of shared existence.
We constructed a two-scale measure focusing on the defense function of prejudice rather than on specific target groups. Feeling threatened as a mental state produces psychological distance between the self and the other. This shift to Open Journal of Social Sciences threat-based prejudice reduction strategies from those focusing on target group-relevant issues (e.g. unsuccessful cold integration processes based on the contact hypothesis, specific strategies based on insufficient or biased knowledge, information packages used in education concerning target groups) is based on the view that interventions aimed at prejudice reduction should fulfil an identity strengthening function. We also assume that attitudes towards target groups have a stronger normative frame than the expression of the associated inner, subjective mental states of fear and anxiety, therefore a measure tapping these mental states could better resonate with respondents' prejudicial views, and it could be more suitable for capturing small changes and thus for intervention assessment and evaluation. The instrument proposed in this paper was designed to meet these needs.
Tackling different identity dimensions together allows us to capture the complex representational fields rooted in a given social context, which is much more than a general prejudicial attitude of individuals. The organization of different identity dimensions, the value and importance attributed to them, the more or less close relationship between the different dimensions help us to develop more specific and targeted intervention programs.

Study
One of the first steps of developing the MTPQ was defining the focus of the measurement and then reviewing existing measures of related variables, brainstorming for new aspects and generating a large item pool. We preliminary examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the questionnaire and the pilot study confirmed the hypothetical subscales. The psychological dimensions of the final questionnaire are reported below. The goal of the present study was to confirm the factor structure of the final questionnaire.

Participants and Procedure
The present data collection took place in 2017. Respondents were approached by the snowballing technique through social media groups and email messages with the help of pedagogy and psychology students of the University of Pécs. In order to reach out for a sample with a more variable socio-economic/educational background, students were asked not to spread the questionnaire among college students, but find diverse participants from their hometown above 18 years with different occupational background.

Data Analysis
Items were excluded from the questionnaire if they did not load above 0.4 on either factor, and they were selected on the basis of their contribution to psychologically meaningful factors that explained a significant proportion of the total variance. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted to examine the structure of the questionnaire, while Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to analyze internal consistency. 21). Thus we assume that internal consistency will be improved by international or intercultural sampling. Table 3 shows Pearson's correlations between the two scales of MTPQ. A significant positive relationship was self-evident between most of the relevant factors such as, for example, between Biological-cultural National Identity threat and Open Journal of Social Sciences

Discussion
The hypothetical threat and distancing aspects of the different identity dimen- According to our results, material (existential) threat is related to national identity threat. Threat related to national identity based on a biological/cultural unity also defines religious and gender threat in the Hungarian context. It has been revealed that a general disposition to prejudice underlies distancing, while distancing at the level of biological nationhood seems to be the hub of the other distancing scales. This result is confirmed by the correlations between threat and distancing: bio-cultural nationhood threat covariates with each distancing scale, while eco-societal nationhood threat does not.
The presented study is based on a theoretical approach in which prejudice is considered as a result of perceived identity threat. Following this approach, a new questionnaire assessing perceived identity threat and psychological distancing was developed. The MTPQ and its subscales have good structural properties, moderate internal consistency. Although these findings are highly encouraging, additional construct validity assessment and international surveys are needed to corroborate the validity of each subscale. We believe that this questionnaire and the theoretical approach on which it is based provide adequate support for developing and evaluating balanced anti-prejudice programs in education. A key consideration when using the MTPQ is that a sense of threat produces psychological distance between the self and the other, therefore interventions aimed at prejudice reduction should rely on identity strengthening processes.

Conclusion and Future Direction
Considering prejudice as not an individual bias, but socially operating judgements and psychological distancing, highly functional for the identity of the sharing group members, our theoretical considerations motivated us to develop the Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire. The present study confirmed the hypothetical factor structure based on data from 1482 participants as well as highlighted the relation between different identity threat perceptions and the distancing of relevant others.
One of the limits of this instrument development is the specific cultural area within which it was conducted. With this study we tried to investigate the psychological properties of the Multiple Threat and Prejudice Questionnaire. However both the considered identity dimensions and the relevant outgroups are strictly rooted in the cultural context. Not only the importance of the different identity dimensions under consideration could change in other contexts or their relatedness, but also other dimensions could gain relevance, for example the economic or the age-related identification, as well as different relevant Others could become psychologically important. Our next step is an international data-collection with context adapted versions of the instrument. We consider it a worthwhile direction to explore the questionnaire in cross-cultural setup aiming to capture the genotype instead the phenotype of the phenomena of prejudice [2].