Both direct and indirect threats were related to unfavorable attitudes toward refugees, so there may be a bidirectional relationship between people’s attitudes and their perception of threat: The perception of threat gives rise to negative attitudes toward outsiders, and negative attitudes also cause greater threat perception.

With the recent mass shooting in Germany, some people are again asking why anybody would hate refugees and aliens (i.e. foreigners). If you are an immigrant, particularly a recent refugee or asylum seeker, you may have already asked this question many times after having experienced prejudice, racism, and discrimination.