Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers continues to polarise public debate. The present study sought to investigate the factors that may influence an individual’s endorsement of deterrence-based government policies. Using the integrated threat theory of prejudice, the present study examined the role of perceived threat in shaping Australian voters’ political attitudes toward asylum seekers. A total of 255 Australian citizens completed an online questionnaire that assessed their support for aspects of government policy and their perceptions of asylum seekers as a threat. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the combined and unique influences of perceived threat and sociodemographic factors on overall and individual government policy endorsement. Results indicated that various types of threat (realistic, symbolic, and negative stereotypes) were significant predictors of policy support. Practical implications regarding the development of anti-discriminatory strategies and directions for future research are discussed.

中文翻译：

---

感知到的威胁在澳大利亚人认可寻求庇护者政策中的作用

澳大利亚对寻求庇护者的待遇继续使公众辩论两极化。本研究试图调查可能影响个人对基于威慑力的政府政策的认可的因素。本研究使用偏见的综合威胁理论，研究了感知到的威胁在塑造澳大利亚选民对寻求庇护者的政治态度中的作用。共有255名澳大利亚公民完成了一份在线调查表，评估了他们对政府政策方面的支持以及对寻求庇护者的威胁。分层多元回归分析用于检验感知到的威胁和社会人口统计学因素对整体和个人政府政策认可的综合和独特影响。结果表明，各种类型的威胁（现实的，象征性的，和负面定型观念）是政策支持的重要预测指标。讨论了有关反歧视策略的发展和未来研究方向的实际意义。