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Discrimination. Xenophobia (from Ancient Greek: ξένος ( xénos ), "strange, foreign, or alien", and φόβος ( phóbos ), "fear") [1] is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange.
- Overview
- Is xenophobia a medical diagnosis?
- Types of xenophobia
- Differences between xenophobia and racism
- Signs of xenophobia
- Examples of xenophobia
- Causes of xenophobia
- Challenging xenophobia
- Summary
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Xenophobia (ZEE-no-foe-bee-uh) is dislike, hatred, or fear of outsiders. This can manifest as hostility toward immigrants, but it can also manifest as hatred toward members of another tribe, culture, or religion.
A person does not have to actually be from another place or culture to become a target for xenophobia. People can distrust or hate others based purely on assumptions about their accent, appearance, or behavior.
Racism can play into this, too. Racism is discrimination based on a person’s race or ethnicity, which people sometimes use as justification for xenophobia toward immigrants from certain backgrounds.
Read on to learn more about xenophobia, including types, examples, causes, and how to challenge it.
No, xenophobia is not a medical diagnosis. Although it contains the word “phobia,” which means “fear” in Greek, xenophobia is not a true phobia.
True phobias, such as agoraphobia or arachnophobia, are a type of anxiety disorder. They cause symptoms that can significantly interfere with a person’s life. They are also medically treatable.
By contrast, the word “xenophobia” refers to a range of aggressive, fearful, and hostile beliefs. It comes from a person’s ideology and worldview rather than from a disorder.
The people xenophobia affects most are not the people who hold xenophobic views themselves, but the targets of those views. This can include:
•immigrants
•refugees
There are two broad types of xenophobia: immigrant xenophobia and cultural xenophobia.
Immigrant xenophobia is the dislike or fear of people who are, or who are perceived to be, immigrants. Anti-immigration policies are a manifestation of this type of xenophobia.
Cultural xenophobia is dislike or hostility toward different cultures. Assuming that products, foods, or movies from other cultures are inferior to one’s own is an example of this.
Xenophobia may also be implicit or explicit. Implicit xenophobia includes anti-outsider views a person is not aware they have, but that still affect their beliefs and behavior in subtle or unintentional ways.
While there is significant overlap between xenophobia and racism, they are not the same thing.
Xenophobia specifically relates to a person or group having “outsider” status within a society. Racism specifically relates to race or ethnicity, whether the person or group has “outsider” status or not. These two forms of prejudice can occur separately, or together.
For example, a white American citizen feeling resentful toward white immigrants, solely due to a belief they are stealing local jobs, is an example of xenophobia on its own.
That same citizen feeling hatred toward all immigrants due to their assumptions about their ethnicity, skin tone, and their impact on the local economy is xenophobia and racism combined.
A person or institution may have xenophobic views if they:
•express distrust or disgust toward perceived outsiders
•express distrust or disgust toward that group’s food, music, or other aspects of their culture despite having little knowledge of it
•avoid interacting with perceived outsiders
•blame perceived outsiders for local problems, such as a lack of new jobs or inflation
•believe that perceived outsiders think, behave, live, or feel significantly differently from non-outsiders
Xenophobia exists on a continuum, from subtle comments to overt and explicit discrimination. It is also present at all levels of society, from individual beliefs to laws and government policy.
Some examples of how xenophobia can manifest include:
•Microaggressions: Xenophobic microaggressions are subtle comments that imply someone is an outsider. For example, a person might hear that someone has a different accent to them, and immediately ask where they are from or compliment their English. These might seem like innocent comments, but they emphasize a person’s “otherness.”
•Exclusion and discrimination: Xenophobic discrimination can occur anywhere, from relationships to workplaces. For example, an employer might not hire or promote people who they view as “foreign” due to implicit or explicit beliefs about how deserving, capable, or trustworthy they are.
•Medical xenophobia: This occurs when medical professionals treat perceived outsiders differently. They might spend less time with patients, view them as untrustworthy, fail to get them a translator if they need one, or report them to immigration authorities. This often means that people perceived as outsiders get lower quality medical care, delay access to medical care, or have a higher risk of stress-related health conditions.
•Journalistic xenophobia: This is when implicit or explicit xenophobia affects how journalists portray religious or cultural groups. For example, they can present religious minorities as part of a multicultural society or as outsiders, or refugees as “deserving” of help or as a threat. Publications can also focus on negative stories about certain groups in order to sow fear and attract more readers, or to sway public opinion.
Similar to other forms of oppression, xenophobia keeps certain groups in power and disempowers others. However, the factors that contribute to this are complex.
Sometimes, people engage in xenophobia intentionally for their own gain. They may be motivated by:
•Power: Political leaders sometimes use xenophobia as a tool to get votes. They may use perceived outsiders as a scapegoat for societal problems that they then promise to fix. They may also use xenophobia to create an in-group and out-group, creating an illusion of unity among the most dominant group of voters.
•Insecurity: A number of studies suggest that perceived insecurity plays a significant role in xenophobia. When a person or group feels that they have less access to resources or are in danger, they can want someone to blame. This is one of the factors fueling xenophobic violence in South Africa.
•Greed: Sometimes, resources are not scarce — they are just highly valuable. A gold rush on Cherokee land in 1829 was one of the reasons the U.S. government displaced Native Americans from their lands during the Trail of Tears.
•Other prejudices: Xenophobia can stem from racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and other forms of oppression, which can fuel xenophobia toward specific out-groups.
On an individual level, people can challenge xenophobia via:
•Education: Take time to learn about xenophobia, including the myths and stereotypes, as well as its impact on marginalized groups. Look for articles, books, and other media that come directly from marginalized people.
•Self-awareness: Many people grow up around xenophobic messaging, whether from their family, peers, or the news. It is important to become aware of one’s own assumptions and to challenge them, particularly for people in positions of power. Although xenophobia is not a mental health condition, approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help people with this.
•Cultural appreciation: People may find it useful to expand their understanding of food, music, movies, and more. For example, caregivers might encourage their children to read books with diverse characters, or try foods from a variety of cuisines.
•Inclusivity: Find ways to make group environments more inclusive to break down the “us versus them” dynamic. For example, a school could offer a Spanish translator at parent-teacher meetings if many children have caregivers who speak Spanish as their first language.
•Using privilege: People who belong to an in-group have privilege in comparison to perceived outsiders. They can use this privilege to benefit others. For example, a person could accompany a friend to doctor appointments to ensure the doctor listens to them, or teach other members of the in-group about xenophobia so that the burden of doing this is not on the out-group.
Xenophobia is the fear, hatred, and distrust of outsiders. It harms not only immigrants but anyone that the dominant group in a society deems strange or foreign. It is not a phobia in the medical sense, but a widespread form of prejudice and discrimination.
Xenophobia can be part of a political platform, the result of institutional policies, or a form of interpersonal abuse. It negatively impacts the lives of many people globally and often overlaps with other types of oppression.
Xenophobia is dislike, hatred, or fear of outsiders, such as immigrants, refugees, or people from different cultures. Learn about the types, causes, and effects of xenophobia, and how to challenge it.
Learn the origin, usage and examples of the word xenophobia, which means fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners. Find synonyms, related articles, podcast entries and more on this topic.
Xenophobia is the fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners, or the belief that they threaten one's own identity and society. Learn about the origins, forms, and consequences of xenophobia, from anti-Semitism to Islamophobia, from Japan's sakoku to COVID-19.
Jun 7, 2023 · Xenophobia vs. Racism . Xenophobia and racism are similar in that they both involve prejudice and discrimination, but there are important differences to consider. Where xenophobia is the fear of anyone who is considered a foreigner, racism is specifically directed toward people based on their race or ethnicity. People can be both xenophobic and ...
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