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In current society, immigration is a reality that poses important challenges. Identifying factors that favor a more positive evaluation of immigrants could lead to new avenues of intervention to achieve more positive intergroup relationships and greater social well-being. Given that a more abstract thinking style promotes less focus on obstacles and difficulties, the aim of the present study was to examine the link between construal level and stereotype, focusing on people with a more conservative ideology, a population that tends to have a higher level of prejudice towards immigrants. We hypothesized that conservative people with a more abstract thinking style would report less negative stereotypes than those with a more concrete thinking style. In a sample of Spanish adults (N = 1,208, 60.1% women), we applied a questionnaire measuring thinking style, ideology, the degree to which immigrants are perceived as competitors, and the dimension of warmth (morality and sociability) of the stereotype content of that group. We found that more conservative people perceived, to a greater extent, immigrants as competitors and considered them less moral and sociable. However, the warmth (morality and sociability) attributed to immigrants was significantly higher for those conservative individuals who presented more abstract thinking style, with perceived competition as the mediating variable. As it is possible to induce a more abstract thinking style, the results of this study open a new avenue for intervention in promoting more positive attitudes toward immigrants, especially in more conservative people who tend to present more negative stereotypes towards this collective.

Previous research has shown that when people perceive themselves to be experiencing financial scarcity, their thinking style becomes more concrete. Construal level theory points out that thinking in a more concrete way implies focusing more on the short-term consequences of behaviors and is associated with contextual difficulties, less self-control, and increased engagement in risk behaviors. The aim of this study was to understand the factors that affect subjective well-being and engagement in risk behaviors in adolescents with high perceived relative economic scarcity. A total of 463 students (aged 12 to 18), 264 females, from public schools in Madrid (Spain) responded to the study questionnaire. Adolescents with higher perceived relative economic scarcity presented a more concrete thinking style and lower subjective well-being and reported more past risk behaviors and greater intentions to engage in risk behaviors in the future. Participants with a more concrete thinking style and high perceived relative economic scarcity presented the lowest subjective well-being and most risk behaviors, compared to those with a more abstract thinking style and high perceived relative economic scarcity, and either thinking style and low perceived relative economic scarcity. School-based interventions should be developed for vulnerable adolescents, especially those with high perceived relative economic scarcity, focusing on promoting a more abstract thinking style, to reduce engagement in risk behaviors and increase subjective well-being. Results highlight the vulnerability (lower subjective well-being and higher risk behaviors) for adolescents who feel in a situation of high perceived relative economic scarcity compared to peers. However, results also indicate that an abstract thinking style can serve as a protective factor, suggesting a new intervention approach in adolescent health.

Investigaciones previas muestran que cuando las personas se perciben en escasez económica su estilo de pensamiento se vuelve más concreto. La teoría del nivel de constructo señala que pensar en concreto implica centrarse más en las consecuencias a corto plazo de los comportamientos y se asocia con atender más a las dificultades del contexto, menor autocontrol y mayores comportamientos de riesgo. Este estudio plantea comprender los factores que afectan al bienestar subjetivo y a los comportamientos de riesgo en adolescentes con alta percepción de escasez económica relativa.Respondieron al cuestionario 463 alumnos (12-18 años), 264 mujeres, de colegios públicos madrileños (España). Los adolescentes con mayor percepción de escasez económica relativa presentaron un estilo más concreto, menor bienestar subjetivo y reportaron más comportamientos de riesgo en el pasado y más intención futura. Los participantes con un estilo de pensamiento más concreto y percepción de escasez económica relativa alta presentaron el menor bienestar subjetivo y conductas de riesgo más frecuentes, en comparación con aquellos con un estilo más abstracto y percepción de escasez económica relativa alta, y con cualquier estilo de pensamiento y percepción de escasez económica relativa baja. Se deberían desarrollar intervenciones escolares para adolescentes vulnerables, especialmente con percepción de escasez económica relativa alta, centrándose en promover un estilo más abstracto, para reducir sus comportamientos de riesgo y aumentar su bienestar subjetivo. Los resultados destacan la vulnerabilidad (menor bienestar subjetivo y más riesgo) de los adolescentes con alta percepción de escasez económica relativa frente a sus iguales. Sin embargo, los resultados también indican que un estilo de pensamiento abstracto puede servir como factor protector, sugiriendo un nuevo enfoque de intervención para promover la salud de los adolescentes.

Across three studies, we explored the link between an abstract mindset and subjective well-being (SWB) in participants with real and/or perceived financial scarcity. In Studies 1 and 2, samples presented real objective financial vulnerability: Adolescents from lower-middle income districts (Study 1; N = 256), and adults without higher education and with very low incomes (Study 2; N = 210). In Studies 1 and 2 participants completed a survey including measures of thinking style and SWB. In Studies 2 and 3 perception of financial difficulty and SWB were also measured. Study 3 (N = 161) used a sample of university students and employed an experimental design manipulating participants’ thinking style (i.e., concrete versus abstract mindset conditions); additionally, all participants were induced to perceive financial scarcity. Correlations revealed a significant and positive relationship between an abstract thinking style and SWB (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, these results showed that a relatively more abstract thinking style was associated with greater life satisfaction. In Studies 2 and 3 mediation analyses indicated that adults who presented a more abstract thinking style, perceived lower financial difficulties and then reported greater SWB. Overall, given that an abstract thinking style can be induced, these results offer a new intervention approach for improving the SWB of people living in situations of financial scarcity.