Group threat theory, also known as group position theory, is a sociological theory that proposes the larger the size of an outgroup, the more the corresponding ingroup perceives it to threaten its own interests, resulting in the ingroup members having more negative attitudes toward the outgroup. It is based on the work of Herbert Blumer and Hubert M. Blalock Jr. in the 1950s and 1960s, and has since been supported by multiple studies. Other studies have not found support for the theory. Its predictions are contrary to those of the contact hypothesis, which posits that greater proximity between racial/ethnic groups under appropriate conditions can effectively reduce prejudice between majority and minority group members. Origins of research Herbert Blumer's Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position While heading the department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, Blumer wrote a paper on "Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position". Blumer posited that racial prejudice primarily comes from the relative position of an in-group and out-group rather than individual perceptions of certain races. He investigated the four types of feelings which he said are prevalent in the dominant group within racial prejudice, which include feelings of: 1) superiority, 2) foreign and intrinsic differences in subordinate races, 3) proprietary claim of advantages and privileges in the majority, and 4) fear in the taking of prerogatives from the dominant race. Upon concluding his paper, he noted the implications of continuing to understand and explore the group position in tackling the origins of racial bias. Hubert M. Blalock Jr.'s Toward A Theory of Minority-Group Relations As a professor from the University of Washington, Blalock studied the relations between ethnic groups which seemingly had a majority-minority group dynamic and observed their interactions and relationships. Through his findings, Blalock further established the racial threat theory, which refers to when a minority-ethnicity group is growing faster than the majority-ethnicity, it leads to the majority-ethnicity group forcing social control over the minority-ethnicity group. He brought to focus three main forms of threat perceived by the majority population: economic threat, which includes the loss of jobs or opportunities, political threat, which involves the fear of giving up political control to minority groups, and symbolic threats, which bring about esteemed symbols in minority populations. His studies dealt with various different races, but focused mainly upon Negro-white relations with references to other ethnic groups such as the Jews and