SOURCES OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT ATTITUDES IN EUROPE
Open Access
- Author:
- Rustenbach, Elisa
- Graduate Program:
- Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 10, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Dr Alan Booth, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Alan Booth, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Nancy Landale, Committee Member
Glenn A Firebaugh, Committee Member
Susan Mc Hale, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Anti-Immigrant Attitudes
Europe
Immigration
Cross-National Research - Abstract:
- In the last decade, the relationship between natives and migrants in Europe has been an important issue due to events such as the riots in France (2005 & 2008) and anti-Muslim cartoons published in Denmark (2005). Many of these events might have been prevented had there been a more positive climate of receptivity for the migrants. Understanding sources of natives’ anti-immigrant attitudes is important for creating effective policies that will create more positive attitudes toward immigrants. This dissertation explores three aspects of native’s attitudes toward immigrants using data from the European Social Survey and Eurostat/OECD. These combined datasets allow for analysis of individual, regional and national level factors that are related to natives’ attitudes toward immigrants. The three substantive chapters (Chapters 2-4) examine the relationship between nine individual level factors and anti-immigrant attitudes: educational achievement, income, unemployment experience, political interest, left/right political leaning, interpersonal trust, feeling safe, resides with a family member, and ever experienced discrimination. In addition, the second and fourth chapters include regional and national explanations for anti-immigrant attitudes: national foreign direct investment and regional and national gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment rates. The first chapter is an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the dissertation. Chapter two explores which explanations for anti-immigrant attitudes are weakest and which are strongest. The third chapter identifies six categories of individuals as it relates to their attitudes toward immigrants by applying latent class analysis to the individual level variables. The fourth chapter explores a controversial finding from the second chapter: why economic explanations for anti-immigrant attitudes are not more salient. Finally, the fifth chapter provides a summary of the findings and my dissertation process. Across the substantive chapters, findings indicate that interpersonal trust is the strongest explanatory factors for anti-immigrant attitudes. Higher education and political interest are also consistently related to lower anti-immigrant attitudes. In contrast, economic explanations and number of immigrants are weak predictors of anti-immigrant attitudes. These findings indicate that policies aimed at increasing community involvement and multi-cultural events at the local level would be most effective in lowering anti-immigrant attitudes.