Attitudes Toward Immigration and Immigrants: The Impact of Economic and Cultural Cues in the US and Canada

Past research suggests that citizens’ attitudes toward immigration are driven, in part, by attitudes toward racial diversity. In this study, we draw on a unique online survey experiment conducted with representative samples of both Americans and Canadians to directly test this assertion. The analysis is based on a 2X2 experimental design embedded in a series of immigrant vignettes that vary the racial background and social status of an individual applying for immigration to the US/Canada. We examine the extent to which both racial and economic-status cues affect support for immigration. Results offer new and unique information on the structure of attitudes on diversity and immigration in the US and Canada.

[1]  Deniz Aksoy.  The Flag or the Pocketbook: To What are Immigrants a Threat , 2012 .

[2]  W. Kymlicka.  CANADIAN MULTICULTURALISM IN HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: IS CANADA UNIQUE? , 2011 .

[3]  Kirby Goidel,et al.  Race, racial resentment, attentiveness to the news media, and public opinion toward the Jena Six. , 2011, Social science quarterly.

[4]  Elisa Rustenbach.  Sources of Negative Attitudes toward Immigrants in Europe: A Multi-Level Analysis 1 , 2010 .

[5]  Shang E. Ha.  The Consequences of Multiracial Contexts on Public Attitudes toward Immigration , 2010 .

[6]  D. Hopkins.  Politicized Places: Explaining Where and When Immigrants Provoke Local Opposition , 2010, American Political Science Review.

[7]  Jens Hainmueller,et al.  Attitudes toward Highly Skilled and Low-skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment , 2010, American Political Science Review.

[8]  Cindy D. Kam,et al.  Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion , 2010 .

[9]  Keith E. Schnakenberg,et al.  Is Immigration a Racial Issue? Anglo Attitudes on Immigration Policies in a Border County* , 2009 .

[10]  E. Green.  Who Can Enter? A Multilevel Analysis on Public Support for Immigration Criteria across 20 European Countries , 2009 .

[11]  M. Schain.  The Politics of Immigration in France, Britain, and the United States: A Comparative Study , 2008 .

[12]  J. Curtis,et al.  Opposition to multiculturalism among Québécois and English‐Canadians* , 2008 .

[13]  Marcel Lubbers,et al.  More than Two Decades of Changing Ethnic Attitudes in the Netherlands , 2008 .

[14]  Rima Wilkes,et al.  “No Thanks, We're Full”: Individual Characteristics, National Context, and Changing Attitudes toward Immigration , 2008 .

[15]  E. Green.  Guarding the gates of Europe: A typological analysis of immigration attitudes across 21 countries , 2007 .

[16]  Teresa A. Myers,et al.  The Polls—Trends Twenty Years of Public Opinion about Global Warming , 2007 .

[17]  Jens Hainmueller,et al.  Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe , 2007, International Organization.

[18]  S. Poynting,et al.  The resistible rise of Islamophobia , 2007 .

[19]  P. Sniderman,et al.  When Ways of Life Collide: Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands , 2007 .

[20]  I. Bloemraad.  Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada , 2006 .

[21]  D. Hiebert.  WINNING, LOSING, AND STILL PLAYING THE GAME: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF IMMIGRATION IN CANADA , 2006 .

[22]  R. Koopmans,et al.  Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe , 2005 .

[23]  Debra L. Oswald,et al.  Understanding Anti‐Arab Reactions Post‐9/11: The Role of Threats, Social Categories, and Personal Ideologies1 , 2005 .

[24]  M. Hunter.  Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone , 2005 .

[25]  M. O’Connell.  Economic forces and anti-immigrant attitudes in Western Europe: a paradox in search of an explanation , 2005 .

[26]  Gallya Lahav.  Immigration and Politics in the New Europe: Reinventing Borders , 2004 .

[27]  H. Tajfel,et al.  The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. , 2004 .

[28]  J. Oliver,et al.  Intergroup Prejudice in Multiethnic Settings , 2003 .

[29]  Lauren McLaren,et al.  Anti-Immigrant Prejudice in Europe: Contact, Threat Perception, and Preferences for the Exclusion of Migrants , 2003 .

[30]  V. Ottati,et al.  Attitudes Toward U.S. Immigration Policy: The Roles of In-Group-Out-Group Bias, Economic Concern, and Obedience to Law , 2002, The Journal of social psychology.

[31]  Marcel Lubbers,et al.  Extreme right-wing voting in Western Europe , 2002 .

[32]  Keith B. Maddox,et al.  Cognitive Representations of Black Americans: Reexploring the Role of Skin Tone , 2002 .

[33]  P. Sniderman.  The Outsider: Prejudice and Politics in Italy , 2000 .

[34]  Joel S. Fetzer.  Public Attitudes toward Immigration in the United States, France, and Germany , 2000 .

[35]  I. Preston,et al.  Racial and Economic Factors in Attitudes to Immigration , 2000, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[36]  James G. Gimpel,et al.  Economic Insecurity, Prejudicial Stereotypes, and Public Opinion on Immigration Policy , 2000 .

[37]  Joel S. Fetzer.  Economic self-interest or cultural marginality? Anti-immigration sentiment and nativist political movements in France, Germany and the USA , 2000 .

[38]  J. Lynch,et al.  A Comparative Assessment of Public Opinion toward Immigrants and Immigration Policies , 1999, The International migration review.

[39]  Thomas F. Pettigrew,et al.  Reactions Toward the New Minorities of Western Europe , 1998 .

[40]  G. Shaw,et al.  Trends: Immigrants and Immigration , 1997 .

[41]  D. Green,et al.  Public Opinion Toward Immigration Reform: The Role of Economic Motivations , 1997, The Journal of Politics.

[42]  D. Palmer.  Determinants of Canadian attitudes toward immigration: More than just racism? , 1996 .

[43]  Lincoln Quillian.  Prejudice as a response to perceived group threat: population composition and anti-immigrant and racial prejudice in Europe , 1995 .

[44]  J. Berry,et al.  Multicultural and ethnic attitudes in Canada: An overview of the 1991 National Survey. , 1995 .

[45]  Donald P. Green,et al.  American Identity and the Politics of Ethnic Change , 1990, The Journal of Politics.

[46]  J. Reitz.  Less Racial Discrimination in Canada, or Simply Less Racial Conflict?: Implications of Comparisons with Britain , 1988 .

[47]  V. O. Key,et al.  Southern Politics In State and Nation , 1984 .

[48]  Peter H. Rossi,et al.  Measuring social judgments : the factorial survey approach , 1983 .

[49]  D. O. Sears,et al.  Prejudice and Politics: Symbolic Racism Versus Racial Threats to the Good Life , 1981 .

[50]  H. Blumer.  Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position , 1958 .

[51]  Tony N. Brown,et al.  Contemporary immigration policy orientations among dominant-group members in Western Europe , 2001 .

[52]  V. Esses,et al.  Intergroup Competition and Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Immigration: An Instrumental Model of Group Conflict , 1998 .

[53]  R. Breton.  From ethnic to civic nationalism: English Canada and Quebec , 1988 .

[54]  Michael Cole,et al.  Ethnocentrism: Theories of conflict, ethnic attitudes, and group behavior. , 1975 .