European Opinion About Immigration: The Role of Identities, Interests and Information

This article assesses the influence of material interests and cultural identities on European opinion about immigration. Analysis of respondents in twenty countries sampled in the 2002–03 European Social Survey demonstrates that they are unenthusiastic about high levels of immigration and typically...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of political science 2007-07, Vol.37 (3), p.477-504
Main Authors: SIDES, JOHN, CITRIN, JACK
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Competition
Countries
Cross-national analysis
Cultural identity
Cultural unity
Economic migration
Economics
Europe
European integration
Extremism
Gross domestic product
Hypotheses
Identity
Immigrant populations
Immigrants
Immigration
Immigration policy
Information
Information acquisition
Materialism
Misperception
National identity
Nativism
Noncitizens
Opinions
Political attitudes
Political science
Politics
Polls & surveys
Public Opinion
Trends
Unemployment
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Summary:This article assesses the influence of material interests and cultural identities on European opinion about immigration. Analysis of respondents in twenty countries sampled in the 2002–03 European Social Survey demonstrates that they are unenthusiastic about high levels of immigration and typically overestimate the actual number of immigrants living in their country. At the individual level, cultural and national identity, economic interests and the level of information about immigration are all important predictors of attitudes. ‘Symbolic’ predispositions, such as preferences for cultural unity, have a stronger statistical effect than economic dissatisfaction. Variation across countries in both the level and the predictors of opposition to immigration are mostly unrelated to contextual factors cited in previous research, notably the amount of immigration into a country and the overall state of its economy. The ramifications of these findings for policy makers are discussed in the context of current debates about immigration and European integration.
ISSN:0007-1234
1469-2112
DOI:10.1017/S0007123407000257