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WHO OPPOSES IMMIGRATION?

Comparing German with North American Findings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2008

Thomas F. Pettigrew ,
Ulrich Wagner  and
Oliver Christ
Thomas F. Pettigrew*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Ulrich Wagner
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Psychology, Philipps University-Marburg
Oliver Christ
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Psychology, Philipps University-Marburgand Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, University of Bielefeld
*
Professor Thomas F. Pettigrew, University of California, Santa Cruz, Social Sciences 2, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Are the predictors of anti-immigration attitudes consistent across countries with diverse immigration histories and policies? We hypothesize that the key predictors of opposition to immigration are indeed relatively consistent across industrial nations. We test this hypothesis with two surveys using probability samples of German citizens. We then compare our findings with those obtained in recent studies of immigration opinions in Europe generally, and in two of the world's leading immigration-receiving nations: Canada and the United States. Striking similarities emerge in the findings across structural, demographic, contact, economic, political, personality, and threat predictors. Opposition to immigration is routinely found strongest among the older and less-educated segments of the population who live in areas with anti-immigration norms and little contact with immigrants. Anti-immigration attitudes also correlate with political conservatism and alienation, economic deprivation, and especially with authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and perceived collective threat.

Keywords

Immigration AttitudesGermanyCanadaUnited States
Type
STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 2007 , pp. 19 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research 2007

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