Does the Local Presence of Asylum Seekers Affect Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers? Results from a Natural Experiment

Abstract

The influx of refugees to Europe is a topic that dominates the political and media agenda. Furthermore, the installation of asylum-seeker centres (ASCs) has made asylum seekers and refugees highly visible in the everyday life of many European citizens. Drawing on theories of ethnic threat and intergroup contact, we examine how geospatial proximity to ASCs translates into threat or contact in an everyday context and how this affects attitudes toward asylum seekers. By taking advantage of a natural experiment, where the ASCs are assigned to city districts as-if at random, as well as innovating measures of outgroup exposure and geospatial proximity, we find that, although higher numbers of asylum seekers in one’s own neighbourhood are related to an increased perception of their local presence, the actual presence of asylum seekers does not lead to more negative attitudes or a greater threat perception, nor to more frequent contact. It is only when the number of asylum seekers in one’s own direct neighbourhood suddenly increases that attitudes toward asylum seekers deteriorate.

Attitudes towards immigration and refugees in Ireland: Understanding recent trends and drivers

“…Research has also found that rather than simply the stock of migrants in the area, change in neighbourhood composition seems to impact local-level attitudes (Kawalerowicz, 2021;Bjånesøy, 2019;Mitchell, 2021;Deiss-Helbig and Remer, 2022), similarly to national-level findings. It seems that quick or recent increases in migrants in a neighbourhood lead to more negative attitudes (Bnajesoy, 2019;Kawalerowicz, 2021;Deiss-Helbig and Remer, 2022). Mitchell (2021) concluded that what seems to affect attitudes is the perceived threat of a shift in inter-group dynamics.…”

“…Significant research has been conducted to understand how attitudes are influenced by social contexts at various spatial units, even down to neighbourhood level (Schmidt et al, 2023;Deiss-Helbig and Remer, 2022). We examine the literature on this more in-depth in Laurence et al (forthcoming), but briefly outline the findings from the literature here.…”

“…It is important to note that more diverse neighbourhoods do not necessarily lead to more contact between groups, which can make testing the theory more complicated (Deiss-Helbig and Remer, 2022;Green et al, 2016). We discuss some key findings from a significant body of literature testing both contact and group threat theories below.…”

Other-Regarding Behaviors and Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers

“…Group competition theory posits that the increase of out-group members poses a potential threat to in-group members, thereby promoting unfavorable attitudes toward out-group members (Blumer 1958; Bobo and Hutchings 1996). Reflecting on this theory, the most up-to-date research shows that a perceived sudden increase in the group size of asylum seekers can deteriorate attitudes toward them (Deiss-Helbig and Remer forthcoming; Hangartner et al 2019). That is, citizens may be concerned about their economic well-being (egocentric) (Burns and Gimpel 2000; Gerber et al 2017) or fiscal burdens at group level (sociotropic) (Goldstein and Peters 2014) when admitting additional out-group members.…”

Norwegian citizens’ responses to influxes of asylum seekers: comparing across two refugee crises

“…Reactions among citizens in transit and destination countries in Europe in 2015/2016 were mixed. On the one hand, some studies showed neutral or marginally exclusionary reactions in neighborhoods hosting asylum seekers (Deiss-Helbig & Remer, 2021 ), reduced right-wing voting among voters in contexts where meaningful intergroup contact was possible (Steinmayr, 2021 ), and that community members’ negative expectations to asylum seekers did not materialize, leading to increased acceptance (Bygnes, 2020 ). On the other hand, studies also showed that general attitudes towards immigrants became more negative, that citizens preferred more restrictive policies, and that there was an increase in voting for right-wing parties among exposed voters (Dinas et al, 2019 ; Hangartner et al, 2019 ; Nordø & Ivarsflaten, 2022 ; Steinmayr, 2021 ).…”