Hate Crimes and Gender Imbalances: Fears over Mate Competition and Violence against Refugees

Abstract

As the number of refugees rises across the world, anti-refugee violence has become a pressing concern. What explains the incidence and support of such hate crime? We argue that fears among native men that refugees pose a threat in the competition for female partners are a critical but understudied factor driving hate crime. Employing a comprehensive data set on the incidence of hate crime across Germany, we first demonstrate that hate crime rises where men face disadvantages in local mating markets. Next, we complement this ecological evidence with original survey measures and confirm that individual-level support for hate crime increases when men fear that the inflow of refugees makes it more difficult to find female partners. Mate competition concerns remain a robust predictor even when controlling for anti-refugee views, perceived job competition, general frustration, and aggressiveness. We conclude that a more complete understanding of hate crime and immigrant conflict must incorporate marriage markets and mate competition.

Reexamining the Effect of Refugees on Civil Conflict: A Global Subnational Analysis

“…Refugees may impose (or appear to impose) an economic burden by straining local social services and infrastructure (Weiner 1992). Host citizens may view them as competition for land, jobs, housing, marriage partners, etc., leading to violence against refugees (Dancygier et al 2021;Jacobsen 2005). In some cases, the provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees by international organizations can provoke resentment and increase the likelihood of conflict (Jacobsen 2005).…”

Inclusive Refugee-Hosting in Uganda Improves Local Development and Prevents Public Backlash

“…Incumbents often point to such public attitudes and (electoral) backlash to justify their refusal to admit more refugees during crises. Moreover, migrant groups in HMICs are too often the targets of hate crimes (Dancygier et al, 2020) and other forms of violence (Albarosa and Elsner, 2021), especially in times of crisis (Dipoppa, Grossman and Zonszein, 2022). This is notable given the evidence of the negative relationship between hateful behavior and migrant integration (Dancygier and Green, 2010), and the positive effects of successful integration (Hainmueller, Hangartner and Pietrantuono, 2015).…”

Not the Mode of Refugee Allocation but Their Right to Work Drives Preferences on Refugee Policy in the European Union

“…At the same time, recent research shows that attitudes towards immigrants in Europe are generally positive and becoming even more favorable over time (Banai et al, 2022). According to previous research, preferences regarding favored immigrant profiles or general attitudes towards immigrants asylum seekers are stratified by gender, educational qualifications and age, as well as political ideology (McLaren and Paterson, 2020;Manevska and Achterberg, 2013;Aschauer and Mayerl, 2019;Onraet et al, 2021;Berning and Schlueter, 2016;Dancygier et al, 2021). Here, we explore whether the same factors condition preferences regarding policy solutions.…”