Labor Market Competition, Perceived Threat, and Endorsement of Economic Discrimination against Foreign Workers in Israel

Transnational Flows and Permissive Polities

“…Yet some Israelis, especially unskilled workers, might have suffered from competition with an increasing number of migrant workers. It has been demonstrated that the disadvantaged groups in Israel (those with low income and/or low education, the unemployed, and Palestinian citizens of Israel) were most likely to endorse economic discrimination against migrant workers (Semyonov et al 2002). Disadvantaged Israelis clearly perceived migrant workers as a threat to their economic interests.…”

Focus groups as a tool in the construction of questionnaires: the case of discriminatory attitudes

“…Sociological and socio-psychological studies have consistently demonstrated that discriminatory attitudes toward out-group populations in general and toward foreign workers in particular are widely spread among members of the majority population (Quillian 1995;Bobo and Hutchings 1996;Wimmer 1997;Fetzer 2000;Scheepers et al 2002;Semyonov et al 2002Semyonov et al , 2004Raijman et al 2003;Coenders et al 2004). While all researchers agree about the scope and prevalence of anti-minority sentiment among majority populations, they disagree on the sources of discriminatory attitudes.…”

“…ethnic minorities, foreign workers) have long been a topic of major interest to social scientists, with most researchers using quantitative methods of data analysis (Quillian 1995;Pettigrew 2000;Scheepers et al 2002;Semyonov et al 2002Semyonov et al , 2004Semyonov et al , 2006Verberk et al 2002). Studies on the topic reveal that discriminatory attitudes reflect either ethnic/racial prejudice or perceived threat or both (e.g.…”

“…Studies on the topic reveal that discriminatory attitudes reflect either ethnic/racial prejudice or perceived threat or both (e.g. Bobo 1988Bobo , 2000Bobo and Hutchings 1996;Pettigrew 2000;Verberk et al 2002;Scheepers et al 2002;Semyonov et al 2002Semyonov et al , 2004. Whereas ethnic prejudice commonly pertains to social distancing and rejection (generalization of negative characteristics) of an out-group population, perceived threat assesses views of adverse effects of the out-group population on the social, economic, and cultural environment.…”

National attachments, economic competition, and social exclusion of non-ethnic migrants in Israel: a mixed-methods approach

“…Quillian 1995;Semyonov et al 2002;Scheepers et al 2002;Raijman and Semyonov 2004). According to this approach, discriminatory attitudes and prejudice toward out-group populations can be a result of threats posed to either the individual or the group in the economic as well as in the social arena.…”