Multiple routes to immigration scepticism: The association between individual grievances and anti‐immigrant attitudes in Canada, Germany and the USA

Abstract

This article theorizes and tests the association between the ego‐tropic and socio‐tropic dimensions of three sets of grievances, that is, economic, value‐based and security‐related, and anti‐immigrant attitudes using data from an original survey fielded in Canada, Germany and the USA. Our analysis confirms the presence of multiple paths towards anti‐immigration attitudes. Our contribution is threefold. First, we offer a nuanced understanding of the complexity of immigration scepticism and shed light on its different dimensions, including the under‐researched personal value‐based and collective security‐related. Second, we make an empirical contribution by confirming the multi‐faceted nature of anti‐immigrant attitudes using data from an original survey tailored specifically to our research questions. This allows us to examine each set of grievances independently of each other and independently of anti‐immigrant attitudes. Third, our survey enables us to identify country‐specific dynamics by testing the relationship between individual grievances and anti‐immigrant attitudes in diverse political settings.

Immigration Status, Ethnicity, and Attitudes toward Immigration in Britain

“…Numerous studies show that individuals working in sectors that are subject to job competition with immigrants, face wage suppression as a result of immigration, and have limited potential for intersectoral mobility are particularly hostile toward immigrants, especially during periods of economic stagnation (e.g. Dancygier & Donnelly, 2014;Pardos-Prado & Xena, 2019;Stockemer & Halikiopoulou, 2023). Local economic context is also key in understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and immigration attitudes.…”