Factors Influencing Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

Background & Purpose:  Immigrants have increasingly become the target of hostile and exclusionary legislation (Androff & Tavassoli, 2012).  Increased hostility toward immigrants has contributed to experiences of discrimination and oppression (Araujo & Borrell, 2006; Kang, 2012).  Previous studies have demonstrated a link between discrimination and poor physical and mental health, particularly depression in adults and reduced social skills, academic competence, and self-esteem in children (Oxman-Martinez et al., 2012). 

The guiding theoretical framework for this study was the integrated threat theory (ITT).  The study focused on ITT’s conceptualization of realistic threats, or threats perceived to compromise the majority group’s economic, social, and political power, or overall welfare.  The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of perceived realistic threats on anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. and identify demographic variables that both increase and protect against anti-immigrant sentiment formation when realistic threats are perceived. 

Methodology:  Data from the Transatlantic Trends: Immigration, 2010 dataset were analyzed.  A multi-stage random sampling method was employed to collect data related to perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes around immigration.  This study used the 1,005 participants from the U.S.  The majority of respondents were female (53.1%), and the largest proportion (43.7%) was between 45 and 64 years of age. 

Based on ITT, a realistic threat scale (α= .740) was created in addition to an anti-immigrant sentiment scale (α= .778) that measured participants’ attitudes toward immigrants.  A multivariate ordinal logistic regression model examined the relationship between realistic threats and anti-immigrant sentiment.  A number of controls were included in the model, including: age, gender, race/ethnicity, level of education, political ideology, employment status, religiosity, urban/rural residence, and nativity.

Results:  The results of this study indicated that participants who perceived greater realistic threats (OR_adj= 1.21, p<.001) had a higher likelihood of selecting more anti-immigrant responses.  Even when perceiving realistic threats, those less likely to choose a higher category of immigrant sentiment were African Americans (OR_adj= .49, p<.001) and Hispanics (OR_adj= .59, p<.05) compared to Whites and more highly educated participants (OR_adj= .72, p<.001).  Conversely, those more likely to choose a higher category of anti-immigrant sentiment when perceiving realistic threats were more politically conservative participants (OR_adj= 1.35, p<.001) and those that lived in the country/village (OR_adj= 2.50, p<.001), suburb (OR_adj= 1.68, p<.01), or town/small city (OR_adj= 1.47, p<.05) as opposed to the city.

Conclusions & Implications:  Perceived realistic threats were found to be predictive of unfavorable attitudes toward immigrants.  African-Americans and Hispanics (compared with Whites) and more highly educated participants were less likely to harbor anti-immigrant sentiment.  Those that lived away from the city and were politically conservative were more likely to have more negative sentiment toward immigrants.  This study serves as a guide for future research elucidating antecedents and risk factors of anti-immigrant sentiment and their roles in leading to discriminatory practices and legislation.  This study can help guide social work efforts to address discrimination through educational and grassroots advocacy campaigns that address misconceptions of immigrant populations and highlight accurate data supporting the positive contributions immigrants make to society at large.