Identifying Charged Immigrant Attributes—Evidence from the U.S. and India Surrounding Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Foreign Nationals Open Access
Atlas, Zack (Spring 2021)
Abstract
Many scholars from countless disciplines have investigated the root of anti-immigrant sentiment. Some argue that economic fears are the primary driver, while others contend that social-psychological influences are to blame. Yet prior research often confounds multiple variables, such as which immigrants to admit, how many immigrants to admit, and how to address immigrants who are already present in the host country. This paper focuses on the question of which immigrants to admit. Using a conjoint experiment, we examine the impact five immigrant attributes have in engendering support or opposition for immigrants in the United States and India; both countries have large foreign born populations and have seen a recent surge in anti-immigrant sentiment. Drawing on a sample of respondents from Amazon Mechanical Turk, we find that both American and Indian respondents view immigrants who are religiously and linguistically similar more favorably, while an immigrant’s area of origin and reason for immigrating do little to improve their acceptance levels. Amongst Americans, there are varying levels of support depending on partisan lines but a broad consensus exists regarding which immigrants are the most desirable. Data from India suggests widespread agreement, too, with some variance in approval depending on caste. The results point to societal norms as a strong indicator of immigration attitudes. Our paper leaves room for further research. Utilizing more specific immigrant attributes to create a more extensive survey, we can paint a clearer picture of what drives anti-immigrant sentiment.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Literature Review 3
Economic Approaches 3
Labor Market Competition 3
Public Service Burden 6
Social Psychological Approaches 7
Observational Studies of Social-Psychological Influences 8
Experimental Studies of Social-Psychological Influences 9
Ethnocentrism, Stereotypes, and Public Perception 11
Psychology, Emotions, and Identity 12
Theoretical Argument 14
Hypotheses 17
Nationalism and Discrimination 17
Desire for Specialized Knowledge 18
Ability to Assimilate Linguistically 20
Religious Uniformity 21
Sympathy and Solicitude 22
Experimental Design, Data, and Measurement 24
Conjoint Analysis 24
Sample 27
Manipulation Checks and Data Cleaning 27
Results and Analysis 29
United States — Attributes’ Effect on Support for Immigrants 29
India — Attributes’ Effect on Support for Immigrants 35
Discussion and Conclusion 41
Works Cited 45
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