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Terrorist Events and Attitudes toward Immigrants

A Natural Experiment

Bibliographic Data

ID2223290
AuthorsJoscha Legewie (0000-0001-8963-0567, Columbia University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume118
Issue5
Pages1199-1245
Publication date2013-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/669605
OpenAlexW1715067237
LanguageEN
Citations received194
References cited46

Using a quasi-experimental research design, this study examines the effect of terrorist events on the perception of immigrants across 65 regions in nine European countries. It first elaborates a theoretical argument that explains the effect of events and points to economic conditions, the size of the immigrant population, and personal contact as mediating factors. This argument is evaluated using the fact that the terror attack in Bali on October 12, 2002, occurred during the fieldwork period of the European Social Survey. The findings from this natural experiment reveal considerable cross-national and regional variation in the effect of the event and its temporal duration. The analysis on the regional level supports the argument about contextual variations in the response to the event and a second analysis based on the 2004 Madrid bombing confirms the study’s conclusions. Implications of the findings for societal responses to terror attacks, the literature on attitudes toward immigrants, and survey research are discussed

Argument (complex analysis) · Criminology · Demographic economics · Economics · Event (particle physics) · Geography · Immigration · Natural experiment · Perception · Political science · Population · Sociology · Terrorism · Variation (astronomy) · Demography · Law · Medicine · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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Unique citing works194
Citations per year14,92
Citation span2013 - 2026 (14)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 191
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