How Do People Perceive Immigrants? Relating Perceptions to Numbers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2986286 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Petra Sidler (0000-0003-0243-6337, University of Oslo), Carlo Knotz (0000-0003-0042-3065, University of Stavanger), Didier Ruedin (0000-0001-5213-4316, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 689-708 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Race Ethnicity and Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2056-6085 • E-ISSN: 2056-6085 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/rep.2024.18 |
| OpenAlex | W4403438458 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 55 |
How does the general public perceive immigrants, whom do they think of when thinking about "immigrants," and to what extent are these perceptions related to the actual composition of immigrant populations? We use three representative online surveys in the United States, South Africa, and Switzerland (total N = 2,778) to extend existing work on the perception of immigrants in terms of geographic coverage and individual characteristics. We also relate these responses to official statistics on immigration and integration patterns. In all three countries, there are significant discrepancies between perceptions of immigrants and their real proportion in the population and characteristics. Although we observe clear country differences, there is a striking pattern of people associating "immigrants" with "asylum seekers" in all three countries. We consider two possible explanations for the differences between perceptions and facts: the representativeness heuristic and the affect heuristic. In contrast to previous research, we find only partial support for the representativeness heuristic, whereas the results are consistent with the affect heuristic. We conclude that images of "immigrants" are largely shaped by pre-existing attitudes
Archaeology · Geography · Immigration · Perception · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
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The Link Between Individual Predispositions and Misperceptions About Immigrants
How Do People Perceive Immigrants? Relating Perceptions to Numbers
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |