Does In-Group Consolidation Polarize Attitudes Toward Immigrants

Bibliographic Data

ID6345264
AuthorsMikko Leino (0000-0002-8113-7732, University of Turku), Juha Ylisalo (0000-0002-7757-8404, University of Turku)
Year2022
Volume70
Issue4
Pages1028-1047
Publication date2022-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0032321721998929
OpenAlexW3156297167
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited43

Scholars have identified a host of individual-level and contextual factors associated with variation in people’s attitudes toward immigrants. In this article, we argue that individual traits that are conducive to a positive or negative attitude toward immigrants tend to be more strongly connected to attitudes the larger the share of people with similar traits in the individual’s immediate living environment. This is because interacting with like-minded people is likely to strengthen one’s pre-existing views. We test this reasoning using data on more than 3000 individuals nested within more than 100 neighborhoods in the city of Turku, Finland. We find that the attitudes of young adults tend to be more positive the more people with characteristics predicting a positive attitude there are in their neighborhood, while their attitudes tend to be more negative the more people there are with a low level of education, a strong predictor of negative attitudes

Consolidation (business · Demographic economics · Economics · Immigration · Political science · Positive attitude · Variation (astronomy · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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