Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom

Although recent research found substantial variation in the strength of anti-immigrant opinions across new and old countries of immigration, most studies determined that the public increasingly supports restrictive immigration policies. This paper explores several sources of attitudes toward immigra...

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Main Author: Viviana ANDREESCU
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMI 2011-11-01
Series:Journal of Identity and Migration Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://e-migration.ro/jims/Vol5_No2_2011/Articles/JIMS_Vol5_No2_2011_pp_61_85_ANDREESCU.pdf
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author Viviana ANDREESCU
author_facet Viviana ANDREESCU
author_sort Viviana ANDREESCU
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description Although recent research found substantial variation in the strength of anti-immigrant opinions across new and old countries of immigration, most studies determined that the public increasingly supports restrictive immigration policies. This paper explores several sources of attitudes toward immigrants in United Kingdom and attempts to simultaneously test some of the most important theoretical explanations of public attitudes toward immigration issues when the family immigration history is taken into account. Results are based on a quantitative analysis of data from the European Social Survey (Round 4/2008). Even if when compared to persons from families with at least one foreign-born member natives express the strongest opposition to flexible migration policies and are more likely to have negative views regarding the immigrants’ role in the British society, opinions vary significantly among groups differentiated by political preferences, socioeconomic attributes, and demographic characteristics. While for native Britons findings support the economic self-interest theory, education and social attachment (i.e., interpersonal and institutional trust) appear to be the strongest predictors of positive attitudes toward immigrants and opposition to restrictive immigration policies.
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spelling doaj.art-de71523cfd6b482ab8108d6e7d72f2652022-12-21T23:57:55ZengUniversity of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMIJournal of Identity and Migration Studies1843-56102011-11-01526185Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United KingdomViviana ANDREESCUAlthough recent research found substantial variation in the strength of anti-immigrant opinions across new and old countries of immigration, most studies determined that the public increasingly supports restrictive immigration policies. This paper explores several sources of attitudes toward immigrants in United Kingdom and attempts to simultaneously test some of the most important theoretical explanations of public attitudes toward immigration issues when the family immigration history is taken into account. Results are based on a quantitative analysis of data from the European Social Survey (Round 4/2008). Even if when compared to persons from families with at least one foreign-born member natives express the strongest opposition to flexible migration policies and are more likely to have negative views regarding the immigrants’ role in the British society, opinions vary significantly among groups differentiated by political preferences, socioeconomic attributes, and demographic characteristics. While for native Britons findings support the economic self-interest theory, education and social attachment (i.e., interpersonal and institutional trust) appear to be the strongest predictors of positive attitudes toward immigrants and opposition to restrictive immigration policies.http://e-migration.ro/jims/Vol5_No2_2011/Articles/JIMS_Vol5_No2_2011_pp_61_85_ANDREESCU.pdfanti-immigration attitudesimmigrantsimmigration policyUnited Kingdom
spellingShingle Viviana ANDREESCU
Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
Journal of Identity and Migration Studies
anti-immigration attitudes
immigrants
immigration policy
United Kingdom
title Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
title_full Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
title_fullStr Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
title_short Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in United Kingdom
title_sort attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy in united kingdom
topic anti-immigration attitudes
immigrants
immigration policy
United Kingdom
url http://e-migration.ro/jims/Vol5_No2_2011/Articles/JIMS_Vol5_No2_2011_pp_61_85_ANDREESCU.pdf
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