U.S. Citizens’ Current Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Immigration: A Study From the General Social Survey

Daniel K. Pryce

Social Science Quarterly, 2018, vol. 99, issue 4, 1467-1483

Abstract: Objective This study tests U.S. citizens’ attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Immigrants and immigration educe strong, divergent sentiments in the U.S. population. While these sentiments, which are tied to public policy, have been examined in prior studies, it is important to test them regularly in empirical studies to observe any changes in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Methods I rely on the 2014 General Social Survey and employ hierarchical multivariate regression models to test the effects of patriotism, nationalism, xenophobia, and “world citizenship” on pro‐immigration attitudes. Results Females, respondents with higher education, and respondents who were more patriotic were more likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Conversely, older respondents and respondents who held greater xenophobic attitudes were less likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Finally, respondents who viewed themselves more as citizens of the world than citizens of a particular country were more likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Conclusion The study's results are generally consistent with findings from prior research, and point to a general invariability in Americans’ views about immigrants and immigration. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12514

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:99:y:2018:i:4:p:1467-1483

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().