Abstract
This article presents a group position model of prejudice and a set of individual-level theoretical approaches to explain prejudice toward immigrants, who are a relatively new minority group in Western Europe. It specifically tests the effects of the perceived threat posed by the new minorities to the dominant group position of the citizens in the European nation-states. Threat is measured both as individuals’ perceptions of threat over economic and sociocultural resources and as contextual factors. Results show that individuals’ perception of threat to their ingroup’s position has the most powerful effect on prejudice, whereas context does not seem to matter. The findings imply that sources of perceived threat should be addressed to help reduce prejudice.
Résumé
Cet article présente un modèle de position du groupe face au préjugé et un ensemble d’approches théoriques individuelles pour expliquer les préjugés face aux immigrants, ceux-ci constituant un groupe minoritaire relativement nouveau en Europe occidentale. Plus précisément, nous nous penchons sur les effets qu’a la perception des nouvelles minorités comme menace à la position du groupe dominant des citoyens des États-nations européens. La menace est mesurée tant en fonction des perceptions individuelles de menace par rapport aux ressources économiques et socioculturelles que des facteurs contextuels. Les résultats indiquent que c’est la perception qu’ont les individus de la menace à leur position dominante qui a l’effet le plus marquant sur les préjugés. Le contexte ne semble pas avoir d’effet à cet égard. Il en découle que, pour réduire les préjugés, il faudrait aborder les sources de menaces perçues.
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Notes
Sixteen thousand one hundred fifty-four people were interviewed in Eurobarometer Opinion Poll No. 47.1, which was carried out in 1997 in the 15 member states of the European Union.
As in other Eurobarometer surveys, this round of the survey also has missing responses, especially for questions about attitudes toward immigrants and minorities. Here I adopt a conservative approach and leave these missing scores out of the analysis. If the reason for having missing responses were to give a socially desirable response, my results here would underestimate the level of prejudice.
In this survey, neither immigrant nor minority groups are identified. Although recognizing that prejudice, intolerance, and feelings of exclusion vary by ethnicity and country of origin, it is impossible to differentiate these groups using the data. However, my task here is to understand the cross-country variation in prejudice as explained by a sense of group position, and for this purpose I treat national, racial, and religious minorities as one pooled group.
It should be noted that statistics on immigrants and foreigners are calculated by national governments using various definitions. These calculations correspond to the variations across countries in immigration policies. For example, figures for the number of foreigners seem especially low for the UK and France because these countries have historically allowed immigrants to obtain citizenship, especially compared with countries like Germany. The definition issue is less of a problem when it comes to unemployment rates as countries use similar definitions.
Some of these studies suggest including income as a measure for self and group interests. I initially included a variable for having a family income in the lowest quartile of the income distribution in the country. However, I later dropped this variable from the analysis because it was not statistically significant and led to a significant reduction in the sample size.
I initially included a variable for being unemployed in the last 5 years as another measure for personal economic conditions. I later dropped it from the model because it was not statistically significant and led to reduction in the sample size.
It should be noted that people who feel that they belong to majority or minority groups are all citizens of the European Union member countries. They differ in terms of whether they feel part of the majority or minority groups in the country in terms of race, religion, or culture.
It is worthwhile noting that although the findings support economic deprivation as an explanation for prejudice, negative economic expectations for the next five years are an important factor in explaining prejudice. Interestingly, on the other hand, past experience of economic difficulty seems to have no effect on prejudice.
It is worthwhile to note here that while findings support economic deprivation explanation of prejudice, as negative economic expectations for the next 5 years is an important factor in explaining prejudice. Interestingly, on the other hand, past experience of economic difficulty seems to have no effect on prejudice.
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Acknowledgements
An earlier version of this article is presented at Soc 990 Seminar Series in the Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan in 2005. I thank the participants in this seminar. I also gratefully acknowledge Michael Blim, Barry Bluestone, Luis M. Falcon, Peter S. Li, Nazmi Sari, Fleur Macqueen Smith, and the anonymous JIMI referees for their constructive comments and suggestions.
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Sari, Ö.L. Perceptions of Threat and Expressions of Prejudice Toward the New Minorities of Western Europe. Int. Migration & Integration 8, 289–306 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-007-0023-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-007-0023-y