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Anti-Immigrant Attitudes and Cross-Municipal Variation in the Proportion of Immigrants

Department of Sociology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden, mikael.hjerm{at}soc.umu.se

In this article, I set out to test a specific case of group threat theory, namely the size of the minority population. My general aim is to test whether the proportion of immigrants in Swedish municipalities has any effect on anti-immigrant attitudes. More specifically, I examine whether visibility of immigrants matters, via country of origin, as well as whether different contexts intensify the relation between size of the minority population and anti-immigrant attitudes. I conclude that the proportion of the foreign-born population has no effect on anti-immigrant attitudes, whereas people have fewer anti-immigrant attitudes in municipalities with a high proportion of the most visible groups of immigrants. A recent influx of immigrants to the municipality does not matter for levels of anti-immigrant attitudes. However, the economic context matters in that anti-immigrant attitudes of people are strongest in poor municipalities with a large share of immigrants. The political context, on the other hand, does not matter.

Key Words: attitude • group threat • municipality • prejudice • racism • xenophobia

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 52, No. 1, 47-62 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699308100633


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