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Who Are “the Immigrants”? Beliefs About Immigrant Populations and Anti‐Immigration Attitudes in the United States and Britain

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  • Kirill Zhirkov

Abstract

Objectives There is important variation in beliefs about immigration within the publics of immigrant‐receiving societies but empirical social research has largely overlooked it. The “imagined immigration” concept aims to bring these beliefs back in as an important component of public attitudes toward immigrants. It also offers a new perspective on the political conflict around immigration that persists despite the consensus on desired qualities of potential immigrants among citizens in industrial democracies. Methods I review the imagined immigration concept and present new empirical evidence in its favor using original survey studies in the United States and Britain. Results I describe respondents’ beliefs about immigrants, demonstrate their association with partisanship, and confirm that these beliefs are significantly related to perceptions of immigration as harmful—even when controlled for partisanship, ideology, and ethnocentrism. Conclusion I corroborate the foundations of the imagined immigration concept and discuss its promise and limitations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirill Zhirkov, 2021. "Who Are “the Immigrants”? Beliefs About Immigrant Populations and Anti‐Immigration Attitudes in the United States and Britain," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 228-237, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:1:p:228-237
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.12925
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jack Citrin & John Sides, 2008. "Immigration and the Imagined Community in Europe and the United States," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56(1), pages 33-56, March.
    2. Jack Citrin & John Sides, 2008. "Immigration and the Imagined Community in Europe and the United States," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56, pages 33-56, March.
    3. PETERSEN, MICHAEL BANG & AARøe, LENE, 2013. "Politics in the Mind's Eye: Imagination as a Link between Social and Political Cognition," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 275-293, May.
    4. Valentino, Nicholas A. & Soroka, Stuart N. & Iyengar, Shanto & Aalberg, Toril & Duch, Raymond & Fraile, Marta & Hahn, Kyu S. & Hansen, Kasper M. & Harell, Allison & Helbling, Marc & Jackman, Simon D. , 2019. "Economic and Cultural Drivers of Immigrant Support Worldwide," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 1201-1226, October.
    5. Jens Hainmueller & Daniel J. Hopkins, 2015. "The Hidden American Immigration Consensus: A Conjoint Analysis of Attitudes toward Immigrants," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(3), pages 529-548, July.
    6. Berinsky, Adam J. & Huber, Gregory A. & Lenz, Gabriel S., 2012. "Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 351-368, July.
    7. Scott Blinder, 2015. "Imagined Immigration: The Impact of Different Meanings of ‘Immigrants’ in Public Opinion and Policy Debates in Britain," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 63(1), pages 80-100, March.
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    1. Jan G. Voelkel & Mashail Malik & Chrystal Redekopp & Robb Willer, 2022. "Changing Americans’ Attitudes about Immigration: Using Moral Framing to Bolster Factual Arguments," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 73-85, March.
    2. Benjamin G. Bishin & Thomas J. Hayes & Matthew B. Incantalupo & Charles Anthony Smith, 2021. "Immigration and public opinion: Will backlash impede immigrants’ policy progress?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 3036-3049, November.

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