National Pride and Prejudice: Identity and Immigration Attitudes in the UK

• In Event: Understanding Support for Immigration in Western Europe

Abstract

Anti-immigrant prejudice persists throughout the world. Many scholars assert that this prejudice is higher among those who strongly identify with their nation. We complicate this conventional theory, asking whether national identity can be activated to reduce xenophobia. Specifically, we investigate whether connecting immigration with an institution closely tied to national identity can reduce anti-immigrant sentiment among strong national identifiers. Using evidence from two survey experiments of United Kingdom citizens, we show that priming immigration within the National Health Service reduces support for anti-immigrant policies and anti-immigrant sentiment. Importantly, this effect is larger for the strongest national identifiers and persists regardless of whether immigrants are framed as high- or low-skill workers. Further this relationship is unique to the NHS as opposed to private healthcare markets. These results have significant implications for the value of highlighting the importance of immigration as a means to mollify anti-immigrant prejudice in the Global North.

Authors

• Andrew S Rosenberg, University of Florida

• Hannah Marie Alarian, University of Florida