The Stigma of Anti-immigrant Sentiment: Sociocultural Distance, Political Orientation and Brexit

• In Event: 2276 - Innovative Methods in Immigration Research

Abstract

Explanations of the social determinants of opposition to immigration emphasize the importance of sociocultural distance, often operationalized in terms of ethnicity, race, religion and/or nation. Related work finds that intolerant attitudes can be (and often are) hidden. Why? We assert that individuals mask intolerance toward immigrants strategically to avoid anticipated and situationally-determined stigma that depended on characteristics of the immigrant and non-immigrant alike. Moreover, this stigma is not constant, and changes in context can lead to distinct expectations about who and to what extent anti-immigrant sentiment is masked. Our research design, using a survey experiment fielded before and after the Brexit vote, involves three distinct tests of the implications of stigma for the expression of anti-immigrant sentiment. First, we test if greater masking of intolerance is found when considering more socioculturally proximate immigrant identities relative to the respondent. We consider Eastern European, Caribbean and Muslim immigrants. Second, we test if political orientation shapes the extent to which anti-immigrant sentiment is masked, assessing variation between left, centre and right. Third, by conducting survey experiments before and after the rapid and highly-political use of anti-immigrant discourse in the campaign and referendum to exit the European Union, we test to see if context shapes the stigmatization of anti-immigrant attitudes are stigmatized by sociocultural characteristics of the immigrants and the political orientation of the respondent.

Authors

• Mathew Jamieson Creighton, University College Dublin

• Amaney Jamal, Princeton University - Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice