Determinants of Anti-Immigrant Attitudes: A Quantitative Analysis using the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS)

• In Event: 3251 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 3. Attitudes Towards Immigrants

Abstract

This paper evaluates the role of economic, religious, and racial factors in anti-immigrant attitudes, prior to the election of Donald Trump. I hypothesize that cultural concerns would be a greater determinant of anti-immigrant attitudes than economic concerns. Using data from the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS), I ran a series of logistic regression models to evaluate the role economic insecurities, religious affiliation, and racial-distance, play in anti-immigrant attitudes. The models revealed that being white, Protestant, and politically conservative, significantly raised the odds of favoring measures to exclude undocumented immigrants. These findings are contrary to the public discourse, which often advances the narrative that economic insecurities are a primary driver of anti-immigrant attitudes.

Author

• Darnell Calderon, California State University Fullerton