Faculty Publications

Comparative Analyses Of Public Attitudes Toward Immigrants And Immigration Using Multinational Survey Data: A Review Of Theories And Research

Document Type

Article

Keywords

cross-national, immigrant-receiving societies, intergroup attitudes, public opinion

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Annual Review of Sociology

Volume

36

First Page

309

Last Page

327

Abstract

This article critically reviews the intersectional locus of public opinion scholarship and immigration studies that make use of data from multinational survey projects. Specifically, it emphasizes current cross-national research seeking to understand the causes, manifestations, and implications of attitudes toward immigrants and immigration in economically advanced countries of the world. Despite rapid expansion, the field suffers from several methodological challenges and theoretical constraints. A succinct exposure of trends and patterns is followed by presentations of influential theoretical perspectives and established individual- and contextual-level determinants. The review suggests that strengthening the conceptual apparatus and enlarging the analytical focus are priorities. It concludes with some observations on how to circumvent these problems and to bridge current research with future explorations of the embedded nature of such public attitudes. © 2010 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

8-20-2010

DOI of published version

10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102651

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