BishtRef
Articles Journals Publishers Authors Subjects Most Cited New Papers Year Stats Open Access
journal article Dec 18, 2015

The Backyard Politics of Attitudes Toward Immigration

Mara Ostfeld
Political Psychology Vol. 38 No. 1 pp. 21-37 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1111/pops.12314
Abstract
Using two survey experiments, I reconsider the role that the racialized physical traits and level of assimilation of salient immigrants play in shaping attitudes toward immigration. In the first experiment, a nationwide sample of 767 White, non‐Latino adults was exposed to a story about a family of undocumented immigrants living in the Unites States who were at risk of deportation. Subjects were randomly assigned to view a version of the story in which the immigrants were depicted with light skin and stereotypically Eurocentric features, or dark skin and stereotypically Afrocentric features, and their level of assimilation to mainstream American culture was suggested to be high or low. Similar to previous research, the study's results show that assimilation has a direct effect on attitudes toward immigration. Yet in contrast to previous studies, the racialized physical traits proved to be a much more important factor in shaping attitudes toward immigration than previously demonstrated. The role of an immigrant's racialized physical traits was replicated in a second survey experiment of 902 White, non‐Latino adults. Overall, the findings shed new light on how media depictions of immigrants are affecting immigration attitudes, as well as the nuanced ways that race continues to shape public opinion in the United States today.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
78
[1]
Allen T. (1997)
[6]
What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat

Ted Brader, Nicholas A. Valentino, Elizabeth Suhay

American Journal of Political Science 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00353.x
[8]
Buchanan P. "Nation or notion?" American Conservative (2006)
[10]
Chandler C. "Social factors influencing immigration attitudes: An analysis of data from the general social survey. Social" Science Journal (2001)
[11]
National Surveys Via Rdd Telephone Interviewing Versus the Internet

Linchiat Chang, Jon A. Krosnick

Public Opinion Quarterly 10.1093/poq/nfp075
[13]
Citrin J. "Language politics and American identity" Public Interest (1990)
[14]
Public Opinion Toward Immigration Reform: The Role of Economic Motivations

Jack Citrin, Donald P. Green, Christopher Muste et al.

The Journal of Politics 10.2307/2998640
[17]
Skin Tone, Crime News, and Social Reality Judgments: Priming the Stereotype of the Dark and Dangerous Black Criminal1

Travis L. Dixon, Keith B. Maddox

Journal of Applied Social Psychology 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02184.x
[20]
Frey W. "Immigrants are everywhere" Milken Institute Review (2006)
[25]
Gordon M. (1978)
[27]
Grovum J. "The English‐only debate heats up again" Governing. (2014)
[28]
The Hidden American Immigration Consensus: A Conjoint Analysis of Attitudes toward Immigrants

Jens Hainmueller, Daniel J. Hopkins

American Journal of Political Science 10.1111/ajps.12138
[29]
Haney‐López I. (2006)
[31]
Harris A. "From color line to color chart? Racism and colorism in the new century" Berkeley Journal of African‐American Law and Policy (2008)
[33]
Hopkins D. "The upside of accents: Language, skin tone, and attitudes toward immigration" British Journal of Political Science (2014)
[34]
Huckfeldt R. (1989)
[37]
Iglesias T. "Managing local opposition to affordable housing: a new approach to NIMBY" Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law (2002)
[38]
Do Attitudes about Immigration Predict Willingness to Admit Individual Immigrants?

Shanto Iyengar, Simon Jackman, Solomon Messing et al.

Public Opinion Quarterly 10.1093/poq/nft024
[40]
Kinder D. (1996)
[47]
Massey D. (2003)

Showing 50 of 78 references

Metrics
48
Citations
78
References
Details
Published
Dec 18, 2015
Vol/Issue
38(1)
Pages
21-37
License
View
Authors
M
Mara Ostfeld

University of Michigan

Cite This Article
Mara Ostfeld (2015). The Backyard Politics of Attitudes Toward Immigration. Political Psychology, 38(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12314
Related

You May Also Like

A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

John T. Jost, Mahzarin R. Banaji · 2004

1,882 citations

Understanding Conspiracy Theories

Karen M. Douglas, Joseph E. Uscinski · 2019

1,084 citations

The Nature and Origins of Misperceptions: Understanding False and Unsupported Beliefs About Politics

D.J. Flynn, Brendan Nyhan · 2017

721 citations

The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization: How Significance Quest Impacts Violent Extremism

Arie W. Kruglanski, Michele J. Gelfand · 2014

547 citations

On the Varieties of National Attachment: Blind Versus Constructive Patriotism

Robert T. Schatz, Ervin Staub · 1999

544 citations