Mapping public attitudes toward immigration within and into Europe

As the issue of immigration has become more politicised over the last decade in European countries, it is important to understand public immigration attitudes. Although the academic literature has produced many studies and surveys on immigration attitudes, it can be argued that increasing complexities of immigration realities are overlooked. Based on a comparative panel survey in six European countries, this chapter draws on a range of measures. Among other things, it distinguishes between immigration attitudes depending on the geographical origin of immigrants, impact perceptions from immigration on the host country, and different reasons for immigration. Further, it investigates the conceptual as well as the empirical structure of public attitudes toward migration. The results show that the most important factor structuring the different dimensions of immigration attitudes is the geographical origin of immigrants. Here, three immigrant groups structure public attitudes: Immigrants from Western Europe, immigrants from Eastern Europe, and immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. The perceived consequences of immigration were less important than the groups in structuring immigration attitudes. Further, while the reasons people have for immigrating were less important as a factor, the support for immigration was partly dependent on why people immigrate. The chapter also highlights similarities and differences across countries and time.