Immigrants' attitudes toward immigration: convergence towards majority views or ethnoracial polarization?

Vasilopoulos, Pavlos, McAvay, Haley ORCID: 0000-0001-8315-1821 and Robinson, Justin (2025) Immigrants' attitudes toward immigration: convergence towards majority views or ethnoracial polarization? Ethnic and Racial Studies. ISSN 0141-9870

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Abstract

European societies are becoming increasingly diverse as a result of past and present immigration. After decades of research on attitudes towards immigration among the ethnic majority, scholarly interest has recently shifted to investigate these attitudes among immigrants themselves. Drawing on recent survey data from France, Trajectories and Origins 2 (TeO2), this article advances the existing literature by investigating the role of migration-related as well as ethnoracial variables in shaping attitudes towards immigration. While there is some evidence of convergence towards majority attitudes, our findings suggest that ethnoracial factors trump migration status and other individual-level factors in shaping support for immigration. Ethnoracial minorities (namely, those of African and other non-European origin) are more likely to support immigration compared to the French majority and those of European origins net of other factors. Relatedly, among immigrant-origin groups, ethnoracial discrimination is associated with greater support for immigration. In contrast, among the French majority, ethnoracial identity and perceived discrimination are related to lower support for immigration. The findings suggest the solidification of an emerging cleavage based on race/ethnicity that is unlikely to be resolved by immigrant integration over time.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Sociology
Subjects:	J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2025 10:42
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2025 15:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129947

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