The Geography of Prejudice: Why People Dislike Immigrants from Some Countries More than Others

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Magnani, Emilia
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
David Bracken, Thesis Supervisor
Matthew Richard Golder, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
immigration
conjoint experiment
public opinion
Abstract:
My project studies the factors that most influence public opinion with regard to immigrants. I look into the development of an immigrant’s country of origin and how that affects the perception of immigrants into the US by using an original conjoint experiment. An immigrant coming from a country that is underdeveloped may be seeking employment or resources that are unavailable in their country of origin, creating a threat of used materials from the United States. Regardless of why they enter, many immigrants who enter the United States are faced with hatred, violence, and overall rejection. In extreme cases, acts of violence are carried out by specific people or organizations towards immigrants from certain countries or of a certain race. I hypothesize that as the development of the country that is emigrated from increases, overall acceptance of that immigrant - socially, economically, and politically - will also increase. I hypothesize this because of literature that supports this through resource competition theory. My findings show tentative support for this hypothesis through a conjoint analysis. I also demonstrate that being given information about an immigrant generally increases support for the immigrant, as compared to having no information.