Through the Ideological Lenses: Perception of Social Consequences of Immigration across Europe

Recent waves of immigration have had significant consequences for European societies. However, the perception of the consequences of immigration varies: in some accounts, the economic consequences are emphasized, and in others, the priority is given to the cultural ones. This paper examines the possible connection between the perceiver’s ideological orientation and views on the economic and cultural consequences of immigration.

Two main hypotheses are tested. The first one states, uncontroversially, that the general anti-immigrant orientation is more characteristic of the right-wing identifiers across Europe. The second hypothesis concerns the difference between the left and right in specific anti-immigrant attitudes. More minor differences are expected in the economic sphere, i.e., left and right should be more similar regarding the economic consequences of immigration. This hypothesis is based on the notion of welfare chauvinism. However, significantly larger ideological differences are expected in the cultural sphere, where the left is expected to be more tolerant. At the same time, the right should be more concerned with protecting the “country's cultural life”.

The analysis focuses on individual-level attitudes and the situation in Europe. Data are taken from the European Social Survey (ESS) project. The statistical analysis focuses on the association between the left-right ideological self-identification scale and relevant attitudes about immigration. The study provides novel insights into this vital aspect of the relationship between immigration and social development in Europe. Overall, leftist ideological identification is associated with more positive attitudes towards immigrants, especially regarding the cultural consequences. However, while the overall attitude towards immigrants is more negative in Eastern Europe, the association with ideological identification is mainly absent.