The Origins of Socially and Politically Hostile Attitudes toward Immigrants and Outgroups: Economics, Ideology, or National Context?

A nalyses of t he dete rminants of anti-i mmigrant hosti l i t y remain underde veloped i n t h e l i t eratu re. Current research i s diminished b y competi ng claims ove r t he p ri-macy of economic, i de ol ogical, conte xtual, or socio-demographic f actors. To consoli date past rese arch and work t o wards a more coherent t heory of att i t udinal ho s-t i l i t y, we a rgue t hat i t i s f i rst necessary t o disaggregate t he broad noti on of hostili t y i nto " social " and " poli cy " hosti l i t y. We use t he 30 t h E urobarometer on Immi grants and Outgroups t o t e st t he abil i t y of t he e conomic vuln er-abil i t y, i deology, and nati onal conte xt a rgument s t o e x-plain l evels of sociall y and poli t i call y hosti l e att i t udes t o i mmigrants i n f i ve countrie s of t he E uropean U ni on. T he result s confi rm t hat not on l y a re social and poli cy hosti l-i t y disti nct, but i deological f act ors— both new and old— provid e a more cog ent account of hosti l i t y t han eit her economics or nati onal context. T he study f i nds t hat atti-t udinal hostili t y f undamentall y derives f rom a conjunc-t i on of l ow l evels of educati on and a powerful f orm of " i deological hosti l i t y " t hat encompasse s old-f ashioned racism, t radit i onal right-wing i deology, and m ateriali st value orientat i ons.