Inclusive Normative Climates Strengthen the Relationship Between Identification With Europe and Tolerant Immigration Attitudes: Evidence From 22 Countries

Abstract

Europe as a supranational entity is frequently associated to inclusive and cosmopolitan values, which explains why identification with Europe generally relates to tolerant attitudes toward immigrants. However, because of major immigration movements, Europe has recently gone through demographic and social changes that have challenged its values and identity. In this context, we argue that, because national immigrant integration policies convey social norms about how citizens should deal with issues related to immigration, policies should also shape the association between identification with Europe and attitudes toward immigrants. Indeed, tolerant, more so than intolerant, policies in a country lay the foundations for interpreting identification with Europe as an inclusive stance, and consequently should enhance the association between identification with Europe and reduced anti-immigrant attitudes. To investigate these associations, we conducted a crosscountry multilevel analysis including 22 European countries from the 2013 International Social Survey Programme. As predicted, identification with Europe was associated to reduced anti-immigrant prejudice. Furthermore, this negative association was stronger in countries with more tolerant, inclusive policies (assessed by the MIPEX) compared to countries with more intolerant, exclusive policies. Results are discussed in light of the content of European identity and of different embodiments of social norms. Inclusive normative climates strengthen the relationship between identification with Europe and tolerant immigration attitudes: Evidence from 22 countries So we are the good Europeans, and we defend Europe, not just at the levels of values, but at the levels of reality when we defend Schengen borders, as it is written in the Schengen treaty. Viktor Orbàn, Prime Minister of Hungary We have the duty to restore the values on which Europe was founded. The Geneva Convention was signed by all of us, and the right of asylum is granted by the article 10 of our [Italian] Constitution. It is a legal and moral obligation that cannot be ignored by any democratic state. Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy Mass-immigration from African, Asian, and Middle-Eastern countries to Europe has increased dramatically in the last decades. Migration movements within Europe have also intensified, partly due to the freedom of movement between countries belonging to the Schengen area. Both phenomena have elicited resistance and negative reactions. These major demographic and social changes have indeed been accompanied with a rise of radical right and populist parties, which call for the reestablishment of strict borders. From a social psychological point of view, these consequences both stem from and feed heightened identification with the nation and threat perceptions associated to immigration. Among citizens of European countries, however, identifying with the European continent-an entity that transcends national borders-has been generally shown to relate to posit...

Europe’s Culture(s): Negotiating Cultural Meanings, Values, and Identities in the European Context

“…In past research, European identification has been found to buffer feelings of threat (e.g., Datler, 2016 ). Visitin and colleagues (2018) replicate this link: Identification with Europe is, across nations, related to lower prejudice toward immigrants, possibly because of the liberal and egalitarian values generally associated with Europe (see Vignoles et al, 2018 ). Yet, they also find that the national moral context affects what European identification means.…”

“…Going beyond existing research on the link between national identification and immigration attitudes, Visitin, Green, and Sarrasin (2018) examine the role of European identification amongst majority members of European nation states when predicting anti-immigrant prejudice using data from the International Social Survey Programme. They find across 22 European countries that majority individuals report identification with Europe.…”

Arguments for European Disintegration: A Mobilization Analysis of Anti‐Immigration Speeches by U.K. Political Leaders

“…We do not have space at this point for such a review. But suffice it to say that, despite some claims that diversity undermines the formation of a shared social identity and therefore makes groups less cohesive, less harmonious, less productive, and leaves members less satisfied (for a review, see van Knippenberg & Schippers, ), there is growing acceptance that (1) there is no simple and general relationship between diversity (including diversity due to immigration) and cohesion (Hickman, Crowley, & Mai, ; Saggar, Somerville, Ford, & Sobolewska, ), and that (2) in some circumstances diversity can increase group identification and cohesion, especially when it is consonant with group norms (van Knieppenberg, Haslam, & Platow, ; Visintin, Green, & Sarrasin, ). Clearly, though, the question of when diversity is or isn’t a problem for identification and cohesion is one that requires further clarification, and we have a responsibility not only to conduct the relevant research but also to inject the public debate so as to contest the simplifications and distortions that currently characterize that debate.…”

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“…One aspect of the complexity of research on attitudes towards integration stems from the fact that it analyses public opinions towards immigrants' integration, which may society as negative, then the majority develops negative attitudes toward immigrant integration, prefers assimilation (Davies, Steele and Markus, 2008[76]; Tip et al, 2012 [77]; Van Oudenhoven, Prins and Buunk, 1998 [78]) and decreases its support for multiculturalism. However, the causal mechanism could also work the other way around.…”