Society’s attitudes towards impact of immigration: case of EU countries

Abstract

One of the most pressing problems nowadays attracting attention of EU citizens is the integration of immigrants. During the recent period immigration flows to the EU, especially external, were growing considerably-the number of international immigrants in the EU has increased by 57.5 percent over 2000-2015. One of the factors leading to successful integration of immigrants is attitudes towards them regarding their impact on countries' socioeconomic , cultural or other transformation. Empirical studies show that immigration can lead to both positive and negative effects on countries' demography, economy, culture and criminogenic situation depending on the immigrants' education, age, gender and other characteristics. Nevertheless, even if immigration leads to a positive transformation of the country, society's attitude towards immigration can be negative and this can complicate the process of integration. For this reason, it is important to investigate not only the effects of immigration on countries' demography, economy, culture and other areas, but also to investigate society's attitudes towards benefits and losses of immigration. We employed binary logistic regression to analyse the EU society's attitudes towards consequences of immigration. The results show that public attitudes toward consequences of immigration are largely negative, especially towards impact on criminogenic situation and this does not match actual impact empirically researched by other authors and presented in the literature review.

Attitudes towards refugees and Muslim immigrants in Iceland: The perceived link to terrorism

“…2019). Prejudice and negative public attitudes towards these oftensensitive groups can, however, hinder successful integration and the well-being of the migrant (Wike et al 2016; for a review, see Butkus et al 2018). Recent research indicates that the public in many European countries has become more hostile towards external migrants (Gallup 2020), particularly towards Muslim refugees (Wike et al 2016).…”

“…But research on public attitudes towards refugees has been limited in Iceland. This is unfortunate as public attitudes potentially impact the well-being of new arrivals (Wike et al 2016;Butkus et al, 2018).…”

“…In most parts of the world, people have become less accepting of migrants in recent years (Gallup 2020). Much of early research on attitudes towards immigrants focussed on economic explanations, viewing market competitions and the cost of public services as the main driving force of negative attitudes towards immigrants (see review in Butkus et al 2018;Mayda 2006). However, more recent studies strongly suggest that concerns about traditional native culture, crime, and security more often motivate hostility towards immigrants (Hainmueller & Hiscox 2010;Hainmueller & Hopkins 2014;Hellwig & Sinno 2017).…”

“Why Here?”—Pull Factors for the Attraction of Non-EU Immigrants to Rural Areas and Smaller Cities

“…Sci. 2024, 13, 184 2 of 21 international migrants to support sustainable local development (Butkus et al 2018;Diogo 2024;Diogo et al 2023;Gauci 2020;Quintino 2018).…”

“…The international literature also suggests that the issues of smaller cities and rural areas, including depopulation and the lack of workforce, can be addressed through international migration. International migration can also guarantee the continuity of primary services (Butkus et al 2018;Diogo 2024;Diogo et al 2023;Gauci 2020;Quintino 2018). The results of Collantes et al (2013) show that the arrival of immigrants has contributed substantially to reducing and even halting or reversing depopulation.…”