Abstract

Within sociological research there has been considerably interest in the emergence of anti-immigrant attitudes. A much cited theory to explain those attitudes is Ethnic Competition Theory (ECT). Though the fact that this theory has been tested empirically quite well in different contexts, there are still some questions left concerning its validity. This is due to the existence of multiple interpretations of this theory and to the fact that the empirical evidence is rather mixed. In this paper, it will be argued that the coming of the financial-economic crisis offers a unique opportunity to retest the core-propositions of ECT. On the basis of data from the first 6 rounds (2002-2012) of the European Social Survey (ESS), we investigate how anti-immigrant attitudes evolve within the proposed time period in 20 European countries. Additionally, a 3-level random intercept multilevel model (N = 142117) will be used to assess the influence of both micro- and macrovariables deduced from ECT. Results indicate that only GDP per capita and changes in the size of the immigrant population have an influence on the forming of anti-immigrant attitudes, which leads us to the conclusion that ECT isn’t a valid theory to understand antiimmigrant attitudes within the contemporary European societies. An alternative explanation is offered and states that anti-immigrant attitudes are more a result of cultural rather than economic threat.

How to Cite:

Dudal, P., (2015) “Evolutie van anti-migrantenattitudes in Europa (2002-2012): welke invloed had de financieel-economische crisis?”, Sociologos 36(3), 194–220. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86886