Values, Social Distance and Attitudes toward Immigration: A Cross-Cultural Study of Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands (in Russian)

Abstract

The article addresses the relationship between individual values, social distance and positive and negative attitudes toward immigration. The objective of the present study is the verification of the universal character of these relationship. Previously the researchers very rarely addressed both aspects of attitudes toward immigrants: appraisal of immigrants by the host society and attitudes of the host society toward the migration policy. In the present study both these aspects were considered in the form of social distance and three attitudes toward immigration. With the data analysis of the 7th round from the European Social Survey (ESS), 2014 for four European countries (Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands), after the test of metric (strong factorial) invariance of the scales and their reliability, with the use of structural equation modeling it was found that, as it was supposed in the hypotheses of the study, social distance is positively associated to the conservation values and negatively associated with the openness to change, and positively associated to negative attitudes toward immigration (immigration as a threat and necessity of some immigration qualification) and negatively associated with positive attitudes (desirability of immigration). These relationship was universal, however many relationship that were cultural-specific. Especially notable is the effect of full mediation in different samples of some relationship between some values and attitudes by social distance. The obtained results are valuable for understanding of some aspects of intercultural relations.