Political Self-Understanding, Cultural Openness and Public Attitudes Towards Immigrants in Western Greece

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present research findings from a study of public attitudes towards immigrants in the region of Western Greece (the vast majority of them from Balkan countries). Positive and negative attitudes towards immigrants in the region are correlated with political self-understanding (across the left-right spectrum) and cultural openness as reflected in attitudes towards different languages and religions and towards intercultural communication between immigrants and locals. The findings suggest that the degree of cultural openness is indeed related to the orientation of general public attitudes towards immigrants and that political self-understanding across the left-right spectrum remains relevant for explaining these attitudes. The study nevertheless found that there is only limited willingness to develop close social relationships with Balkan immigrants and that the degree of such willingness is not significantly correlated either with cultural openness or with political self-understanding.