Reevaluating American Attitudes toward Immigrants in the Twenty‐First Century: The Role of a Multicreedal National Identity

Abstract

The past two decades have seen anti‐immigrant ideas permeate national political discourse in Europe and North America. Ideas previously confined to the political margins are now part of the mainstream. Appeals to traditional political ideas and loyalty to state institutions—seen as an antidote to such ideas—have failed to stem the tide of anti‐immigrant policies. We offer an explanation of why appeals to political institutions fail to curb anti‐immigrant sentiment. We demonstrate that past empirical research into dimensions of identity has failed to model interactive effects between dimensions, leading to mixed results concerning policy preference and identity formation. We also demonstrate that an interaction effect exists between civic and ethnocultural dimensions that moderate each other as affinity rises. We show that previous research blaming most negative policy preference on the ethnocultural dimension is incomplete. This has significant implications for those seeking to design policies and programs that moderate negative attitudes toward immigrants.Related Articles Byrne, Jennifer. 2011. “.” Politics and Policy 39 (): 485‐514. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00301.x/abstract;jsessionid=C58DAF5DB86958A491FCCA5A983F81EB.d03t02?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false Swain, Carol. 2008. “.” Politics and Policy 36 (): 1126‐1129. Sabia, Debra. 2010. “.” Politics and Policy 38 (): 53‐80.Podcast . 2011. “” http://www.npr.org/2011/07/04/137609363/do‐americas‐changing‐demographics‐impact‐politics