Size does matter: the relationship between perceived immigrant group size and attitudes towards foreign nationals
SOURCE: Southern African Journal of Demography
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2020
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Gordon, B.Roberts, J.Struwig, N.Mchunu, S.Mtyingizane, T.Zondi
KEYWORDS: GROUP BEHAVIOUR, GROUPS, IMMIGRANTS, PUBLIC OPINION, XENOPHOBIA, XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE
DEPARTMENT: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 11499
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/15413
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/15413
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2020
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Gordon, B.Roberts, J.Struwig, N.Mchunu, S.Mtyingizane, T.Zondi
KEYWORDS: GROUP BEHAVIOUR, GROUPS, IMMIGRANTS, PUBLIC OPINION, XENOPHOBIA, XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE
DEPARTMENT: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 11499
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/15413
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/15413
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Over the last two decades, there has been a considerable influx of foreign nationals into South Africa. Some scholars and politicians have linked the growing number of foreign nationals to negative attitudes towards immigrants. Anti-immigrant sentiment represents a major problem in South Africa, undermining social cohesion and exacerbating tensions with neighbouring countries. At this stage, an essential question that must be asked is - how many international migrants does the public think that there are. Responding to this question provokes an even more important one, namely how do public beliefs about the size of the international migrant population influence attitudes towards foreign nationals? This article examines lay beliefs about the number of international migrants in the country and how these affect anti-immigrant sentiments. This study examines the attitudes of adults (16 years and older) over the 2003-2018 period to understand how public perceptions towards foreigners have changed. Representative data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey series (N= 45 047) is used for this examination. Multivariate analysis is then undertaken to determine how beliefs about immigrant group size affect attitudes towards foreign nationals. The trend data suggest that hostility towards international migrants has not increased over the period. Most are misinformed about the number of foreign nationals living in the country. Overestimations of the international immigrant stock were found to increase the likelihood of antipathy towards foreign nationals, even after controlling for socio-economic characteristics. The findings suggest that attitudes towards international immigrants would be improved if ordinary people were more well-informed about immigration.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Citizenship, violence and xenophobia in South Africa: perceptions from South African communities
- Immigration policies that include or exclude: a South African public opinion study of immigration policy preferences
- Anti-immigrant violence as social group control vigilantism?: understanding attitudes, behaviours and solutions
- Understanding violence between South African nationals and African immigrants in Gauteng province: phase Two
- A survey of attitudes towards and use of cellular phones
- The drug-crime nexus in South Africa: the HSRC SA-ADAM national survey: the social construction of victimization and victim support. Part 4
- Decoding South Africa's 1999 electoral geography
- Public opinion on national priority issues
- Perceptions about democracy
- Politics and voting
- Institutional trust
- Crime
- Economic policies
- Community participation
- Introduction and methodology
- Service delivery perceptions during Mandela rule, 1994-1999
- Perceptions about economic issues
- National priorities
- Race = discontent?
- Personal consistency in responding to public opinion surveys: mining the 2001 HSRC survey responses to questions about democracy and Christianity