The dynamics of attitudes towards immigrants in Dutch society: The importance of contacts with immigrants
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2020-08-24
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en
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Current debates in The Netherlands concerning immigration and integration seem to ascribe negative values to immigrants. According to various scientific sources, it is likely that attitudes towards immigrants are strongly influenced by perceived threats posed by immigrants, spread by the media and politics. There is little information available about to what extent real contact experiences influence attitudes towards immigrants and may counter widespread perceptions. The goal of this research is to gain insight in the effect of interethnic contact on interethnic attitudes on a national level, in The Netherlands, which has not been studied before. This will be achieved by performing quantitative analysis of the relationships between various dimensions of contact with immigrants as well as various dimensions of attitudes towards immigrants. It has been found that frequency of occasional contact and its valence, as well as quantity of friendships with immigrants are significantly and positively, yet weakly correlated with attitudes towards immigrants, regarding economy, culture, living, jobs and taxes and services. This suggests that contact is not that important in shaping attitudes towards immigrants in The Netherlands and other factors such as indirect experiences and the way immigrants are being framed in media and politics might be more influential.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen