Economic Vulnerability, Cultural Decline, and Nativism: Contingent and Indirect Effects Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • ObjectiveNativism, or antiimmigrant preferences, is increasingly evident within democratic mass publics. In this article, we explore whether economic concerns, perceptions of social decline, or some combination of the two shape these attitudes.MethodOur data are comprised of more than 8,000 survey respondents from nine Western, industrial democracies (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United States). Using mediation analysis, we test for the extent to which economic anxiety and perceptions of cultural decline exert direct and indirect effects on nativism.ResultsOn balance, the effect of economic anxietyconcern regarding job loss and negative economic assessmentson nativism is mostly indirect, affecting nativism by influencing perceptions of cultural decline.ConclusionGiven the strong association between perceptions of social decline and nativism, it appears as though antiimmigrant sentiments draw from cultural rather than economic concerns. The story, however, does not end there. Perceptions of societal decline are strongly influenced by economic anxiety.

published proceedings

  • SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY

altmetric score

  • 4.25

author list (cited authors)

  • Davis, N. T., Goidel, K., Lipsmeyer, C. S., Whitten, G. D., & Young, C.

citation count

  • 9

complete list of authors

  • Davis, Nicholas T||Goidel, Kirby||Lipsmeyer, Christine S||Whitten, Guy D||Young, Clifford

publication date

  • April 2019

publisher