Ethnic hierarchies versus civic values in a community of descent: Evidence from an interactive survey experiment in Germany

Abstract

This article examines whether German respondents in an interactive vignette experiment prefer immigrants who are ethno-racially more proximate to the majority population versus whether immigrants find acceptance in German society as long as they follow the law and respect the rules and customs of society. The approach is both descriptive and experimental. The descriptive results indicate that despite liberalisation of immigration policies since 2000 there is a sizable reservoir of the German population who holds ethno-racial attitudes. The interactive experimental approach distinguishes two treatments: race and reason for dismissal from a job of two fictitious immigrants who are applying for permanent residency in Germany. Results indicate that while German respondents react more harshly when the reason for dismissal is drug possession than race, the Black immigrant is treated with more hostility for the same infraction than the White immigrant, independently of whether the reason for dismissal from a job is being downsized or drug possession.