Do we need multiple questions to capture feeling threatened by immigrants?

Abstract

Across Europe some individuals observe immigration with unease and feel threatened by immigrants. Most relevant surveys ask about ‘immigrants’ in the generic sense, but some differentiate between specific immigrant groups. This article uses 24 questions on potential neighbours to systematically vary the characteristics of immigrants in a representative survey in Switzerland, 2013. Respondents systematically consider immigrants from distant cultures and those more likely to receive welfare benefits as more threatening. At the same time, those who feel threatened by one kind of immigrants also tend to feel threatened by others: We can validly express opposition to immigrants in a single dimension. Questions about immigrants in the generic sense likely capture the right correlates, but they may miss differences in the level of threat evoked by different immigrants.