Cross-country analysis of negative attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in Southeast Asia: A case of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand

Abstract

This article focuses on anti-immigrant attitudes in the three largest receivers of immigrants in Southeast Asia—Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. We found that the two dimensions of attitudes we analyzed—attitudes toward immigrants and immigration—have differing predictive power in the three countries, suggesting that they are rooted in distinct local concerns. Overall, the study found that people’s concerns regarding competition for jobs generate negative attitudes. These worries can be traced in each of the three countries, yet they do not always translate into social animosities, something that complicates findings from earlier studies on resentments in the region.