Search

Identification with a superordinate entity, like Europe, reduces prejudice towards immigrants in general, but no research so far investigated if this differs between prejudice towards immigrants from inside and outside Europe. Using online survey data from four European countries, we determined whether national and European identification are (differently) related to attitudes towards immigrants from inside and outside Europe, and to which extent these relations can be explained by differences in refugee threat perceptions. We found that those who strongly identify with Europe hold more favorable views towards both European and non-European immigrants, while the reverse effect is found for strong national identifiers – an effect that can be explained by realistic and symbolic refugee threat perceptions. We did not find evidence for our expectation that the strength of the associations of national identification on attitudes and threat perceptions would depend on the level of European identification of participants. Overall, our findings provide mixed support for the Common In-group Identity Model because European identifiers, although more positive towards immigrants, did not make strong distinctions between European and non-European immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A superordinate identity reduces bias and facilitates intergroup cooperation. This suggests that getting European Union (EU) citizens to identify with Europe will decrease outgroup hostility. Is European identity thus a superordinate identity? Using Eurobarometer data, I determine which level of identification is the most inclusive for individuals' immigration attitudes. Those who feel European hold more favorable views toward immigrants—an effect that is amplified under conditions of cross-cutting cleavages and where country length of European Union membership is greatest. In contrast, strong national identity is associated with more negative immigration attitudes; regional identity has no effect. A subsequent test confirms that the benefits of identifying with Europe extend most strongly to immigrants of European Union origin, although positive effects are observed toward non-European Union migrants as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]