Abstract
Natives who dislike immigrants prefer restrictive immigration policies, but do those policies deepen or alleviate anti-immigrant attitudes? Existing theories have offered mixed predictions. Restrictions imposed on immigrants may harden intergroup boundaries and thus deepen hostilities. However, they may also soften attitudes by addressing the economic and identity concerns of natives. Using a conjoint experiment conducted in Hong Kong, I test the multidimensional effects of immigration policies on natives’ attitudes toward highly skilled immigrants. I find that restrictive measures consistently generate more positive attitudes. Strikingly, this effect cannot be fully accounted for by major theoretical explanations, including labor market competition, social identity, and welfare attitudes. Preexisting policy preferences do not condition the effect either. These findings point to the importance of attitudinal policy feedback beyond traditional accounts of immigration attitudes. In-depth qualitative interviews identify two novel causal mechanisms: moralizing and quality assurance effects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Political Behavior |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 17 Jun 2024 |
User-Defined Keywords
- Immigration attitudes
- Policy feedback
- Highly skilled immigration
- Immigration policy
- Conjoint experiment
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Lee, S. Y. (2024). Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy. Political Behavior. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-024-09947-5
Lee, Siu Yau. / Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy. In: Political Behavior. 2024.
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title = "Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy",
abstract = "Natives who dislike immigrants prefer restrictive immigration policies, but do those policies deepen or alleviate anti-immigrant attitudes? Existing theories have offered mixed predictions. Restrictions imposed on immigrants may harden intergroup boundaries and thus deepen hostilities. However, they may also soften attitudes by addressing the economic and identity concerns of natives. Using a conjoint experiment conducted in Hong Kong, I test the multidimensional effects of immigration policies on natives{\textquoteright} attitudes toward highly skilled immigrants. I find that restrictive measures consistently generate more positive attitudes. Strikingly, this effect cannot be fully accounted for by major theoretical explanations, including labor market competition, social identity, and welfare attitudes. Preexisting policy preferences do not condition the effect either. These findings point to the importance of attitudinal policy feedback beyond traditional accounts of immigration attitudes. In-depth qualitative interviews identify two novel causal mechanisms: moralizing and quality assurance effects.",
keywords = "Immigration attitudes, Policy feedback, Highly skilled immigration, Immigration policy, Conjoint experiment",
author = "Lee, {Siu Yau}",
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language = "English",
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Lee, SY 2024, 'Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy', Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-024-09947-5
Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy. / Lee, Siu Yau.
In: Political Behavior, 17.06.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy
AU - Lee, Siu Yau
PY - 2024/6/17
Y1 - 2024/6/17
N2 - Natives who dislike immigrants prefer restrictive immigration policies, but do those policies deepen or alleviate anti-immigrant attitudes? Existing theories have offered mixed predictions. Restrictions imposed on immigrants may harden intergroup boundaries and thus deepen hostilities. However, they may also soften attitudes by addressing the economic and identity concerns of natives. Using a conjoint experiment conducted in Hong Kong, I test the multidimensional effects of immigration policies on natives’ attitudes toward highly skilled immigrants. I find that restrictive measures consistently generate more positive attitudes. Strikingly, this effect cannot be fully accounted for by major theoretical explanations, including labor market competition, social identity, and welfare attitudes. Preexisting policy preferences do not condition the effect either. These findings point to the importance of attitudinal policy feedback beyond traditional accounts of immigration attitudes. In-depth qualitative interviews identify two novel causal mechanisms: moralizing and quality assurance effects.
AB - Natives who dislike immigrants prefer restrictive immigration policies, but do those policies deepen or alleviate anti-immigrant attitudes? Existing theories have offered mixed predictions. Restrictions imposed on immigrants may harden intergroup boundaries and thus deepen hostilities. However, they may also soften attitudes by addressing the economic and identity concerns of natives. Using a conjoint experiment conducted in Hong Kong, I test the multidimensional effects of immigration policies on natives’ attitudes toward highly skilled immigrants. I find that restrictive measures consistently generate more positive attitudes. Strikingly, this effect cannot be fully accounted for by major theoretical explanations, including labor market competition, social identity, and welfare attitudes. Preexisting policy preferences do not condition the effect either. These findings point to the importance of attitudinal policy feedback beyond traditional accounts of immigration attitudes. In-depth qualitative interviews identify two novel causal mechanisms: moralizing and quality assurance effects.
KW - Immigration attitudes
KW - Policy feedback
KW - Highly skilled immigration
KW - Immigration policy
KW - Conjoint experiment
U2 - 10.1007/s11109-024-09947-5
DO - 10.1007/s11109-024-09947-5
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0190-9320
JO - Political Behavior
JF - Political Behavior
ER -
Lee SY. Procedure Matters: The Distinct Attitudinal Feedback Effects of Immigration Policy. Political Behavior. 2024 Jun 17. Epub 2024 Jun 17. doi: 10.1007/s11109-024-09947-5
