Cutting in line ahead of us: the role of group relative deprivation in shaping gatekeeping attitudes across different immigrant integration contexts in Europe

Abstract

Although research shows that anti-immigrant sentiments are generally lower in liberal integration policy contexts, popular backlash against immigrants become salient in many pro-immigration and inclusive integration policy contexts in Europe today. Developing a contextualized mediation model, this research suggests that feelings of deprivation vis-& agrave;-vis immigrants influence attitudes toward selective immigrant admission in Europe. From a cross-country analysis of the 2014-2015 European Social Survey through multigroup structural equation modeling, our findings reveal that sentiments of group relative deprivation translate into stronger gatekeeping attitudes throughout Europe by developing threat perceptions from immigration. Relative deprivation-driven threat perceptions influence gatekeeping attitudes more potently in countries where integration policies grant immigrants more comprehensive and equal rights, while they remain relatively dormant in countries with exclusionary integration policies. These findings contribute to our understanding of how and to what extent relative deprivation sentiments vis-& agrave;-vis immigrants shape gatekeeping attitudes while shedding light on the unintended impacts of liberal integration policies on public opinion regarding immigration.