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1 13 Factors Affecting American Attitudes towards Immigrants Name California State University Dominguez Hills Administration and Public Policy Analysis PUB 506 Professor Semester Year Abstract Immigration reform has for the last several decades been a complex topic of discussion pitting the concept that America was founded by immigrants against the assertions that present-day immigrants threaten American culture and way of life. In an effort to identify the driving forces influencing immigration sentiment, this analysis draws close parallels to previous studies taking into account variables that encompass select demographics, economic measures, and cultural factors. This is accomplished through the use of the 2014 General Social Survey where the survey question under consideration is whether immigrants undermine American culture. Inasmuch, the findings of this study showed both consistency with past studies and also differences. The most compelling findings derived from this analysis show that language, economic factors related to employment, household income, racial/class competitiveness and conservative views serve to create anti-immigration sentiment. It is hoped that revealing the sources of immigration sentiment will help craft improved immigration policy. Part I. Introduction and Literature Review Immigration reform currently is one of the most debated topics in American politics often dominating center stage in both the United States Congress and several state legislatures. This becomes increasingly important for Public Administration due to domestic security concerns (and related policy making), allocation of public and social services, and economic implications. The developed policies derived from these respective legislative entities would appear to be influenced by socio-economic dynamics, partisan inclinations, constituent attitudes, and various external & internal factors. Needless to say, this makes creating effective national immigration policy exceedingly difficult. In this context, the purpose of this analysis is to shed light on the driving forces behind American attitudes towards immigrants as they relate to national culture. American culture can best be described as a way of life which encompasses aspects regarding nationalism; conservative/liberal perspectives within a democratic framework; economic expectancy; unique demographic characteristics; and language (English). In “Social Factors Influencing Immigration Attitudes: An Analysis of Data from the General Social Survey,” Chandler and Tsai (2001) employed General Social Survey data from 1994 where they attempt to examine social factors which influence American attitudes toward immigration. More specifically, they put forth an analytical approach which includes demographics, self-interest attributes, cultural/economic threats, and ideological perspectives. The multivariate analysis uses seven dependent variables to address legal immigration and three to address illegal immigration; each category was dealt with as a working factor for the analysis. The independent variables included background characteristics noted as age, sex, and race as control variables in vetting other variables considered for the full model. The economic threat was operationalized through examination of unemployment, national economy, and income variables. Additionally, fear of crime (self-interest), political conservatism (ideology), and cultural threat (language infringement) were also examined. They concluded that background characteristics, income, and fear of crime had little effect while having a college education increased pro-immigration sentiment. Conversely, conservatism (ideology) and language (cultural threat) had the most significant effects towards anti-immigration sentiment. Jeong (2013) provides insight in “Do National Feelings Influence Public Attitudes towards Immigration?” in analyzing how nationalism, national identity, and national pride affect attitudes towards immigration. This was done through the use of 2004 GSS data which similarly uses an array of variables relating to demographic descriptors (gender, age, and race), political interest & party preference, residential environment (urban, rural etc.), and cultural/economic threats. In all, 14 independent variables (plus the control variables) and six dependent variables were included in the analysis. Results indicate that variables related to nationalism and demographics had the greatest effect on immigration attitudes to include level of education, urbanization, race, income, and perceived cultural infringement. This analysis will use select core characteristics and views relating to immigration from both of the aforementioned analyses to provide an updated (2014) perspective of American attitudes towards immigrants. Part II. Methods Data Sources: General Social Survey data for year 2014 was used for this analysis in gauging American attitudes towards immigrants based on their effect on American culture. This was done through the use of a binary logistic regression approach. The unit of analysis is the individual. Research Question: What factors influence American attitudes towards immigrants? Hypotheses: H1: Individuals who are more conservative are more likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H2: African-Americans (when referenced to Whites) are more likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H3: Men are more likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H4: Individuals with bachelor’s degrees are less likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H5: Individuals with higher family incomes are less likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H6: Individuals who have been unemployed within the last ten (10) years are more likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. H7: Those who believe that it is important to be able to speak English are more likely to agree that immigrants undermine American culture. Variable Name Level of Measurement Unit of measurement/coding Prediction of the relationship with the dependent variable Independent/Dependent Variable Immigrants Undermine American Culture? [immcultR] Nominal /Dummy 0 = Disagree 1 = Agree Dependent Political Views [polviews] Ordinal Level of liberalism/conservatism ranging from 1 -7. Positive Independent Race [racecen1R] Nominal 1=White, 2=African American, 3=American Indian, 4=Asian, 5=Hispanic n/a Independent Gender [sex] Nominal 1=Male 2 = Female Negative Independent College Education [degreeBachelor] Nominal 0 = No Bachelor’s Degree 1 = Bachelor’s or Grad Degree Negative Independent Total Family Income [income06] Ordinal In intervals 1-25 in thousands of dollars (USD) Negative Independent Unemployment Last 10 YRs? [unempR] Nominal 0=No 1=Yes Positive Independent How Important to be able to speak English? [amenglsh] Ordinal 1=Very Important, 2=Fairly Important, 3=Not Very Important, 4=Not Important at all. n/a Independent There is one dependent variable (immcultR) which poses the question whether immigrants undermine American culture. This variable has been collapsed to reflect disagreement or agreement with this assertion to establish a binary analysis. Any level of disagreement was coded as 0 while any level of agreement was coded as 1. There are seven independent variables. Variables degreeBachelor and unempR have been recoded into dummy variables, so that the sought category reflects the higher degree to either. Table 1 describes the respondent frequency for the dependent variable where Disagree represents 73.4% of the responses and Agree represents 26.6% of the responses. Table 1 Immigrants Undermine American Culture (Disagree or Agree) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative % Valid DISAGREE 606 23.9 73.4 73.4 AGREE 220 8.7 26.6 100.0 Total 826 32.5 100 Missing System 1712 67.5 Total 2538 100.00 Figure 1. Model for Agreeing that Immigrants Undermine American Culture AGREE IMMIGRANTS UNDERMINE CULTURE (immcultR) Gender (sex) COLLEGE EDUCATION (degreeBachelor) SPEAK ENGLISH (amenglsh) UNEMPLOYMENT (unempR) RACE (racecen1R) INCOME (income06) POLITICAL VIEWS (POLVIEWS) Part III. Results: Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for Case Variables Variable N Mean Standard D. Min. Max ImmcultR 826 0.3 N/A 0 1 Polviews 2449 4 N/A 1 7 Racecen1R 2347 1 N/A 1 5 Sex 2538 2 N/A 1 2 DegreeBachelor 2538 0.3 N/A 0 1 Income06 2314 17 5.81 1 25 UnempR 1684 0.4 N/A 0 1 Amenglsh 1264 1 N/A 1 4 The mean values show the central tendency for the noted variables for the respective sample. For polviews we see that “moderate” is the mean response. For family income [income06] interval 17 ($35,000 - $39,999) is the mean and for importance in speaking English [amenglsh] “very important” is the mean. The proportional mean (0.3) for ImmcultR shows a central tendency to “disagree.” A similar result is found for those without bachelor’s degrees centered at 0.3. Table 3 Logistic Regression Results Undermine American Culture Variable B Sig. Exp(B) Hypoth. Polviews 0.160 0.082 *1.173 A Racecent1R(1) – Black 0.675 0.028 **1.964 A Racecent1R(2) – American Indian 0.672 0.403 1.958 N/C Racecent1R(3) – Asian -19.419 1.000 0.000 N/C Racecent1R(4) – Hisp 0.318 0.786 1.375 N/C Sex 0.094 0.699 0.911 R DegreeBachelor -0.383 0.178 0.682 R Income06 -0.038 0.072 *0.963 A UnempR 0.776 0.002 ***2.173 A Amenglsh(1) – Fairly Important -1.104 0.001 0.332 A Amenglsh(2) – Not Very Important -0.980 0.365 0.375 R Amenglsh(3) – Not Very Important at All -1.575 0.148 0.207 R Constant -2.570 0.038 0.077 A: Accept 1.011 0.013 2.748 R: Reject N=436 N/C: Not considered * p<0.1, **="" p="">< 0.05,="" ***=""><.01 part iv. discussion and interpretation of the findings the overall model with seven predictors is statistically significant. the baseline model which predicts that a respondent is in agreement that american culture is undermined by immigrants is correct 74.3% of the time. the operational model which predicts that a respondent is in an agreement that american culture is undermined by immigrants improves slightly to 75.5%. the model explanatory power can be shown using the nagelkerke value of 0.162 which indicates that the independent variables provide moderate explanation (16.2%) for the variation in the dependent variable. we were able to correctly predict the responses to 95.7% of those who were in disagreement with this assertion, but only able to correctly predict 17.0% of the responses for those who agreed with the statement that american culture is undermined by immigrants. based on the logistic regression (table 3), we accept five of the hypotheses and reject three hypotheses based on the following: h1:for polviews (sig.= 0.082), log odds of agreement with the assertion that immigrants undermine american culture increases by 0.160 for each change in category (1 through 7) which indicates that as conservatism increases, the agreement increases. each additional step in conservatism increases the odds of agreeing by a factor of 1.173. this observation definitely supports current views within the political spectrum with more conservative views attacking the influences of immigrant (legal and illegal) populations. this finding is consistent with both literature reviews offered. h2:for racecen1r(1) – black or african-american (sig.= 0.028) with white as the reference category, the coefficient of 0.675 is the effect on agreeing with the assertion of being black, compared to being white. this effect is to increase the odds of agreeing (by part="" iv.="" discussion="" and="" interpretation="" of="" the="" findings="" the="" overall="" model="" with="" seven="" predictors="" is="" statistically="" significant.="" the="" baseline="" model="" which="" predicts="" that="" a="" respondent="" is="" in="" agreement="" that="" american="" culture="" is="" undermined="" by="" immigrants="" is="" correct="" 74.3%="" of="" the="" time.="" the="" operational="" model="" which="" predicts="" that="" a="" respondent="" is="" in="" an="" agreement="" that="" american="" culture="" is="" undermined="" by="" immigrants="" improves="" slightly="" to="" 75.5%.="" the="" model="" explanatory="" power="" can="" be="" shown="" using="" the="" nagelkerke="" value="" of="" 0.162="" which="" indicates="" that="" the="" independent="" variables="" provide="" moderate="" explanation="" (16.2%)="" for="" the="" variation="" in="" the="" dependent="" variable.="" we="" were="" able="" to="" correctly="" predict="" the="" responses="" to="" 95.7%="" of="" those="" who="" were="" in="" disagreement="" with="" this="" assertion,="" but="" only="" able="" to="" correctly="" predict="" 17.0%="" of="" the="" responses="" for="" those="" who="" agreed="" with="" the="" statement="" that="" american="" culture="" is="" undermined="" by="" immigrants.="" based="" on="" the="" logistic="" regression="" (table="" 3),="" we="" accept="" five="" of="" the="" hypotheses="" and="" reject="" three="" hypotheses="" based="" on="" the="" following:="" h1:="" for="" polviews="" (sig.="0.082)," log="" odds="" of="" agreement="" with="" the="" assertion="" that="" immigrants="" undermine="" american="" culture="" increases="" by="" 0.160="" for="" each="" change="" in="" category="" (1="" through="" 7)="" which="" indicates="" that="" as="" conservatism="" increases,="" the="" agreement="" increases.="" each="" additional="" step="" in="" conservatism="" increases="" the="" odds="" of="" agreeing="" by="" a="" factor="" of="" 1.173.="" this="" observation="" definitely="" supports="" current="" views="" within="" the="" political="" spectrum="" with="" more="" conservative="" views="" attacking="" the="" influences="" of="" immigrant="" (legal="" and="" illegal)="" populations.="" this="" finding="" is="" consistent="" with="" both="" literature="" reviews="" offered.="" h2:="" for="" racecen1r(1)="" –="" black="" or="" african-american="" (sig.="0.028)" with="" white="" as="" the="" reference="" category,="" the="" coefficient="" of="" 0.675="" is="" the="" effect="" on="" agreeing="" with="" the="" assertion="" of="" being="" black,="" compared="" to="" being="" white.="" this="" effect="" is="" to="" increase="" the="" odds="" of="" agreeing="">