Immigrants and immigration: A survey of attitudes

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Abstract
This study has been designed to clarify some of the issues raised in the recent immigration debate. Specifically, the study focuses on three research questions: (a) What are the criteria deemed important by Australian‐born residents as the yardstick for migrant selection and assessment?; (b) what are their attitudes toward the present level of immigration, and to the suggestion that the present level of immigration has exacerbated the current unemployment situation?; and (c) what are the correlates of these attitudes? In the first part of the study. 56 Australian‐born respondents (both males and females) wrote down the criteria they thought that immigrants in general have to meet before being allowed into Australia. Content analysis of these responses resulted in 15 selection and assessment factors which closely parallel those listed in the government's migration points system. In the second part of the study, 143 respondents (71 males, 72 females) were surveyed as to their attitudes toward these 15 assessment factors, immigrants in general, and the present level of immigration. Endorsement of the 15 assessment variables indicated a preference for an assessment and selection procedure that is humanitarian‐based, but which also takes into account the economic viability of the potential migrant. While the results offered little support for the statement that migrants had exacerbated the unemployment situation, there was some support for the belief that the level of immigration into Australia should remain the same or be decreased. With regard to the correlates of these attitudes, the concept of ethnocentrism was found to be the best predictor, while the weak relationships obtained for the demographic variables suggest that their explanatory power is minimal. The implications of these findings for the issues raised in the recent immigration debate are discussed.

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