What are the Determinants of Attitudes Towards Immigrants in Turkey? Evidence from the World Values Survey

Abstract

In this study, I aim to find the impact of social values and demographic characteristics on attitudes toward immigrants in Turkey. For the empirical analysis, wave 7 data from the World Values Survey (WVS) is used. Individual-level data from 2018 shows that religion and nationalism play a key role in increasing negative attitudes toward immigrants. As individuals' social class improves, their anti-immigrant sentiments tend to decrease. However, when there is concern about potential competition for scarce jobs in the labor market, social class jumps result in discrimination against immigrants. The logit regression coefficients for political opinion, education, age and marital status do not show robust results in different models using different measures of negative attitudes. Thus, demographic characteristics do not systematically influence opinions toward immigration in Turkey. Rather, values and socioeconomic position in society have an impact on opinions toward immigrants.