Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Journal of Social Sciences

Assessing the Attitude of Ardakan Citizens toward Immigrants and Its Impact on the Sense of Social Security

Document Type : Research

Authors

Nejat Mohammadifar 1
Roghayeh Kermanian 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

2 Ph.D. in Public Law, Maybod Branch, Islamic Azad University, Maybod, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/social.2024.87337.1491
Abstract
Today, migration has become a stable feature of open, integrated, and dynamic economies. Most affluent post‑industrial nations have seen massive migration flows in recent decades. Previous studies indicate a negative correlation between the share of immigrants in a country and the positivity of public attitudes toward them. The city of Ardakan, no exception to this rule, has witnessed substantial inbound migration in recent years. Accordingly, the present study aims to evaluate the attitude of Ardakan citizens toward immigrants and its impact on the sense of social security. A survey method was employed to collect data. The statistical population consisted of Ardakan residents aged above 20, estimated at 75,721 people. According to the Lin table, a sample of 381 respondents was determined through cluster random sampling. Data were gathered using a semi‑standardized questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS.  The findings reveal that many residents hold immigrants responsible for the bulk of economic, cultural, environmental, and health issues in Ardakan. Results also demonstrate a significant relationship between the general attitude of local residents toward immigrants and their perceived sense of social security. Moreover, statistically meaningful differences were found between demographic variables such as age, education, and income and the people’s attitude. Overall, the study concludes that the general public—particularly middle‑aged citizens—tend to hold negative attitudes toward immigrants. They believe that the growing trend of immigrants has undermined local social values and norms, contributing to the rising crime rates and social harms, thereby posing a serious threat to the sense of security in the city.
 
 

Keywords

Attitude
Immigration
Social Security Perception
  1. بهشتی، س.ص؛ مرادی، ر؛ و خلیلی‌دره‌بنگ، ر. (1399). تبیین جامعه‌شناختی رابطۀ احساس امنیت اجتماعی و سلامت اجتماعی. مجلۀ دانشکده بهداشت و انستیتو تحقیقات بهداشتی، 18(۲)، ۱88-۱73.
  2. چلبی، ‌م. (1375). جامعه‌شناسی نظم و تحلیل نظم اجتماعی. تهران: نشر نی.
  3. حسینی، ق؛ و خانی، س. (1398). روند و الگوهای مهاجرت در استان‌های مرزی کشور. فصلنامۀ مطالعات ملی، 20(4)، 114-93.
  4. حکمت‌نیا، ح؛ و شاکراردکانی، م.ع. (1395). بررسی نقش و تأثیر مهاجرت بر حاشیه‌نشینی و امنیت در شهرها مطالعه موردی شهر اردکان یزد. چهارمین کنفرانس ملی توسعۀ پایدار در علوم جغرافیا و برنامه‌ریزی، معماری و شهرسازی، تهران.
  5. حیدری، ع؛ محمودی، ا.ق؛ و فراهانی، س.ع. (1401). بررسی نسبت حاشیه‌نشینی و امنیت عمومی شهروندان. جغرافیا و روابط انسانی، 5(1)، 399-383.
  6. شاطریان، م؛ عسکری‌کویری، ا؛ و فخری، ف. (1394). مطالعه و بررسی نگرش مردم شهر آران و بیدگل نسبت به مهاجران افغانی ساکن در بافت‌های فرسوده. همایش ملی بافت‌های فرسوده و تاریخی شهری: چالش ها و راهکارها، کاشان.
  7. شیرزاد، ج؛ امیدی، ا؛ و علیزاده، ر. (1400). نگرش شهروندان استان گیلان بر مهاجرت افراد غیربومی و پیامدهای امنیتی و اجتماعی آن. فصلنامۀ علمی دانش انتظامی گیلان، 10(39)، 29-1.
  8. کریمی، ی. (1384). روان‌شناسی شخصیت. تهران: نشر پیام نور.
  9. کوئن، ب. (1372). مبانی جامعه‌شناسی. (غ.ع. توسلی و ر. فاضل، ترجمه). تهران: انتشارات سمت.
  10. کینگ، گ؛ و کریستوفر، م. (1383). بازاندیشی در امنیت انسانی. (م. بحرانی، ترجمه). فصلنامۀ مطالعات راهبردی، 7(4)، 799-775.
  11. ماندل، ر. (1379). چهرۀ متغیر امنیت ملی. (پژوهشکدۀ مطالعات راهبردی، ترجمه). تهران: انتشارات پژوهشکدۀ مطالعات راهبردی.
  12. مرادی، ع؛ و ایمان، م.ت. (1400). مقدمه‌ای بر جامعه‌شناسی مهاجرت. کرمانشاه: انتشارات دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد کرمانشاه.
  13. مشفق، م. (1401). مهاجرت‌های داخلی و امنیت اجتماعی: مطالعۀ رابطۀ الگوهای مهاجرت‌های داخلی و ضریب ناامنی محیط اجتماعی در ایران. پژوهش انحرافات و مسائل اجتماعی، 3(2)، 96-67.
  14. نوروزی، ف.ا؛ و فولادی‌سپهر، س. (1388). بررسی احساس امنیت اجتماعی زنان 29-15 ساله شهر تهران و عوامل مؤثر بر آن. فصلنامۀ راهبرد، 18(53)، 159-129.
  15. وثوقی، ف؛ و محسنی، م.ر. (1395). بررسی نگرش شهروندان مشهدی نسبت به مهاجرین خارجی مقیم مشهد. فصل‌نامۀ تحقیقات جغرافیایی، 31(۲)، ۱۸-۴.
  16. Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, Personality and Behavior. Chicago, IL: The Dorsey Press.
  17. Altemeyer, B. (1981). Right-wing authoritarianism. Univ. of Manitoba Press.
  18. Altonji, J. G., & Card, D. (2018). The effects of immigration on the labor market outcomes of less-skilled natives. In The New Immigrant in the American Economy (pp. 137-170). Routledge.
  19. Berry, R. A., & Soligo, R. (1969). Some welfare aspects of international migration. Journal of political economy, 77(5), 778-794.
  20. Bhagwati, J., & Rodriguez, C. (1975). Welfare-theoretical analyses of the brain drain. Journal of development Economics, 2(3), 195-221.
  21. Blalock, H. M. (1967). Toward a Theory of Minority-Group Relations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  22. Blumer, H. (1958). Race prejudice as a sense of group position. Pacific sociological review, 1(1), 3-7.
  23. Bobo, L. (2004). Group conflict, prejudice and the paradox of contemporary racial attitudes. In Political psychology (pp. 333-357). Psychology Press.
  24. Burns, P., & Gimpel, J. G. (2000). Economic insecurity, prejudicial stereotypes, and public opinion on immigration policy. Political science quarterly, 115(2), 201-225.
  25. Burrowes, R. J. (1996). The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense a Gandhi an Approach, USA. University of New York Press.
  26. Butcher, K. F., & Piehl, A. M. (2007). Why are immigrants’ incarceration rates so low? Evidence on selective immigration, deterrence, and deportation. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper No. 13229. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  27. Card, D., Dustmann, C., & Preston, I. (2005). Understanding Attitudes to Immigration: The Migration and Minority Module of the First European Social Survey. Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London (UCL).
  28. Coenders, M., & Scheepers, P. (1998). ‘Support for ethnic discrimination in the Netherlands 19791993: effects of period, cohort, and individual differences’, European Sociological Review, 14(4), 405-22.
  29. Coenders, M., & Scheepers, P. (2008) ‘Changes in resistance to the social integration of foreigners in Germany 19802000: individual and contextual determinants’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 34(1), 1-26.
  30. de Figueiredo Jr, R. J., & Elkins, Z. (2003). Are patriots bigots? An inquiry into the vices of in‐group pride. American Journal of Political Science, 47(1), 171-188.
  31. Drazanova, L., Gonnot, J., Heidland, T., & Krüger, F. (2024). Which individual-level factors explain public attitudes toward immigration? a meta-analysis. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 50(2), 317-340.
  32. Espenshade, T. J., & Calhoun, C. A. (1993). An analysis of public opinion toward undocumented immigration. Population research and policy review, 12(3), 189-224.
  33. Esses, V. M., Dovidio, J. F., Jackson, L. M., & Armstrong, T. L. (2001). The immigration dilemma: The role of perceived group competition, ethnic prejudice, and national identity. Journal of Social issues, 57(3), 389-412.
  34. Fagerstrom, L., Gustafson, Y., Jakobsson, G., Johansson, S., & Vartiainen, P. (2011). Sense of security among people aged 65 and 75: external and inner sources of security. Journal of advanced nursing, 67(6), 1305-1316.
  35. Ferdous, J., & Khan, N. A. (2024). Re-imagining Migration and Security. In Governance, Migration and Security in International Relations (pp. 73-88). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
  36. Fetzer, J. S. (2000). Economic self-interest or cultural marginality? Anti-immigration sentiment and nativist political movements in France, Germany and the USA. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 26(1), 5-23.
  37. Ford, R., & Lymperopoulou, K. (2017). Immigration: How attitudes in the UK compare with Europe. In British Social Attitudes 34(pp. 1-30). NatCen Social Research.
  38. Gaston, N., & Nelson, D. (2000). Immigration and labour-market outcomes in the United States: A political-economy puzzle. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 16(3), 104-114.
  39. Gravelle, T. B. (2018). Partisanship, local context, group threat, and Canadian attitudes towards immigration and refugee policy. Migration Studies, 6(3), 448-467.
  40. Grootel, L. E. (2010). Wavering respondent loyalties: Comparing three models of stability in political attitudes (Master's thesis, University of Twente).
  41. Ha, S. E. (2010). The consequences of multiracial contexts on public attitudes toward immigration. Political Research Quarterly, 63(1), 29-42.
  42. Hainmueller, J., & Hopkins, D. J. (2014). Public attitudes toward immigration. Annual review of political science, 17, 225-249.
  43. Hanson, G. H., Scheve, K., & Slaughter, M. J. (2007). Public finance and individual preferences over globalization strategies. Economics & Politics, 19(1), 1-33.
  44. Heath, A. F., & Richards, L. (2020). Contested boundaries: Consensus and dissensus in European attitudes to immigration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46(3), 489-511.
  45. Hellwig, T., & Sinno, A. (2017). Different groups, different threats: public attitudes towards immigrants. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(3), 339-358.
  46. Hobolt, S. B. (2016). The Brexit vote: a divided nation, a divided continent. Journal of European public policy, 23(9), 1259-1277.
  47. Ivarsflaten, E. (2008). What unites right-wing populists in Western Europe? Re-examining grievance mobilization models in seven successful cases. Comparative Political Studies, 41(1), 3-23.
  48. Kawasaki, R. K., & Ikeda, Y. (2020). Network analysis of attitudes towards immigrants in Asia. Applied Network Science, 5(1), 1-34.
  49. Kenen, P. B. (1971). Migration, the terms of trade and economic welfare in the source country. In J. N. Bhagwati, R. W. Jones, R. A. Mundell, & J. Vanek (Eds.), Trade, Balance of Payments and Growth: Papers in International Economics in Honor of Charles P. Kindleberger (pp. 177–182). Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.
  50. Korol, L., Fietzer, A. W., Bevelander, P., & Pasichnyk, I. (2022). Are Immigrants Scapegoats? The Reciprocal Relationships Between Subjective Well-Being, Political Distrust, and Anti-immigrant Attitudes in Young Adulthood. Psychological Reports, 00332941211065951.
  51. Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Dolezal, M., Helbling, M., Höglinger, D., Hutter, S., & Wüest, B. (2012). Political conflict in western Europe. Cambridge University Press.
  52. Mayda, A. M., & Patel, K. (2006). International migration flows: The role of destination countries’ migration policies. In Long-Term International Migration Projection Methods: Current Practice and How to Improve It (pp. 75–92). Paris: OECD.
  53. Meuleman, B., Davidov, E., & Billiet, J. (2009). ‘Changing attitudes toward immigration in Europe, 20022007: a dynamic group conflict theory approach’. Social Science Research, 38(2), 352- 65.
  54. Nelson, T. D. (2009). Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. Psychology Press.
  55. (2017). International Migration Outlook 2017. Paris: OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1787/migr_outlook-2017-en.
  56. Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., & Malle, B. F. (1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of personality and social psychology, 67(4), 741.
  57. Pryce, D. K. (2018). US citizens’ current attitudes toward immigrants and immigration: A study from the general social survey. Social Science Quarterly, 99(4), 1467-1483.
  58. Quillian, L. (1995). Prejudice as a response to perceived group threat: Population composition and anti-immigrant and racial prejudice in Europe. American Sociological Review, 60(4), 586–611.
  59. Roots, A., Masso, A., & Ainsaar, M. (2016). Measuring Attitudes towards Immigrants: Validation of Immigration Attitude Index Across Countries. In First draft. European Social Survey Conference ‘Understanding key challenges for European societies in the 21st century.
  60. Scheepers, P., Gijsberts, M., & Coenders, M. (2002). Ethnic exclusionism in European countries. Public opposition to civil rights for legal migrants as a response to perceived ethnic threat. European sociological review, 18(1), 17-34.
  61. Scheve, K. F., & Slaughter, M. J. (2001). Labor market competition and individual preferences over immigration policy. Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(1), 133-145.
  62. Schluter, E., & Wagner, U. (2008) ‘Regional differences matter: examining the dual influence of the regional size of the immigrant population on derogation of immigrants in Europe’. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 49(23), 153-73.
  63. Schneider, S. L. (2008). Anti-immigrant attitudes in Europe: Outgroup size and perceived ethnic threat. European Sociological Review, 24(1), 53–67.
  64. Semyonov, M., Raijman, R. and Gorodzeisky, A. (2006) ‘The rise of anti-foreigner sentiment in European societies, 19882000’. American Sociological Review, 71(3), 426-49.
  65. Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (2001). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. Cambridge University Press.
  66. Simons, J. A., Irwin, D. B., & Drinnien, B. A. (1987). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In Educational Psychology: A Contemporary Perspective (pp. 27–38). Columbus, OH: Merrill Publishing Company.
  67. Stephan, W. G., & Stephan, C. W. (2000). An integrated threat theory of prejudice. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination (pp. 23–45). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  68. Yu, S. (2019). An examination of the attitudes towards immigration across U.S. demographic groups [Master’s thesis, University of Maine]. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 18 March 2024
  • Revise Date 31 May 2024
  • Accept Date 09 June 2024
  • First Publish Date 09 June 2024
  • Publish Date 22 December 2025

Home

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us