Feelings of Country Inferiority: Investigating a Novel Predictor of Negative Immigration Attitudes in the Nordic Countries

ABSTRACT:

This article analyses the predictors of negative immigration attitudes in the Nordic countries, drawing on theoretical work on populist, radical-right parties. It uses quantitative methods to analyse data from over 4,500 people, collected by the YouGov-Cambridge Centre for Public Opinion Research in 2016. In a novel contribution to the literature, the article finds a statistically significant association between feelings of country inferiority and anti-immigration attitudes in Sweden, but no such relationship in the other Nordic countries. Based on these findings, the article suggests that the link between nationalism and societal pessimism—established in the literature on radical-right parties—needs to be taken into account in the literature on immigration attitudes. Moreover, the article suggests that the relatively high levels of immigration to Sweden in recent years might play a mediating role in the relationship between feelings of country inferiority and negative immigration attitudes, whilst acknowledging that more research is needed to draw substantial conclusions.