The literature on immigration and the welfare state describes a trade-off between immigration and welfare support. We argue for a more nuanced view of welfare chauvinism that accounts for different motivational channels, specific welfare programs and particular population subgroups. First, we identify two separate characteristics of hostility towards immigrants that trigger welfare chauvinism: affective anti-migration sentiment that combines economic and cultural motives; and a ‘putative rational anti-migration sentiment’ that is driven by the fear that immigration could overburden the welfare state although immigrants themselves are not disliked or even appreciated. Second, running a program-specific analysis, we find that affective and ‘putative rational’ opposition to migration lower redistributive preferences towards the unemployed. On the contrary, affective anti-immigration sentiment even increases welfare affinity towards the elderly. We interpret this finding not as preferences for or against a specific welfare program but as implicit sympathy or antipathy for its recipients. Third, investigating the role of Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) as the main source of welfare chauvinism, we find that PRRP supporters strongly prefer more redistribution towards a perceived native in-group: the elderly.
AfD Fraktion im Thüringer Landtag (2018) Es geht um Wertschätzung: Ein Konzept der AfD-Fraktion im Thüringer Landtag.
2.
AgersnapOJensenAKlevenH (2019) The Welfare Magnet Hypothesis: Evidence From an Immigrant Welfare Scheme in Denmark. NBER Working Paper No. 26454.
3.
AlesinaAGlaesnerE (2004) Fighting Poverty in the U.S. and Europe: A World of Difference. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4.
AlesinaAMianoAStantchevaS (2018) Immigration and Redistribution. NBER Working Paper 24733.
5.
AlesinaAMurardERapoportoH (2019) Immigration and Preferences for Redistribution in Europe. IZA Discussion Paper12130.
6.
AndersenJBjørklundT (1990) Structural Changes and New Cleavages: The Progress Parties in Denmark and Norway. Acta Sociologica33(3): 195–217.
7.
AuspurgKBrüderlJWöhlerT (2019) Does Immigration Reduce the Support for Welfare Spending? A Cautionary Tale on Spatial Panel Data Analysis. American Sociological Review84(4): 754–763.
8.
BantingKKymlickaHarellA, et al. (2020) Beyond National Identity: Liberal Nationalism, Shared Membership and Solidarity. In: GustavssonGMillerD (eds) Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics: Normative and Empirical Questions: Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 205–225.
9.
BoeriT (2010) Immigration to the Land of Redistribution. Economica77(308): 651–687.
10.
BollenK (1989) Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
11.
BorjasG (1999) Immigration and Welfare Magnets. Journal of Labour Economics17(4): 607–637.
12.
BradyDFinniganR (2014) Does Immigration Undermine Public Support for Social Policy?American Sociological Review79(1): 17–42.
13.
BurgoonB (2014) Immigration, Integration, and Support for Redistribution in Europe. World Politics66(3): 365–405.
14.
BurgoonBKosterFvan EgmondM (2012) Support for redistribution and the paradox of immigration. Journal of European Social Policy22(3): 288–304.
15.
BuštíkováL (2018) The Radical Right in Eastern Europe. In: RydgrenJ (ed) The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 565–581.
16.
CampbellD (1965) Ethnocentric and Other Altruistic Motives. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
17.
CarejaRElmelund-PraestekaerCBaggesen KlitgaardM, et al. (2016) Direct and Indirect Welfare Chauvinism as Party Strategies: An Analysis of the Danish People’s Party. Scandinavian Political Studies39(4): 435–457.
18.
CrepazMMLDamronR (2009) Constructing Tolerance. Comparative Political Studies42(3): 437–463.
19.
DavidovE (2008) A Cross-Country and Cross-Time Comparison of the Human Values Measurements with the Second Round of the European Social Survey. Survey Research Methods2(1): 33–46.
20.
DavidovECieciuchJSchmidtP (2018) The cross-country measurement comparability in the immigration module of the European Social Survey 2014-15. Survey Research Methods12(1): 15–27.
21.
DavidovESeddigDGorodzeiskyA, et al. (2020) Direct and indirect predictors of opposition to immigration in Europe: individual values, cultural values, and symbolic threat. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 553–573.
22.
DegenDKuhnTvan der BrugW (2018) Granting immigrants access to social benefits? How self-interest influences support for welfare state restrictiveness. Journal of European Social Policy29(2): 1–18.
23.
DiermeierMNiehuesJReineckeJ (2020) Contradictory welfare conditioning—differing welfare support for natives versus immigrants. Review of International Political Economy28(6): 1677–1704.
24.
Duru-BellatMTenratE (2012) Who’s for Meritocracy? Individual and Contextual Variations in the Faith. Comparative Education Review56(2): 223–247.
25.
DustmannCFrattiniT (2014) The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK. The Economic Journal, 124(580): 593–643.
26.
Ennser-JedenastikL (2018) Welfare Chauvinism in Populist Radical Right Platforms: The Role of Redistributive Justice Principles. Social Policy & Administration52(1): 293–314.
27.
EssesVDovidioJJacksonL, et al. (2001) The immigrant dilemma: The role of perceived group competition, ethnic prejudice and national identity. Journal of Social Issues53(3): 389–412.
28.
FengerM (2018) The social policy agendas of populist radical right parties in comparative perspective. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy34(3): 188–209.
29.
FinseraasH (2008) Immigration and Preferences for Redistribution: An Empirical Analysis of European Survey Data. Comparative European Politics6(4): 407–431.
30.
FordR (2006) Prejudice and White Majority Welfare Attitudes un the UK. Journal of Elections16(2): 141–156.
31.
FreemanPG (1986) Migration and the Political Economy of the Welfare State. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science485: 51–63.
32.
GoldschmidtT (2015) Anti-Immigrant Sentiment and Majority Support for Three Types of Welfare. European Societies17(5): 620–652.
33.
GorodzeiskyASemyonovM (2020) Perceptions and misperceptions: actual size, perceived size and opposition to immigration in European societies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 612–630.
34.
GoubinSHoogheM (2021) Do welfare concerns drive electoral support for the populist radical right? An exploratory analysis. Acta Politica57: 431–453.
35.
GreenEGTVisintinEPSarrasinO, et al. (2020) When integration policies shape the impact of intergroup contact on threat perceptions: a multilevel study across 20 European countries. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 631–648.
36.
HainmuellerJHiscoxM (2010) Attitudes toward Highly Skilled and Low-skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. American Political Science Review104(1): 61–84.
37.
HeathADavidovEFordR, et al. (2020) Contested terrain: explaining divergent patterns of public opinion towards immigration within Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 475–488.
38.
HeathAFRichardsL (2020) Contested boundaries: consensus and dissensus in European attitudes to immigration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 489–511.
39.
HelblingMKriesiH (2014) Why Citizens Prefer High- Over Low-Skilled Immigrants. Labor Market Competition, Welfare State, and Deservingness. European Sociological Review30(5): 595–614.
40.
JensenC (2012) Labour Market- versus Life Course-Related Social Policies: Understanding Cross- Programme Differences. Journal of European Public Policy19(2): 275–291.
41.
KitscheltH-P (1995) The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. Ann Arnor: University of Michigan Press.
42.
KolbeMCrepazMML (2016) The Power of Citizenship: How Immigrant Incorporation Affects Attitudes towards Social Benefits. Comparative Politics49(1): 105–123.
43.
KootstraA (2016) Deserving and Undeserving Welfare Claimants in Britain and the Netherlands: Examining the Role of Ethnicity and Migration Status Using a Vignette Experiment. European Sociological Review32(3): 325–338.
44.
KulinJEgerMAHjermM (2016) Immigration or Welfare? The Progressive’s Dilemma Revisited. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World2(2): 1-15.
45.
KvistJGreveB (2011) Has the Nordic Welfare Model Been Transformed?Social Policy & Administration45(2): 146–160.
46.
LarsenCA (2008) The Institutional Logic of Welfare Attitudes. Comparative Political Studies41(2): 145–168.
47.
LarsenCA (2011) Ethnic Heterogeneity and Public Support for Welfare: Is the American Experience Replicated in Britain, Sweden and Denmark?Scandinavian Political Studies34(4): 332–353.
48.
LefkofridiZMichelE (2017) The Electoral Politics of Solidarity: The Welfare Agendas of Radical Right Parties. In: BantingKKymlickaW (eds) The Strains of Commitment: Oxford University Press.
49.
MauSBurkhardtC (2009) Migration and welfare state solidarity in Western Europe. Journal of European Social Policy19(3): 213–229.
50.
MeulemanBAbtsKSchmidtP, et al. (2020a) Economic conditions, group relative deprivation and ethnic threat perceptions: a cross-national perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies46(3): 593–611.
51.
MeulemanBAbtsKSlootmaeckersK, et al. (2019) Differentiated Threat and the Genesis of Prejudice: Group-Specific Antecedents of Homonegativity, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Anti-Immigrant Attitudes. Social Problems66(2): 222–244.
52.
MeulemanBBillietJ (2012) Measuring Attitudes toward Immigration in Europe: The Cross–cultural Validity of the ESS Immigration Scales. Research and Methods21(1).
53.
MeulemanBRoosmaFAbtsK (2020b) Welfare deservingness opinions from heuristic to measurable concept: The CARIN deservingness principles scale. Social Science Research85.
54.
MeulemanBvan OorschotWBauteS, et al. (2018) The Past, Present and Future of European Welfare Attitudes: Topline Results from Round 8 of the European Social Survey. London: European Social Survey ERIC.
55.
MewesJMauS (2012) Unraveling Working-class Welfare Chauvinism. In: SvallforsS (ed) Contested Welfare States: Welfare Attitudes in Europe and Beyond: Stanford University Press.
56.
MuddeC (2007) Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press.
57.
NewtonK (2007) The New Liberal Dilemma: Social Trust in Mixed Societies(Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops i, Helsinki7-12 May.).
58.
OtjesSIvaldiGJupskåsAR, et al. (2018) It’s not Economic Interventionism, Stupid! Reassessing the Political Economy of Radical Right-wing Populist Parties. Swiss Political Science Review24(3): 270–290.
59.
PettigrewTF (2015) Samuel Stouffer and Relative Deprivation. Social Psychology Quarterly78(1): 7–24.
60.
PickettJTChiricosTGertzM (2014) The racial foundations of whites’ support for child saving. Social Science Research44: 44–59.
61.
PVV (2010) De agenda van hoop en optimisme - Een tijd om te kiezen: PVV 2010-2015.
62.
PytlasB (2018) Radical right politics in East and West: Distinctive yet equivalent. Sociology Compass12(11).
63.
QuillianL (1995) Prejudice as a Response to Perceived Group Threat: Population Composition and Anti-Immigrant and Racial Prejudice in Europe. American Sociological Review60(4): 586–611.
64.
ReeskensTvan der MeerT (2019) The inevitable deservingness gap: A study into the insurmountable immigrant penalty in perceived welfare deservingness. Journal of European Social Policy29(2): 166–181.
65.
ReeskensTvan OorschotW (2012) Disentangling the ‘New Liberal Dilemma’: On the relation between general welfare redistribution preferences and welfare chauvinism. International Journal of Comparative Sociology53(2): 120–139.
66.
RooduijnM (2018) What unites the voter bases of populist parties? Comparing the electorates of 15 populist parties. European Political Science Review10(3): 351–368.
67.
RoosmaFGelissenJvan OorschotW (2013) The Multidimensionality of Welfare State Attitudes: A European Cross-National Study. Social Indicators Research113(1): 235–255.
68.
SchlueterEMeulemanBDavidovE (2013) Immigrant Integration policies and perceived Group Threat: A Multilevel Study of 27 Western and Eastern European Countries. Social Science Research42(3): 670–682.
69.
SchlueterEScheepersP (2010) The relationship between outgroup size and anti-outgroup attitudes: A theoretical synthesis and empirical test of group threat- and intergroup contact theory. Social Science Research39(2): 285–295.
70.
SchmidtAWSpiesDC (2014) Do Parties “Playing the Race Card” Undermine Natives’ Support for Redistribution? Evidence From Europe. Comparative Political Studies47(4): 519–549.
71.
Schmidt-CatranAWSpiesDC (2016) Immigration and Welfare Support in Germany. American Sociological Review81(2): 242–261.
72.
SchumacherGvan KersbergenK (2016) Do mainstream parties adapt to the welfare chauvinism of populist parties?Party Politics22(3): 300–312.
73.
SchwartzS (1992) Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology25: 1–26.
74.
SemyonovMRaijmanR (2006) The Rise of Anti-foreigner Sentiment in European Societies, 1988–2000. American Sociological Review71(3): 426–449.
75.
SenikCStichnothHvan der StraetenK (2009) Immigration and Natives’ Attitudes towards the Welfare State: Evidence from the European Social Survey. Social Indicators Research91(3): 345–370.
76.
SorokaSNJohnstonRKevinsA, et al. (2016) Migration and welfare state spending. European Political Science Review8(2): 173–194.
77.
SpiesDC (2018) Immigration and Welfare State Retrenchment: Why the US Experience is not Reflected in Western Europe. Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online:
78.
SpruytBvan DroogenbroeckFvan NoordJ (2018) Conflict thinking: Exploring the social basis of perceiving the world through the lens of social conflict. Social Science Research74: 16–29.
79.
StephanWStephanC (1993) Cognition and Affect in Stereotyping: Parallel Interactive Networks. In: MackieDHamiltonD (eds) Affect, Cognition, and Stereotyping: Interactive Processes in Group Perception,: Orlando: Academic Press, pp. 111–136.
80.
StephanWStephanC (1996) Predicting Prejudice. International Journal of Intercultural Relations20(3-4): 409–426.
81.
TajfelH (1970) Experiments in Intergroup Discrimination. Scientific American (223): 96–102.
82.
TajfelHBilligMGBundyRP, et al. (1971) Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology1(2): 149–178.
83.
van OorschotW (2006) Making the difference in social Europe: deservingness perceptions among citizens of European welfare states. Journal of European Social Policy16(1): 23–42.
84.
van OorschotWMeulemanB (2012) Welfare Performance and Support. In: GruskyDEnglandP (eds) Contested Welfare States: Welfare Attitudes in Europe and Beyond. Stanford, pp. 25–57.
85.
van OorschotWRoosmaFMeulemanB, et al. (2017) The Social Legitimacy of Targeted Welfare: Attitudes to Welfare Deservingness. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
86.
VannemanRPettigrewTF (1972) Race and Relative Deprivation in the Urban United States. Race13(4): 461–486.
87.
WardD (2019) Public Attitudes toward Young Immigrant Men. American Political Science Review113(1): 264–269.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
