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<p>Are Americans’ attitudes toward the preferred characteristics of immigrants and refugees influenced by their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic? Previous research has established associations between infectious disease outbreaks and increased xenophobia. At the same time, conjoint experiments of immigration attitudes suggest that Americans’ preferred immigrant characteristics have remained stable over time and do not vary significantly across demographic subgroups. In July 2021, 16&#xa0;months into the pandemic, we conducted an original conjoint survey experiment of Americans (<i>n</i> = 1200). We analyze these experimental data to understand how immigrant and refugee characteristics—including nationality, religion, gender, occupation, and migration motivations—affected Americans’ willingness to admit newcomers during the pandemic and whether these preferences vary by COVID-19 experiences or shifted from a 2019&#xa0;pre-pandemic baseline. Contrary to the expectations of the behavioral immune system and economic threat hypotheses, we find little difference in preferred migrant characteristics based on experiences of COVID-19 sickness or related economic precarity during the first year of the pandemic. However, there is one notable exception: Differences in attitudes toward migrants from China are more negative among those more affected by the pandemic. Moreover, the anti-Chinese sentiment associated with&#xa0;COVID concern, which includes getting vaccinated, transcends political party identification.</p>

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Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Refugees During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月27日

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  • Liza G. Steele,
  • Laird Gallagher

摘要

Are Americans’ attitudes toward the preferred characteristics of immigrants and refugees influenced by their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic? Previous research has established associations between infectious disease outbreaks and increased xenophobia. At the same time, conjoint experiments of immigration attitudes suggest that Americans’ preferred immigrant characteristics have remained stable over time and do not vary significantly across demographic subgroups. In July 2021, 16 months into the pandemic, we conducted an original conjoint survey experiment of Americans (n = 1200). We analyze these experimental data to understand how immigrant and refugee characteristics—including nationality, religion, gender, occupation, and migration motivations—affected Americans’ willingness to admit newcomers during the pandemic and whether these preferences vary by COVID-19 experiences or shifted from a 2019 pre-pandemic baseline. Contrary to the expectations of the behavioral immune system and economic threat hypotheses, we find little difference in preferred migrant characteristics based on experiences of COVID-19 sickness or related economic precarity during the first year of the pandemic. However, there is one notable exception: Differences in attitudes toward migrants from China are more negative among those more affected by the pandemic. Moreover, the anti-Chinese sentiment associated with COVID concern, which includes getting vaccinated, transcends political party identification.