Relations between Radical Beliefs and Attitudes toward Immigrants: The Mediating Role of Political Parties’ Evaluations
Keywords:
attitude toward immigrants, Militant-Extremists’ Mindset, political parties, conservatism, liberalismAbstract
This research aimed to investigate the specific relations of radical beliefs (operationalized through militant-extremists mindset – MEM), evaluation of different Serbian political parties and the anti-immigrant attitude. We hypothesize positive relations of all three aspects of the MEM (Proviolence, Vile World, and Divine Power) and positive evaluation of conservative parties to the anti-immigrant attitude, and a negative relation of a preference for liberal parties with the anti- immigrant attitude. We also expect that relations between radical beliefs and the anti-immigrant attitude will be mediated by the evaluations of political parties. The sample included 486 respondents. The expected relations of the MEM and evaluations of both conservative and liberal political parties with the anti-immigrant attitude were detected. Additionally, the results showed that Proviolence and Divine Power had a direct pathway toward the anti-immigrant attitude, while the effects of all three MEM aspects were mediated by the political evaluations. The evaluation of conservative parties increases, while the evaluation of liberal parties decreases their effect on attitudes toward immigrants. The results contribute to an understanding of the reaction of the domestic population in Serbia to immigrants, and, consequently, they represent relevant information to consider during the creation of national and local policies towards immigrants.
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