Mentor/s
Dr. Zhen Han
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
How do American attitudes towards immigrants influence sentiments and actions indicating social cohesion in a nation? Once viewed as the backbone of American society, attitudes towards immigrants in recent years seem to be shifting in the wake of policy changes. However, attitudinal factors such as exclusive conceptions of identity and culture are different from behaviors that are generally associated with accord within local communities and society at large. Understanding the relationship between attitudes towards immigrants and community building attitudes and actions is of acute importance to the United States as it will provide a framework for understanding the potential factors contributing to the nation’s weakening social fabric and ways in which it can be restrengthened. In this, I argue that less favorable attitudes towards immigrants are strongly correlated with more exclusive conceptions of American identity which are subsequently correlated with lower rates of community building behaviors. Using the American National Election Studies (ANES) dataset, I have created three indexes indicating social cohesion as defined by the respondent’s words and actions as well as their attitudes towards immigration. A series of regressions have revealed that attitudes towards immigration and immigrants themselves have no significant impact on one’s aptness to engage in community building behaviors. However, the data does reveal a correlation between these attitudes and one’s proclivity towards adopting more exclusive conceptions of American identity and the social cohesion which is indicated by such definitions.
College and Major available
College of Arts and Sciences, Political Science
Academic Level
Undergraduate student
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-25-2025 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-25-2025 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Prize Categories
Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Most Transformative for Social Justice, Most Creative
Sentiments and Actions: The Divergent Impact of Immigration Attitudes on Words and Behaviors Indicating Social Cohesion
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
How do American attitudes towards immigrants influence sentiments and actions indicating social cohesion in a nation? Once viewed as the backbone of American society, attitudes towards immigrants in recent years seem to be shifting in the wake of policy changes. However, attitudinal factors such as exclusive conceptions of identity and culture are different from behaviors that are generally associated with accord within local communities and society at large. Understanding the relationship between attitudes towards immigrants and community building attitudes and actions is of acute importance to the United States as it will provide a framework for understanding the potential factors contributing to the nation’s weakening social fabric and ways in which it can be restrengthened. In this, I argue that less favorable attitudes towards immigrants are strongly correlated with more exclusive conceptions of American identity which are subsequently correlated with lower rates of community building behaviors. Using the American National Election Studies (ANES) dataset, I have created three indexes indicating social cohesion as defined by the respondent’s words and actions as well as their attitudes towards immigration. A series of regressions have revealed that attitudes towards immigration and immigrants themselves have no significant impact on one’s aptness to engage in community building behaviors. However, the data does reveal a correlation between these attitudes and one’s proclivity towards adopting more exclusive conceptions of American identity and the social cohesion which is indicated by such definitions.
Students' Information
Ava Hufford, Political Science, 2026