The consequences of migration-induced diversity for social cohesion have received significant attention, yet recent research highlights the positive influence of social trust in shaping native-born people’s views on immigration. It remains unclear, however, whether the relationship is partially driven by prosociality, which is closely associated with but distinct from trust, or other confounders. This study uses Swedish twin data to examine these relationships, employing twin fixed effects to control for confounding factors shared within families. The findings show that generalised social trust and several forms of prosocial behaviour are associated with more favourable views on immigration policy, but only the effects of trust remain robust within the identical twin subsample. The influence of trust appears independent of prosociality and primarily relates to immigrant acceptance. Overall, the findings suggest that generalised trust reflects an inclusive outlook. The results are also discussed in light of recent changes in Sweden’s sociopolitical landscape.
Qinya Feng (Fri,) studied this question.