Immigration threat perceptions: Experimental evidence of causes and consequences

Immigration policy preferences and subsequent political behaviour are regularly theorized as deriving from perceptions of threat. This article makes several contributions to our understanding of these relationships, using original British experimental survey data. First, levels of perceived threat of immigration on economic, cultural, and humanitarian concerns are determined (1) strongly by one’s general threat sensitivity; (2) in some cases by migrant descriptors; and (3) by socio-demographics and psychological predispositions. Secondly, offering information on potential global governance of migration—and thus cognitive reasoning and feelings of control—has no effect on perceptions of threat. Thirdly, economic, cultural, and humanitarian threat perceptions of immigration strongly determine immigration policy preferences independently of each other and of ideology, populism, and nationalism. Fourthly, immigration threat perceptions do not directly affect voter choice, either at national elections or referendums, but rather affect choice indirectly via policy preferences. These findings confirm the concept of threat perceptions as multidimensional, derived from general threat sensitivity and threat description, and independent from and predictive of immigration policy preferences.