Local Diversity Sparks Stronger Crime-Immigration Attitudes

Introduction

This article explores how rising ethnic diversity at the local level shapes citizens' attitudes toward crime and immigration.

• The Puzzle: While media often drives public opinion, we find an alternative source: everyday experiences with diverse communities.
• Our Theory: Casual observations in one's own neighborhood can lead to developing assumptions about different ethnic groups.
• Key Evidence: Using two large datasets spanning 20 years, each linked to local diversity metrics and survey responses on crime/policy attitudes.

We show that as people see more diverse communities around them, their views linking specific ethnic groups with crime become more pronounced. These group-centric crime beliefs also strengthen the connection between immigration opinions and broader policy stances regarding crime.

• What's New: This "bottom-up" process complements existing research focusing only on top-down media influences by elite actors.
• Why It Matters: Understanding this mechanism offers a crucial piece for analyzing how everyday experiences shape political attitudes in diverse societies.