Attitudes towards environment, refugees go together: study

A connection has been established between the attitudes towards the environment and refugees, said the University of Helsinki in a press release referring to a study.

The new study confirms the existence of the phenomenon observed by many, also demonstrating that it can be seen in a number of European countries.

A study based on an extensive quantitative dataset confirms the notion, which has increased in prevalence in recent years, according to which people’s attitudes to the environment and refugees correlate with each other.

This is one of the first studies utilising extensive datasets where the connection has been established.

“The more you oppose environmental action the more you oppose the reception of refugees. Correspondingly, the more you are in favour of environmental action the more you also favour welcoming refugees,” said Ville Ilmarinen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki’s Swedish School of Social Science, summing up the findings.

Much like attitudes concerning the increase of privatisation and the reduction of the income tax are considered a match, attitudes related to the environment and refugees also constitute a pair, which, however, is not as strong or established as the former.

Ilmarinen is a member of a research group headed by Professor Jan-Erik Lönnqvist, which in a prior study demonstrated that attitudes towards the environment and refugees among candidates in a Finnish municipal election were polarised.

In the present study, the researchers investigated whether a similar connection could be found on the population level in addition to politicians. Previous research has shown that the political elite are well aware of which opinions go together, while ‘regular people’ are not necessarily making the same kind of connections between different issues.

The research dataset included more than 36,000 participants from a total of 20 European countries.

Data on the participants’ attitudes and political affiliation was obtained from the European Social Survey, which maps out European values and attitudes by conducting questionnaire surveys. The dataset was compiled in 2016.