Core Networks and Whites' Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy

Recent immigration has made the United States significantly more racially and ethnically diverse. These demographic changes prompt questions regarding intergroup conflict. With data from the 2004 General Social Survey and the 2000 Census, I add to this discussion by using multilevel models to evaluate a network perspective in predicting native-born whites' attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy. The results indicate that native-born whites who are embedded in educated core networks with nonwhite alters are likely to hold pro-immigrant attitudes, while those who are embedded in older and tighter core networks are likely to hold anti-immigrant attitudes, controlling for individual- and group-level factors. Personal contacts play an important role in shaping native-born whites' opinions of immigrants and immigration policy, regardless of the presence of or interaction with immigrants. At the same time, core networks also condition the effects of group threat and intergroup contact on immigration attitudes, suggesting that the interpersonal environment and the broader social environment interact during opinion formation.