Changing attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in Norway

Time series data on various aspects of attitudes towards immigrants and immigration from a biannual survey of the Norwegian population is used to study trends in the period 1993- 2015. The balance of positive over negative answers has become increasingly more positive with regard to how the cultural and economic role of immigrants is perceived, and the same is true for attitudes towards the helping of refugees and the regulation of immigration. The attitude towards Muslim congregations in Norway, where the balance is negative, also has a positive trend. Cohort analyses show the trend to be a result of both generational replacement and individuals changing attitudes. A change in value orientation, from traditional to modern, and from materialistic to idealistic values, is the most important factor in creating the generational differences and the changes in attitudes over time within the rest of the population. A greater number of people with a higher education and a greater number of immigrants settling in Norwegian municipalities both contribute to the increasingly positive attitudes. Objective or subjective economic situation has not affected the changes in attitudes. The results support the so-called culture, contact and liberalization hypotheses, and go against the economy, conflict and competition hypotheses.