Social Distance & Personal Networks Effects on Similarity Towards Immigrants

In this pilot study, I use a conjoint survey experiment to evaluate how social distance and personal networks of native-born individuals (those with no immigrant history) and multi- generational immigrants (themselves or their parents have an immigrant history) impact perceptions of similarity towards immigrants. Students sampled, both with an immigrant history and those without, viewed immigrants with high educational attainment as similar to themselves and those with limited or accented English as dissimilar to themselves. As well, respondents with an immigrant background view immigrants from Nigeria as dissimilar to themselves compared to immigrants from China. The implications of this study lay the foundation for future work to fully understand how personal network make-up and social distance impact a subjective sense of similarity as a consequence of the dynamics and symbiotic processes of integration.