The exteriorization of xenophobia

Abstract

The growing pressure regarding immigration, the «real» and the «transmitted» exerted by the mass media favors the greater visibility of immigration and its conversion into a «social problem». This research inquires into the main axes of xenophobic discourse (the defense of nationalcultural identity, the loss of group privileges, the increase in the decline of law and order and unemployment) and into the factors that favor its externalization (a mutual lack of knowledge, treatment by the mass media, political discourses, and the methodology used in its measurement). The explanation of theoretical-empirical studies is complemented by the analysis of recent and previous surveys that include the same xenophobia indicators. The joint use of K-means cluster and discriminant analysis helps to configure the evolution of attitudes towards immigration from 1993 to 2004 and gain knowledge of the variables that most affect their differentiation. Public opinion data is interpreted within the limits defined spatially and methodologically.