Immigration - the host country perspective

With 35.5 immigrants per 1000 inhabitants, Iceland had the third highest number of immigrants/ inhabitants in Europe in 2017. Until the turn of the century, the foreign population percentage in Iceland was around 2%. In the last 5 years, this percentage has risen steadily to over 10% in 2018. How is this rapid rise in immigration experienced by the host country population? What is the attitude towards this increasingly plurally composed society? The Inclusive Societies – Iceland project investigated both, the immigrants’ situation in Iceland, but also the native populations’ attitude towards immigration and immigrants. It is important to take the host country perspective into consideration, as diversity ideologies will also determine the acculturation options for minorities.
A quantitative survey was conducted among 3630 native Icelanders (51.1% women, Mean Age = 50.8, SD = 15.6), spread across all regions of Iceland. The questions covered satisfaction with life in Iceland in different domains but included also specific questions about the attitudes towards immigrants and enquired about contact with immigrants. The results indicate that this culture contact takes place – with over two thirds of participants indicating that they have invited immigrants to their home a few (34.4%) or many times (34.4%). Slightly less participants have been invited to immigrants’ homes (few times 33.6%, often 27.9%). Predictors for openness towards multiculturalism will be presented and discussed. We will also outline the domains with little and considerable variance among respondents concerning cultural practice and attitude to immigration and close with a discussion of policy implications.