Drawing on intergroup threat theory, this article argues that immigrant integration policies can improve public attitudes toward immigrants and, particularly, toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Examining evidence from an original survey experiment conducted in the United Kingdom, I find that support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are made aware that prospective asylum-seekers will be required to partake in language and civic-education courses. This effect is particularly strong among respondents who were more likely to perceive asylum-seekers as a symbolic threat (i.e., conservatives). Similarly, support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are told that future asylum-seekers will only have limited access to welfare. This effect is stronger among respondents who were more likely to view asylum-seekers as a material threat (i.e., conservatives and individuals with low socioeconomic status). These findings have important implications for the literatures on immigrant integration policies, intergroup threat theory, and public immigration attitudes generally. Importantly, the results reported in this article illustrate the significance of structural determinants for the study of immigration attitudes and demonstrate the importance of disaggregating immigrant integration policies when evaluating their effects.

本文借鉴群体间威胁理论，认为移民融合政策可以改善公众对移民的态度，尤其是对难民和寻求庇护者的态度。通过检查在英国进行的原始调查实验的证据，我发现当受访者知道未来的寻求庇护者将被要求参加语言和公民教育课程时，对接纳寻求庇护者的支持会增加。这种影响在更有可能将寻求庇护者视为象征性威胁的受访者（即保守派）中尤为明显。同样，当受访者被告知未来的寻求庇护者只能获得有限的福利时，对接纳寻求庇护者的支持就会增加。在更有可能将寻求庇护者视为重大威胁的受访者（即保守派和社会经济地位较低的个人）中，这种影响更大。这些发现对有关移民融合政策、群体间威胁理论和一般公众移民态度的文献具有重要意义。重要的是，本文报告的结果说明了结构决定因素对研究移民态度的重要性，并证明了在评估移民融合政策的影响时分解移民融合政策的重要性。