Međimurec, P., Mustač, D. and Čipin, I. (2024) Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in Croatia. In: S. Klempić Bogadi, S. Gregurović and D. Mlinarić (eds.), Migration on the Edge of Europe: Trends, Policies and Challenges. Zagreb: Institute

Country

Croatia

Title

Međimurec, P., Mustač, D. and Čipin, I. (2024) Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in Croatia. In: S. Klempić Bogadi, S. Gregurović and D. Mlinarić (eds.), Migration on the Edge of Europe: Trends, Policies and Challenges. Zagreb: Institute for Migration Research, pp. 177–190.

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Year

2024

Publication type

Survey evidence/report

Geographical coverage

National

Area/location of interest

Not applicable - national level

Type of Institution

Academic/research institution

Institution

Croatia, Institute for Migration Research (Institut za istraživanje migracija)

Thematic focus

Public perceptions and attitudes

Groups

General population

Key findings

The results indicate that Croatian society is divided in its views on immigrants and immigration: part of the population has pronounced pro-immigrant or pro-immigration attitudes (24.5%), part has moderate pro- (33.1%) or moderate anti- (24.7%) oriented attitudes, and part has pronounced anti-immigrant or anti-immigration attitudes (17.7%). Consistent with findings for other European countries, the share of the population belonging to the class with the most negative attitudes about immigrants and immigration declines slightly over time.

Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)

The analysis in this paper is based on data from the ESS survey, which since its foundation in 2001 has been conducted across Europe at two-year intervals on a new cross-sectional sample of respondents. Data is used from the fourth (ESS Round 4, 2008; hereinafter ESS4), fifth (ESS Round 5, 2010; hereinafter ESS5), ninth (ESS Round 9, 2018; hereinafter ESS9) and tenth (ESS Round 10, 2020; hereinafter ESS10) rounds, in which Croatia also participated. In each round, respondents were asked a series of the same six questions, which refer to different aspects of attitudes about immigrants and immigration, with possible answers on an ordinal scale, which were analyzed in the paper.

Sample details and representativeness

The study is based on European Social Survey (ESS) data collected in 2008, 2010, 2018, and 2020 (Rounds 4, 5, 9, and 10), in which Croatia participated. The total unweighted sample includes 6,431 respondents who answered at least one of six core questions about attitudes toward immigrants. The sampling followed ESS's standard cross-sectional methodology, using nationally representative samples for each round. Respondents were grouped into latent classes based on their response patterns, allowing for detailed typologies of public attitudes toward immigration and immigrants.

DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.