TRENDS IN EXPRESSED INTOLERANCE
HAVE VARIED BY COUNTRY
HOW HAVE LEVELS OF INTOLERANCE CHANGED IN WESTERN EUROPE?
Variations from 1990 to 2008
EXPRESSED INTOLERANCE TOWARDS
DIFFERENT GROUPS VARIES WIDELY
(2008 DATA)
Changes in the maps
ROMA
indicate percentage
point changes
Oldest data from 1999
Increase more than five
70
GROUPS
60
% of respondents
who said they
member of a
given minority
as a neighbour
40
MUSLIMS
DIFFERENT RACE
don't want a
50
“INTOLERANCE TOWARDS
ROMA HAS GROWN MORE
THAN TOWARDS ANY OTHER
MINORITY GROUP”
Intolerant views
0-5 increase
have not converged
0-5 decrease
across Western
Decrease more than five
European countries.
Instead countries
IMMIGRANTS
have, if anything,
JEWS
grown further
ROMA
apart in their
MUSLIMS
attitudes towards
Increase more than five
different groups.
0-5 increase
30
0-5 decrease
Decrease more than five
20
DIFFERENT RACE
10
Increase more than five
0-5 increase
0
AUSTRIA
BELGIUM
DENMARK
FINLAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
IRELAND
ITALY
NETHERLANDS
PORTUGAL
SPAIN
SWEDEN
UK
0-5 decrease
Decrease more than five
STRONG
FACTORS
EVIDENCE
ASSOCIATED WITH
INTOLERANCE GENERALLY STRONG EVIDENCE,
SOME CONTRADICTORY
FINDINGS
AGE
CITIZENSHIP
REGIME
EDUCATION
MACROECONOMIC
PROSPERITY
OUT-GROUP
CONTACT
PERCEPTION OF PERCEPTION OF
ECONOMIC THREAT ETHNIC THREAT
POLITICAL
ORIENTATION
SIZE OF WELFARE
STATE
SOCIAL TRUST
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STATUS
IMMIGRANTS
Increase more than five
INDIVIDUAL
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
PERSONAL INCOME
MIXED, INCONCLUSIVE
OR NO EVIDENCE
GDP GROWTH
OUT-GROUP SIZE
0-5 increase
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
0-5 decrease
Decrease more than five
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC
ATTITUDES
In some Western European
countries, the public express
greater acceptance of
immigration. Measures to
combat intolerance and
support integration of
minority groups may receive
more support than expected.
FINANCIAL
CRISIS
The tendency to emphasise the
financial crisis as a driver of
increasing intolerance requires more
careful consideration: an analysis of
data from 2004 to 2012 shows a decline
in the perception of immigration as
one of the most pressing policy
problems, even in the years since the
onset of the financial crisis.
YOUNG
PEOPLE
Young people are broadly the
most tolerant, but may also be
the most prone to adopting
radical views. Interventions
could aim to build on the
tolerance of youth and seek
to ensure it is retained into
later life.
INTERGROUP
CONTACT
BUILDING
EVIDENCE
A perception of equal group status
Policymakers may find it
tends to generate more positive
attitudes between groups. When
members of different groups are involved
in doing something collaborative, the
results of that contact are usually
beneficial. The outcomes of contact
tend to be better when supported by
law, custom or social institution.
difficult to base decisions on
evidence as there are few
evaluations of policy
interventions in the field of
migration, integration and
anti-discrimination.
ROMA
JEWS
Increase more than five
Roma face the highest levels of
intolerance across all Western
European countries and may
benefit significantly from policy
interventions aimed at reducing
intolerance.
0-5 increase
0-5 decrease
Decrease more than five
Data from the RAND Europe report "Intolerance in Western Europe:
Analysis of trends and associated factors", available at
www.randeurope.org/intolerance
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