Immigration and prejudice. A case study among Spanish university students

Sendín Gutiérrez, J. (2011). Immigration and prejudice. A case study among Spanish university students. Zagreb conference: "New challenges and methodological innovations in European media audience research". 7-9 April 2011.

PP Sendín Zagreb 2011.pdf

Abstract: This paper intends to analyze youths' perceptions of the migration process in Spanish society through the presentation of the results of a survey applied to a sample of university students. The paper also tries to shed light as to how youths use ICTs to get information and produce ideas about immigration on the Internet. In the last two decades, Spanish society has experienced a huge transformation due to immigration. This new social landscape requires new approaches to ascertain how youths, both locals and second and third generation migrants, see this transformation through their uses of Internet ant traditional media. The paper begins with a theoretical analysis of the main perspectives on prejudice and xenophobia towards otherness, together with an assessment of the treatment of immigration in Spanish traditional media. This introduction is completed by the presentation of the results of a survey applied to a sample of university students, as well as an initial exploration of virtual communities concerning immigration on Facebook. The survey results have shown not only immediate and superficial responses to the perception of immigration, but also latent prejudices, which become apparent through the statistical analysis of data. The survey has also allowed to identify main trends in the type of media diet used by youths to get information on migration. Finally, the results show an increase of negative perceptions of migration and have also permitted to confirm the main hypothesis on latent or subtle prejudice.