Welcomed or Walled Out? Right-Wing Attitudes and Refugee Policies in Sweden, Germany, and Poland

Department seminar with Pieter Bevelander, professor at Malmö University, Sweden.

This presentation discusses the linkage between right-wing attitudes and public support for refugee integration policies in Sweden, Germany, and Poland. Drawing on comparative survey data, the study analyzes how authoritarian, nationalist, and hierarchical worldviews are related to preferences for either inclusive or exclusionary approaches to refugee integration. The analysis shows that opposition to refugee integration is closely associated with right-wing orientations emphasizing social dominance, national homogeneity, and xenophobic outgroup attitudes. While these attitudes are present across all three countries, their relationship with integration policy preferences varies by national context. Specifically, the association between right-wing attitudes and restrictive integration preferences is more pronounced in Poland than in Sweden or Germany, which may reflect differences in migration histories and political environments. The findings contribute to research on migration integration by demonstrating how refugee integration policies might be shaped by broader right-wing attitudes rather than migration-related concerns alone.