%0 Thesis
%9 Master
%A Trippenzee, Miranda
%D 2020
%F theses_frw:3271
%P 65
%T Perceived sentiments towards foreigners: A longitudinal and cross-national approach to immigrant group size and populist radical right voting
%U https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/3271/
%X This research aims at disentangling the contradictory evidence about the relationship between immigrant group size and populist radical right (PRR) voting. This is one of the first studies to adopt (1) a longitudinal approach to the two phenomena instead of a cross-sectional approach, (2) a crossnational approach while controlling for economic circumstances in a country, (3) a direct comparison of the three theories about the relationship between immigrant group size, and PRR voting and (4) the  role of perceived sentiments towards foreigners as key variable. The latter is conducted by constructing an index based on six questions in the European Social Survey about immigration. The results indicate that the hypothesis of fear of small numbers describes the relationship between immigrant group size and PRR voting best over all countries between 2002 and 2018. The relationship is moderated by perceived sentiments towards foreigners, as the relationship between immigrant group size and PRR voting depends on the level of perceived sentiments towards foreigners. Moreover, dynamics within the studied countries illustrate that perceived sentiments towards foreigners predict a part of the PRR voting dynamics and the level of this perception affects the relationship between immigrant group size and PRR voting. This study leaves the question open how different types of immigrant groups vary in their dynamic relationship between PRR voting and immigrant group size.