Emotional reactions to immigration and support for EU cooperation on immigration and terrorism

What explains variation in European citizens’ support for common EU immigration and counter-terrorism policies? We advance extant literature that focuses on the utility versus identity debate by focusing on individuals’ emotional reactions. Drawing on theories of affect, we show that citizens’ emotions about immigration are integral to their preferences for EU cooperation on the dual questions of immigration and terrorism. We hypothesise that while anger about immigration is associated with opposition to cooperation on both policies, fear about immigration is associated with support for a common EU counter-terrorism strategy. Using a large-N cross-sectional survey conducted in Germany and the Netherlands, our analyses confirm our hypotheses. Our findings have implications for the progress of European integration and the scope of public approval of EU common policies.

何解欧洲民众对欧盟（European Union）共同移民与反恐政策的支持度存在差异？过往相关研究多聚焦于效用与身份之争这一视角，本研究则转而关注个体的情绪反应，以此拓展该领域的研究视野。本研究依托情感理论开展分析，结果表明，民众针对移民议题的情绪，是其在移民与反恐两大议题上形成欧盟合作政策偏好的核心构成要素。本研究提出如下研究假设：民众对移民议题的愤怒情绪，会使其反对在两项政策上开展欧盟合作；而民众对移民议题的恐惧情绪，则会使其支持欧盟制定统一的反恐战略。本研究借助在德国与荷兰开展的大样本横断面调查数据进行实证分析，最终验证了上述研究假设。本研究结论对于欧洲一体化进程的推进，以及欧盟共同政策获得公众认可的范围均具有重要启示。