From Parenthood to Prejudice: Associations Between Parenthood and Anti-Immigrant Sentiments in 38 Industrialized Nations

Anti-immigrant sentiments are a challenge to maintaining the cohesion of modern industrialized societies. In this paper, we ran a pre-registered analysis of the European Social Survey fielded across 38 industrialized nations over the 2002–2018 period (n = 277,466) to investigate whether anti-immigrant sentiments are amplified by the experience of parenthood. Drawing on evolutionary theories of group relations, we predicted that parenthood would increase threat-avoidance motivations, leading to greater anti-immigrant sentiments (H1). We further anticipated stronger effects of parenthood on anti-immigrant sentiments among women than men due to their greater parental investment (H2). Both hypotheses were confirmed in our pooled data analyses with ethnic majority members: whether parenthood was operationalized as having given birth to/fathered a child (biological parenthood) or as having a child living at home (residential parenthood), being a parent was associated with greater anti-immigrant sentiments among both sexes, and larger effects were observed among women than men. By-country analyses revealed cross country variations in the size of the positive association between parenthood and anti-immigrant sentiments. Complementary analyses further showed a stronger effect of parenthood among younger parents (who were more likely to have young, dependent children) than among older parents. Overall, although statistically significant on members of ethnic majorities in the countries surveyed, positive effects of parenthood on anti-immigrant sentiments were modest. This may be due to high levels of safety in contemporary industrialized societies limiting the activation of threat-avoidance mechanisms. Limitations regarding possible confounds are discussed.