Cosmopolitanism, trust, and democratic support shaping immigrant attitudes: A multilevel analysis across 36 European countries

This study investigates how cosmopolitan orientation, social trust, and diffuse support for democracy are associated with attitudes toward immigrants in Europe. Using data from 59,037 respondents across 36 countries, we employ multilevel modeling to explore the individual and contextual factors related to these attitudes. Our findings confirm that cosmopolitan orientation shows the strongest positive association with favorable attitudes, followed by social trust and diffuse support for democracy. However, the strength of these relationships varies systematically across countries, with the association between democratic values and immigrant attitudes showing a clear regional pattern. The relationship between cosmopolitan orientation and favorable attitudes toward immigrants is stronger among individuals with higher diffuse support for democracy. Cross-country analyses reveal that the positive association between democratic values and immigrant attitudes is strongest in Western and Nordic European countries, while being weaker or even negative in some Eastern European contexts. Control variables such as education, age, household income, and political orientation also significantly correlate with attitudes. By advancing understanding of the interplay between individual dispositions and national contexts, this study offers novel insights into factors associated with attitudes toward immigrants in contemporary Europe.