Social Norms on Prejudice toward Immigrants: Analyses of a Public Opinion Survey

Social norms on prejudice toward immigrants in Japan are explored in this article by analyzing public opinion survey data using two different methods. Norms on prejudice differ between societies and groups. When negative views toward a certain outgroup are seen as acceptable in society or a group, its members do not hide these views. Existing studies have suggested that Japanese people perceive negative views toward immigrants not simply as acceptable but “desirable.” However, these studies use as their sample registered monitors of a survey company, who are biased from the general population in many aspects. Thus, we attempt to judge whether we can generalize this result by analyzing nationally representative survey data. We found that the respondents in a face-to-face survey showed less prejudice toward immigrants than those in a mail survey. Furthermore, this suppression can be seen among those with higher education and taking a centrist position in political ideology but not among those without higher education and on the political right. Our results show that social norms on prejudice are divided in Japanese society.