Social Integration and Proactive Attitudes towards the Integration of Immigrants in a Sample of the Swedish-speaking Minority of Western Finland

Abstract

The relationship between respondents’ personal level of social integration and their proactive attitudes towards the integration of immigrants was investigated in a sample of the Swedish-speaking minority of Western Finland. A questionnaire was completed by 298 respondents (208 females, 90 males, M_age = 31.6, SD = 13.5), consisting of one scale measuring social integration and three scales measuring proactive attitudes. Respondents having high scores on social integration scored significantly higher on recognizing the need of making cultural efforts to support immigrants, making structural efforts in society for the same, and openness to diversity than those with lower scores on social integration. The most prominent difference between the groups was in the case of openness to diversity. Thus, a clear relationship between one’s personal level of social integration and having proactive attitudes towards the integration of immigrants was found.