Abstract
In this paper, different aspects pertaining to the negative consciousness that the Japanese residents living in the industrial city which has a large population of foreign residents harbor toward foreign residents, and their contribution factors are clarified through a local resident investigation conducted twice in 1999 and 2005.
Firstly, I analyzed the contribution factor of "exclusive consciousness." Subsequently, it became clear that the "relative size of foreign population" in an area had an impact on the "exclusive consciousness" harbored toward the foreign residents in the area in the investigation in 1999. On the other hand, in the investigation in 2005, the effect of the "relative size of foreign population" was lost and the variables of individual attributes and personal characteristics exhibited considerable effect on the exclusive consciousness of the Japanese residents. These findings support the "group threat theory."
Secondly, I analyzed the contribution factor of the "consciousness of deteriorating life environment" as perceived by Japanese residents. No variable barring "education" revealed significant effects. This result suggested that the "conciousness of deteriorating life environment" is shared widely among Japanese residents.
This paper revealed the following two findings. One is that the group threat theory is supported in the industrial city which has a large population of foreign residents in Japan, and the other is that there is a clear difference between the contribution factors of the "consciousness of deteriorating life environment" and "exclusive consciousness." This implies that different mechanisms are working between "perception" of the "deteriorating life environment" and "manifestation" of the "exclusive consciousness."
