Abstract
The argument that the size of the immigrants threatens the native population is a classical research theme pertaining to xenophobia. In Japan, it has been observed that the impact of the size of foreign populations on the Japanese people's xenophobia differs according to their nationalities. However, it is unclear what causes this difference. This study aims to explain the cause of the difference, focusing on the “split labor market.”
According to the group threat theory, xenophobia intensifies when immigrants are viewed as a cultural or economic threat. Previous research in Japan has tended to overlook the latter form of threat. The manner in which the immigrants are perceived as an economic threat can be explained by the split labor market theory. The theory assumes that xenophobia intensifies when immigrant labor is concentrated in low-paying jobs; in such a situation, their tolerance of low-wage and poor work conditions is perceived to worsen the standards of wage and work conditions in the host society. The differences in the impact of the size of the Korean population and other foreign populations, as have been discussed in preceding research, are assumed to stem from the differences in their positions in the Japanese labor market.
The following results were derived from the analysis of the Japanese General Social Survey conducted in 2006 (JGSS-2006). First, an acutely split labor market has intensified xenophobia in Japan. Second, differences in the impact of the size of the foreign populations, divided by nationalities, are explained on the basis of the extent of the split in the labor market. These results indicate that we need to adopt a macro-perspective, such as the positions of immigrant labor in a labor market, of individual factors when examining the factors that affect xenophobia.
