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The Immigration-Related Political Ideology Scale: Development, factor structure, and validity evidence

Schwartz, Seth J.; Duque, Maria; Sahbaz, Sumeyra; Scaramutti Gladfelter, Carolina; Cisco, Mia; Nehme-Kotocavage, Lea; Vo, Duyen H.; Alpysbekova, Aigerim; Montero-Zamora, Pablo; Ertanir, Beyhan; De Coninck, David; Bogado, Natalia; Schildkraut, Deborah J.; Szapocznik, José (2024). The Immigration-Related Political Ideology Scale: Development, factor structure, and validity evidence. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 25 (1), pp. 1-27. 10.1111/asap.12429

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The aim of the present study was to develop and validate the Immigration-Related Political Ideology Scale (IRPIS), designed to measure diverse political perspectives on immigration among US voters. The IRPIS was developed following a series of focus groups and refined through a systematic item-generation process involving expert panels. The scale was validated using a two-step factor analysis with a nationally representative sample of 1292 US voters, divided into exploratory (n = 632) and confirmatory (n = 660) sub-samples. The exploratory factor analysis identified seven distinct factors: conservative views, welcoming attitudes, world regions, flexibility, assimilationist expectations, multicultural expectations, and undocumented immigrant rights. Confirmatory factor analysis provided an acceptable fit (CFI = .901; RMSEA = .050), and the scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas ranging from .89 to .97). Inter-factor correlations varied, with strong links observed among welcoming attitudes, flexibility, and multicultural expectations (r’s > .80), confirming a polarization between liberal and conservative stances on immigration. These findings suggest that the IRPIS is the first scale specifically designed to assess immigration-related political orientations in a polarized US context. This tool has important implications for political strategy and policymaking, especially in the context of rising immigration rates and political polarization.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

PHBern Contributor:

Sumeyra, Sahbaz

ISSN:

1529-7489

Language:

English

Submitter:

Léanne Zbinden

Date Deposited:

10 Oct 2024 13:36

Last Modified:

05 Jan 2025 00:11

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/asap.12429

Uncontrolled Keywords:

immigration, factor analysis, political ideology, political polarization, scale validation, US voters

PHBern DOI:

10.57694/7545

URI:

https://phrepo.phbern.ch/id/eprint/7545

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