Deconstructing Attitudes towards ImmigrantWorkers among Hungarian Employees and Higher Education Students

To preserve economic and social sustainability, countries impacted by internationalmigration must prepare for the challenges that influx will bring to their societies, whether it beto their labor markets or their local, regional and national cultures. In essence, all areas of public lifemay be affected. Therefore, the exploration and recognition of the factors influencing integration, aswell as the correlations behind attitudes of acceptance or rejection of the integration of immigrants,are essential. The present study contributes to the results in this field by revealing the beliefsbehind the differences between groups accepting and rejecting immigrants, using a questionnairedatabase. Our survey sample consists of 444 Hungarian university students and 170 employees.The primary method of data analysis is binary logistic regression, completed by bivariate analyses.Our findings confirm that a positive, accepting attitude towards immigrants is more probableif an image is formed of them as being hardworking and that the work they do contributes tothe economic development of the host country. Moreover, the integration of such individualsshould not be seen as resulting in any unfavorable change in criminal statistics, working conditions,unemployment or discrimination. Additionally, the acceptance of immigrants as colleagues mightbe facilitated—in addition to their higher qualifications—by domestic (i.e., Hungarian) employeesbeing better informed about immigration, and if immigrants occupy positions in which domesticemployees are not willing to work