The fear of ‘the others’ : A comparative study of xenophobic attitudes between French and Swedish university students

Xenophobia is a global problem, which is constantly increasing. Previous research indicates that higher education is the key for decreasing such attitudes, but few studies have taken students opinions into consideration. Due to this, university students were interviewed in this thesis in order to get their perspective on this matter. The study also looks at the effects of the political and economic situation when developing xenophobic attitudes. Students were chosen from universities in Sweden and France due to indications that the level of xenophobia in France is one of the highest in Europe whilst Sweden has one of the lowest. The opinions of the students are compared with previous research in order to find significant patterns that could explain the increase in xenophobic attitudes. It is shown that the definition of who belongs to your group affect your views of ‘the others’ which creates the possibility to feel threatened by other groups, and therefore, create negative attitudes. The result indicates that there are some cultural disparities that might explain the difference in perception of xenophobic attitudes. Moreover, xenophobia is a complex issue that develops on a personal level due to a number of factors