Are attitudes toward immigration changing in Europe? An analysis based on latent class IRT models

We analyze the changing attitudes toward immigration in EU host countries in the last few years (2010–2018) on the basis of the European Social Survey data. These data are collected by the administration of a questionnaire made of items concerning different aspects related to the immigration phenomenon. For this analysis, we rely on a latent class approach considering a variety of models that allow for: (1) multidimensionality; (2) discreteness of the latent trait distribution; (3) time-constant and time-varying covariates; and (4) sample weights. Through these models we find latent classes of Europeans with similar levels of immigration acceptance and we study the effect of different socio-economic covariates on the probability of belonging to these classes for which we provide a specific interpretation. In this way we show which countries tend to be more or less positive toward immigration and we analyze the temporal dynamics of the phenomenon under study.