著者

森 恭子 大塚 明子 秋山 美栄子 星野 晴彦

出版者

文教大学

雑誌

人間科学研究 = Bulletin of Human Science (ISSN:03882152)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, pp.141-158, 2013-03-01

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There are significant differences in social protection and policies towards immigrants, including refugees, in different countries. The acceptance of foreign migrant workers and refugees is severely limited in Japan, and asylum seekers in particular face great difficulties because of their exclusion from the Japanese social security system. Compared to Japan, The Swedish government is readily accepting of refugees/asylums seekers and has provided them with sufficient social protection and services, although Sweden's population is less than one -tenth of Japan's . Where do the differences come from? This study explores the differences in opinions about tolerance of immigrants in Japan and Sweden. Respondents were asked about social protection and the social security system's stance towards people from other countries. This study adopted five psychological scales focused on views on immigrants and multiculturalism as independent questions. Individuals in three groups (undergraduates, teachers, and welfare personnel) in Japan and Sweden were surveyed by questionnaire. Responses were obtained from a total of about 640 people. The study found that Swedes answered positively to all of the independent questions. Among the groups, welfare personnel and teachers in Japan were mostly negative. Therefore, a higher level of education has not encouraged tolerance of immigrants and support of multiculturalism in Japan. The results of multiple regression analysis suggested that 'a normative attitude toward helping ' was associated with tolerance in both countries. Results also indicated that gender was a determinant of tolerance in Japan while education and self-esteem were determinants of tolerance in Sweden.