Generalized Trust and Support for Immigrant Rights in Japan: Examining the Moderating Role of Conservative Nationalism

Abstract

This study investigates the role of generalized trust in shaping anti-immigrant attitudes and support for immigrant rights, with a particular focus on the moderating effect of conservative nationalism. We argue that higher levels of generalized trust reduce hostility toward immigrants and foster support for their rights, but that the strength of these effects depends on conservative nationalism. Drawing on data from the Public Opinion Poll on Internationalization and Citizens' Political Participation in 2017, we employ regression analysis to test these hypotheses. The results show that generalized trust is strongly associated with lower anti-immigrant attitudes and greater support for immigrant rights. While conservative nationalism does not condition the relationship between generalized trust and anti-immigrant attitudes, it significantly moderates the relationship between generalized trust and support for immigrant rights: even among individuals with equal levels of generalized trust, those who score higher on conservative nationalism show significantly less support for immigrant rights. These findings underscore the universal relevance of generalized trust as a mechanism for fostering inclusion, even in an ethnically homogeneous society such as Japan, while also highlighting the constraining role of value orientations.