ABSTRACT
Xenophobia may be characterized as the belief that it is “natural” for people to live among others of “their own kind,” along with a corresponding hostility toward people of “another” kind. However, this hostility need not necessarily be activated until “strangers” come too close to the ingroup (in geographical or social space) and are believed to threaten the identity (consensual beliefs and practices, mores, and traditional values) or the material interests of the ingroup. Strangers at a distance are not likely to meet with the same hostility or be as feared. A major part of xenophobia in Europe is supposedly directed against immigration and immigrants. However, we should keep in mind that there are important forms of xenophobia that are not necessarily related to immigration and immigrants, such as prejudice against indigenous ethnic minorities.
