Abstract
This study investigates factors influencing Iranian citizens’ attitudes toward Afghan immigrants. It is an applied, large-scale research conducted through a survey using a descriptive-explanatory approach. Data were collected via a researcher-made Likert-scale questionnaire. The statistical population included Iranian citizens, with 384 participants selected through Cochran’s formula using a three-stage (cluster, systematic, and random) sampling method. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. Findings revealed that citizens’ attitudes toward Afghan immigrants were moderate both theoretically and observationally. Among contextual variables, gender and occupation showed significant differences with the attitude variable, while age, education, income, and expenses showed no significant differences, despite mean score differences. Additionally, three independent variables—social harms caused by immigrants, media propaganda, and normative beliefs—had a significant negative relationship with citizens’ attitudes. However, no relationship was found between the expectation of benefits from immigrants and citizens’ attitudes. Regression analysis showed that social harms, media propaganda, and normative beliefs accounted for over 19% of the variance in the dependent variable.
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