Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

Social factors related to Iranians attitude

towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

Factores sociales relacionados con las actitudes de los

iraníes hacia los inmigrantes afganos residentes en Irán

Fatores sociais relacionados às atitudes dos iranianos em

relação aos imigrantes afegãos residentes no Irã

1

1. Ali Juma Hamdard is a Visiting

Professor at the Federal University of

São Carlos, Brazil. His areas of expertise

include migration, refugee studies, and

international relations. ORCID: https://

orcid.org/0000-0002-2129-0129

Ali Juma Hamdard

2

Akbar Zareshahabadi

Sayed Mohammad Firozi

3

2. Akbar Zareshahabadi is a Professor

of Sociology at Yazd University, Iran,

specializing in Social change, Migration,

and Cultural sociology with extensive

publications in these ﬁelds. ORCID:

0000-0003-3421-1036

Submetido em: 15 agosto de 2024

Aceito em: 8 de novembro de 2025

DOI: 10.5752/P.2317-773X.2025v13n1p231-248

3. Sayed Mohammad Firozi is a Ph.D.

graduate in Sociology from Yazd

University, Iran. His research focuses on

Migration Studies, Social Integration,

Economic Development and Intercultural

Relations. ORCID: 0000-0002-3886-7326

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 Af-

ghan 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 inde-

pendent variables—social harms caused by immigrants, media propaganda, and

normative beliefs—had a signiﬁcant negative relationship with citizens’ attitu-

des. 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.

Keywords: Attitude, social harms, media, normative beliefs, Afghan immi-

grants, Iran.

RESUMEN

Esta investigación analiza los factores que inﬂuyen en la actitud de los ciudada-

nos iraníes hacia los inmigrantes afganos. El estudio es de naturaleza aplicada

en cuanto a su objetivo y de escala amplia, utilizando un método de encuesta

con un enfoque descriptivo-explicativo. Los datos fueron recopilados mediante

un cuestionario elaborado por el investigador basado en la escala de Likert. La

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población estadística estuvo compuesta por ciudadanos iraníes, de los cuales

384 fueron seleccionados como muestra utilizando la fórmula de Cochran y

un muestreo de tres etapas (por conglomerados, sistemático y aleatorio). Los

datos fueron analizados utilizando el software SPSS. Los resultados mostraron

que la actitud promedio de los ciudadanos iraníes hacia los inmigrantes afganos

es de nivel medio tanto teórica como observacionalmente. Entre las variables

contextuales, el género y la ocupación mostraron diferencias signiﬁcativas con

la variable de actitud, mientras que otras variables demográﬁcas como la edad,

la educación, los ingresos y los gastos no mostraron diferencias signiﬁcativas,

a pesar de las diferencias en los promedios. Además, los daños sociales, la pro-

paganda mediática y las creencias normativas tuvieron una relación negativa y

signiﬁcativa con la actitud de los ciudadanos, mientras que no se observó relaci-

ón entre la expectativa de beneﬁcios de la presencia de inmigrantes y la actitud

de los ciudadanos. Los resultados del análisis de regresión mostraron que estas

variables explican más del 19% de los cambios en la variable dependiente.

Palabras-clave: Actitud, daños sociales, medios de comunicación, creencias

normativas, inmigrantes afganos, Irán.

RESUMO

Esta pesquisa analisa os fatores que inﬂuenciam a atitude dos cidadãos irania-

nos em relação aos imigrantes afegãos. O estudo é de natureza aplicada em

termos de objetivo e de grande escala, utilizando um método de pesquisa com

uma abordagem descritivo-explicativa. Os dados foram coletados por meio de

um questionário elaborado pelo pesquisador baseado na escala de Likert. A

população estatística foi composta por cidadãos iranianos, dos quais 384 foram

selecionados como amostra usando a fórmula de Cochran e um método de

amostragem em três etapas (por conglomerados, sistemática e aleatória). A

análise dos dados foi realizada com o software SPSS. Os resultados mostraram

que a atitude média dos cidadãos iranianos em relação aos imigrantes afegãos é

de nível médio, tanto teoricamente quanto observacionalmente. Entre as vari-

áveis contextuais, gênero e ocupação apresentaram diferenças significativas em

relação à variável atitude, enquanto idade, escolaridade, renda e despesas não

apresentaram diferenças significativas, apesar das diferenças nas médias. Além

disso, danos sociais, propaganda da mídia e crenças normativas mostraram uma

relação negativa e signiﬁcativa com a atitude dos cidadãos, enquanto não foi

observada relação entre a expectativa de benefícios da presença dos imigrantes e

a atitude dos cidadãos. Os resultados da análise de regressão indicaram que essas

variáveis explicam mais de 19% das variações na variável dependente.

Palavras-chave: Atitude, danos sociais, mídia, crenças normativas, imigrantes

afegãos, Irã.

1 INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT

Migration and human mobility have existed throughout the his-

tory of humankind and are as old as human civilization itself (Jamshidiha

& Anbari, 2003: 44). Moreover, migration is a multidimensional pheno-

menon that aﬀects all aspects of a human society’s life and even extends

its impact to the environment and the animal world. Consequently, all

branches of science, particularly in the ﬁeld of social sciences — from

sociology and demography to history, politics, economics, psychology,

and geography — have sought to deﬁne, analyze, and explain the factors,

types, motivations, advantages, and disadvantages of this historical and

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

universal phenomenon. According to the United Nations Demographic

Dictionary, migration is a form of geographical or spatial mobility that

occurs between two geographical units. This geographical movement

involves a change of residence from the origin or point of departure to

the destination or point of arrival. Such migrations are referred to as per-

manent migrations and must be distinguished from other forms of po-

pulation movements that do not entail a permanent change of residence

(Zanjani, 2019: 211-212).

For years, this global, pervasive, ﬂuid, and multidimensional phe-

nomenon has been considered one of the major global challenges (Pouya

& Emami, 2005: 2). Migration inﬂuences geography, history, identity,

economy, culture, and politics. Cross-border migration has been so pro-

blematic and consequential that the United Nations Population Fund

(UNFPA) has referred to international migration as the “humanitarian

crisis of our time” (Lucas & Meyer, 2005: 281).

Today, international migration has become the focal point of atten-

tion for many scholars and policymakers, owing to the intensity and wi-

de-ranging consequences of migration, to the extent that concepts such as

the “Age of Migration” by Castles and Miller (1998) and the “Global City”

by Sassen (2001) have been introduced (Foroutan, 2017: 74). Migration not

only inﬂuences the structure and composition of populations but also

impacts, to varying degrees, the ethnic, racial, and cultural composition

of destination countries. Furthermore, it aﬀects the economic, social, po-

litical, and cultural spheres of these countries (Foroutan, 2017: 78).

Despite all this, the mass migration of Afghans to Iran began fol-

lowing the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and has conti-

nued ever since, with constant ﬂows of Afghan migrants into Iran. Due

to various factors, including the lack of human, economic, and cultural

capital, these migrants have predominantly been employed in occupa-

tions such as construction work, security guarding, small-scale retail,

kiln labor, well-digging, agricultural work, unskilled labor, street ven-

ding, livestock farming, shepherding, road construction, welding, and

automobile repair, among other similar jobs (Sadeghi, 2007: 8).

For more than four decades, millions of Afghans have migrated to

Iran for various political, economic, cultural, religious, and neighboring

reasons, and about ﬁve million legal and illegal Afghan immigrants are li-

ving in diﬀerent regions of Iran according to the authorities of the Islamic

Republic of Iran. The second, third, and even fourth generations have

been born in this country and thousands of these immigrants have mar-

ried the Iranians and a large number of these immigrants have no inten-

tion of leaving this country under any circumstances and have selected

this land as their homeland. However, there have been social incompati-

bilities, various obstacles in social integration process, negative attitudes,

and blackening prejudices towards these immigrants (Sadeghi, 2007).

This is while these immigrants face many challenges and limita-

tions in the Iranian society and they are still recognized as outsiders and

alien after more than four decades. This rejection (depilation) and alie-

nation, lack of permission to adapt and match, and a weak level of inte-

ractions and ties with the immigrant society, may have several diﬀerent

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factors. However, one of the most important and determining factors of

this alienation, humiliation, and a poor level of interactions and ties is

related to the attitudes of the host society towards these immigrants. The

lived experience of every Afghan immigrant in Iran has been accompa-

nied by stigmatization and demeaning labels, humiliation, insults, humi-

liation, alienation, discrimination, rejection (depilation), negative emo-

tions, misrecognition, and undesirable behaviors from the host society

(Ahmadrash and Eidi, 2017).

It is clear that this type of views and encounters are caused by the

negative attitudes of the host society towards these immigrants. Attitudes

play a very important role in shaping the people’s behavior and social life.

In fact, our behavior and performance are part of our attitude, but attitu-

de plays a decisive role in directing the people’s behavior and performan-

ce. On the other hand, being aware of people’s attitudes makes it possi-

ble to predict and control their behavior (Rezaei and Salimi, 91: 2013).

Knowing about the people’s attitude helps us know people’s personality

and conduct in addition to predicting people’s behavior and controlling it,

and on the other hand, measuring people’s attitude helps us diagnose our

judgements to avoid uninformed judgments and information about the

people’s attitude also helps us in scientiﬁc measurements (Sharfuddin, 86:

1998).

Therefore, it is very important and necessary that we investigate

and analyze the determining factors of these attitudes in addition to mea-

suring the attitude of the Iranian citizens towards Afghan immigrants.

Therefore, the main aim of this research is to determine the factors in-

ﬂuencing attitude of Iranian citizens towards the Afghan immigrants.

2 THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Palizdan (2024), Palizdan conducted a descriptive-survey study

aimed at examining the sociological attitudes of Shiraz citizens toward

Afghan immigrants. Using a simple random sampling method and a re-

searcher-made questionnaire (26 items), data from citizens in 2023 were

collected. Results from Pearson’s correlation test showed a signiﬁcant

relationship between literacy level, ethnicity, religious aﬃliation (Shia/

Sunni), economic status, sense of security, and attitudes toward Afghan

immigrants.

Ruhani et al. (2024), Ruhani and colleagues explored the identity

formation process among young Afghan immigrants in Yazd through a

qualitative study employing grounded theory. Interviews with 21 teena-

gers revealed major categories such as double identity rejection, lived ex-

periences of de-identiﬁcation, and structural limitations. The study found

that these youths sought to form identities independent of nationalistic

values, utilizing skill-based identiﬁcations to navigate identity crises in

the host society.

Zandi-Navgran et al. (2022), Through theoretical coding analysis

of interviews, Zandi-Navgran and colleagues identiﬁed “two-way demar-

cation” as the core process shaping Afghan immigrants’ experiences of

social distance in Iran. Findings highlighted legal, socio-economic, and

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

emotional barriers leading to feelings of alienation and institutional dis-

crimination. The research showed that restricted access to citizenship

rights perpetuates ethnic stratiﬁcation and formalizes immigrants’ mar-

ginalized status.

Maghsoudi (2022), Maghsoudi critically examined Iran’s fragmen-

ted policies toward Afghan immigrants, applying John W. Berry’s socia-

lization strategies. The study argued that ineﬀective legislation and lack

of a comprehensive socialization program have been the main factors

impeding the integration of Afghan immigrants, resulting in signiﬁcant

political, social, cultural, and security-related challenges for Iran.

Keshavarz Ghasemi and Naderpour (2018) found in a research that

the citizens of Qazvin County do not have a favorable attitude towards

Afghans with 77.66% average negative responses. Fazeli Javid (2017) has

shown in a research that the presence of negative attitudes, rejection, dis-

crimination, and humiliation has made the identiﬁcation-ﬁnding process

of the immigrant children face a fundamental problem. Ahmadresh and

Eidi (2017) have shown in a study that the lived experiences of Afghan

immigrants indicate the presence of a socio-cultural confront with the

host society in the studied area in both the objective and subjective as-

pects. In a research, Vosooghi and Mohseni (2016) found that the highest

negative attitude of citizens towards Afghan immigrants is related to the

social harms variable. Rouhani and Anbarlou (2016) have concluded in a

research that the fear of attack and aggression by immigrants has been

taught to citizens. Songhori et al. (2014) found in a research that Afghan

immigrants experience discrimination, insult, rejection, and social stig-

ma in the host society. Bigvand and Rajabloo (2014) have shown in a re-

search that:

1) There is an inverse relationship between the Gini coeﬃcient in-

dex of societies and the rate of acceptance of foreign immigrants.

2) There is an inverse relationship between the level of human de-

velopment and the percentage of the population below the poverty line

and the Gini coeﬃcient.

3) The level of human development does not have a direct eﬀect on

the rate of acceptance of foreign immigrants, but it has an indirect eﬀect

on the rate of acceptance of immigrants through other variables, such as

the Gini coeﬃcient.

4) The unemployment rate only aﬀects the level of human develo-

pment of societies.

In reviewing previous research, it becomes clear that the main focus

has been on understanding Iranian citizens’ attitudes toward Afghan im-

migrants, analyzing the identity formation process among immigrants,

exploring mechanisms of social distancing, and evaluating macro-level

migration policies. These studies, mostly using descriptive, qualitative,

or analytical methods, have emphasized issues such as immigrant alie-

nation, structural discrimination, identity crises, social threats, and the

consequences of fragmented migration policies. The ﬁndings reveal that

negative attitudes toward Afghan immigrants are widespread, inﬂuenced

not only by individual factors but also by broader structural, economic,

and cultural dynamics. Additionally, the social gaps between immigrants

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and the host society have signiﬁcantly hindered the integration process

for Afghans in Iran.

Against this background, the innovation of the present study lies

in its comprehensive approach to analyzing the social factors associa-

ted with Iranians’ attitudes toward Afghan immigrants residing in Iran.

Unlike previous studies that mainly focused either on immigrants’ ex-

periences or on policy analysis, this research employs a quantitative me-

thodology and adopts a multidimensional framework that examines key

factors such as socioeconomic status, sense of security, ethnicity, and re-

ligion. This provides a more holistic and analytically rich understanding

compared to earlier work. Another major strength of the current study

is its national-level focus rather than being limited to a single region, the-

reby enhancing the generalizability of the ﬁndings and oﬀering more

actionable policy insights. By linking social factors directly to public at-

titudes, this study establishes a robust analytical framework for better

understanding the dynamics of immigrant acceptance and exclusion in

Iranian society.

In terms of theory, attitude is used as the equivalent of perception,

point of view, feedback, psychological state, mindset, tendency, method,

belief, feelings, values, mentality, perspective, belief, style, etc. (Gold and

Kolb, 2005: 863). The attitude, as deﬁned by “Gold and Kolb”, is very impor-

tant in shaping people’s behavior and social life. Allport (1935) deﬁnes the

attitude as a nervous state or mental readiness that is acquired and organi-

zed through experience. Each attitude has three main components. First;

the cognitive or perceptual components of attitude (beliefs, perceptions,

and a set of people’s awareness or knowledge about a phenomenon) are

included in this category, that is, the human being knows in his/her own

mind why a phenomenon is good or bad. Cognitive structures are men-

tal foundations with the help of which people interpret the meaning and

concept of persons, objects, events, and behaviors. Second, the emotional

components of attitude (feelings, motives, pleasant or unpleasant interests

towards objects, people, groups). This section of attitude determines of

people’s emotions in total whether negative or positive relative to the phe-

nomena. Knowing this section of the attitude determines the readiness

of people for material and spiritual connection and separation. Third, the

behavioral section (includes the parts of people’s motivation towards an

issue, readiness for action or behavior towards that issue) (Kirimi, 2000).

Fishbein & Ajzen believed that behavior is caused by a chain of

factors. The circle before the behavior emergence is the intention and

willingness to perform the behavior. The phenomenon of intention and

willingness in itself is a function of attitude towards that behavior and

mental norm. Attitude towards behavior is a personal factor that deter-

mines intentions. Unlike the general attitudes towards institutions, peo-

ple or objects, this attitude shows a positive or negative evaluation of

the speciﬁc behavior in question. The second determinant of intention,

i.e. subjective norm, is a person’s perception of social pressure to per-

form or not to perform the behavior. Generally speaking, people intend

to perform a behavior when they evaluate it to be positive and believe

that other important persons think that they (people) should perform this

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

behavior. This theory assumes that the relative importance of attitude

to behavior and mental norm depends to some extent on the intention

under investigation. For some intentions, attitudinal considerations are

more important than normative ones while for other intentions, norma-

tive considerations prevail (Javadi Yeganeh and Kazemi, 2011).

In the Integrated Threat Theory of prejudice, threat perception

constitutes the fundamental principle underlying the development of

negative attitudes and helps to explain the perception of social distan-

ce toward out-groups (Raijman, 2013). According to this theory, threat

perception stems from four sources, each contributing to negative views

and social distance toward out-groups: realistic threats, symbolic threats,

intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes.

Realistic threat refers to the fear among in-group members of the

reduction of available resources. In this case, individuals with lower

economic and social status feel that they are competing with out-group

members for scarce resources (Raijman, 2013). Symbolic threat arises

from diﬀerences between groups in relation to moral values, culture, and

religious beliefs. This threat becomes more pronounced when in-group

members fear cultural dominance by outsiders and the loss of their own

way of life (Stephan et al., 1999).

Intergroup anxiety pertains to feelings of anxiety, threat, and con-

cern for personal security that emerge during interactions between in-

-group and out-group members (Stewart et al., 2009). Negative stereotypes

form the basis for expectations about the behavior of out-group members

(Hamilton et al., 1990) and often lead to hostility (Kay & Jost, 2003).

In Power Theory, intergroup relations are understood as a func-

tion of the groups’ competitive positions (Giles & Hertz, 1994: 317). If the

dominant group perceives the minority group as a serious threat to its

interests (for example, regarding wages, employment, housing, private

or public welfare, tax burdens, and so forth), it is likely to display more

hostile behavior compared to situations where it perceives such threats as

minimal (Bobo, 2004; Citrin et al., 1997).

Thus, individuals with lower socio-economic status — who tend

to feel that they are in greater competition with out-groups — develop

a stronger perception of threat, which in turn makes them particularly

sensitive to prejudicial attitudes (Dustmann & Preston, 2007; Esses et al.,

2001; Quillian, 1995).

Bogardus (1993) deﬁnes the concept of social distance as the degree

of closeness or acceptance between individuals or groups of individuals

(such as occupational, religious, or educational groups). While Bogardus’s

concept describes a state, social distancing refers to a process that can oc-

cur at societal, group, or individual levels.

Social distancing can become institutionalized and perpetuated

through mechanisms such as restricted access to citizenship or stratiﬁca-

tion systems in which ethnic boundaries shape access to speciﬁc positions

(Alba & Nee, 2003: 43).

On the attitude and feelings of natives towards immigrants, Fetters

(2000) believes that he has divided the attitude towards foreign immi-

grants and anti-immigrant feelings into three categories:

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A) Marginal factors: the encountering of immigrants’ culture with

native culture and cultural conﬂicts;

B) Personal interests: the economic impact of an immigrant on na-

tive people (economic conﬂicts);

C) People’s communication: vicinity and neighborhood and natio-

nal proximity are inﬂuential in the attitude of natives and immigrants.

Regarding the attitude of natives towards immigrants, Fachini

and Maida (2006) believe that the economic conditions and low educa-

tion of the host society increase the negative attitude towards foreign

immigrants, while the level and kind of attitude of the host people has no

relationships with their level of literacy towards immigrants. Experiences

and mental stereotypes that divide the people into insider and non-insider

groups, the quality of cultural communications, mental schemas, etc.,

are inﬂuential on the attitudes among immigrants and natives (Vosooghi

and Mohseni, 2016).

Zygmunt Bauman and Turisten Selin believe that the chaos created

by immigrants in an organized society is a challenge to cultural axioms

and a push for social movement, and this cultural challenge and social

movement are inﬂuential in determining the attitudes of natives and im-

migrants towards each other (Khodai, 2010: 57).

Turistan Selin also believes in the cultural conﬂict between nati-

ves and immigrants as this conﬂict, struggle, and non-conformity have

caused the increase in crimes and social anomalies and in turn aﬀects the

mutual attitudes of natives and immigrants.

Todd (1962) and Becker (1964) believe that the job market is a com-

petitive arena and the most important criterion for job and economic

success is individual eﬃciency and capabilities. Although ethnicity, im-

migration, etc. do not play a decisive role in this competitive market, the

groups without human capital are pushed out of this competition, and

consequently, attitudes towards them change as their social bases decrea-

se. New-comer immigrants are usually not familiar with the labor mar-

ket of the new society or have fewer human capitals, so they experience

tension and inconsistency in receiving the attitudes of the destination so-

ciety (ibid. 200).

The theoretical framework of this study integrates various pers-

pectives on attitude formation, prejudice, and intergroup relations, par-

ticularly in the context of Afghan immigrants in Iran. Attitude, as con-

ceptualized by Gold and Kolb (2005), plays a crucial role in shaping hu-

man behavior, encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral com-

ponents. The cognitive component refers to the beliefs and perceptions

that inﬂuence how people understand phenomena, while the emotional

aspect deals with feelings and motives that drive individuals’ responses.

The behavioral component highlights the actions and readiness to act

upon these beliefs and feelings. In this framework, the theory posits that

attitudes are formed not only through individual experiences but also

through social norms and collective perceptions. Speciﬁcally, Fishbein

and Ajzen’s theory links attitudes to behavior via intention and social

pressure, asserting that people are more likely to perform behaviors they

view positively and that others expect them to perform.

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

Further, the Integrated Threat Theory suggests that attitudes to-

wards out-groups, such as Afghan immigrants, are shaped by perceived

threats—realistic, symbolic, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes.

These threats inﬂuence the social distance between groups, as people are

more likely to develop negative attitudes toward out-group members

when they perceive competition for resources, cultural dominance, or

security concerns. Additionally, Power Theory links intergroup attitudes

to the socio-economic position of groups, arguing that dominant groups

tend to view minority groups as threats when their interests are at stake.

Social distancing, as described by Bogardus, represents a process through

which these negative perceptions can be institutionalized, reinforcing

inequality. The theoretical framework, therefore, highlights the complex

interaction between individual attitudes, societal norms, and the broa-

der socio-economic context in shaping the attitudes of Iranians toward

Afghan immigrants. This study aims to uncover these dynamics while

focusing on social factors such as literacy, ethnicity, economic status, and

security, which inﬂuence public attitudes toward immigration.

In comparison to past studies, this research oﬀers a more com-

prehensive exploration by examining a wider range of social factors and

their speciﬁc impacts on attitudes towards Afghan immigrants. By in-

tegrating both individual and collective perspectives on prejudice and

social distance, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how

socio-economic, cultural, and political variables interact to shape public

opinion. Additionally, the study’s emphasis on the socio-cultural aspects

of Iranian attitudes towards Afghan immigrants addresses gaps in exis-

ting literature, which has often focused narrowly on one-dimensional as-

pects of the immigrant experience. The strength of this research lies in its

ability to connect individual attitudes to broader social and institutional

factors, providing a more holistic view of the challenges faced by Afghan

immigrants in Iran.

4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

1) The demographic characteristics of Iranian correlate to their at-

titude towards Afghan immigrants.

2) The social harms of immigrants is related to the attitude of

Iranian citizens towards them.

3) The negative attitudes of Iranian people towards Afghan immi-

grants are related to mass media advertisements and reports.

4) The attitude of the Iranian people towards the immigrants is re-

lated to their expectations of the beneﬁts of the presence of immigrants.

5) Normative beliefs of Iranian citizens have a signiﬁcant rela-

tionship with their attitude towards immigrants

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5 THEORICAL MODEL OF RESEARCH

6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research is cross-sectional in terms of time, extensive in terms

of scope, applied in terms of purpose, and survey in descriptive-expla-

natory type in terms of method of implementation. Its theoretical bases

have been implemented through documentation and electronic research.

The statistical population of the research includes the Iranian Iranian ci-

tizens who are over 18 years old. Therefore, the statistical population of

the research is over 100,000 people, of which 384 people were determined

as the sample size by Cochran’s formula and Morgan’s table. The cluster

sampling method had three steps. Clusters or localities were selected in

the ﬁrst step. Families were systematically selected in the second step and

one of the citizens over 18 years of age was selected randomly in the fa-

mily in the third step. The data collection was made by researcher-made

questionnaires whose validity and reliability were conﬁrmed. The ques-

tionnaire was prepared based on the Likert scale and completed among

the selected samples of the statistical population. Then, the collected data

was entered into SPSS software. Description, analysis, and inference of

the data were conducted after indexing and checking the data normality.

7 RESEARCH FINDINGS

The ﬁndings showed that 52.6% of the respondents are female and

47.4% are male. 32.3% were between 18-25 years old, 26.1% were between

26-35 years old, 22.8% were between 36-45 years old, 12.4% were between

46-55 years old, and 6.5% were over 56 years old. Based on the job, the res-

pondents are divided into diﬀerent groups, including: 27.1% unemployed,

8.3% government employees, 18.9% students, 6.4% private companies’

employees, 5.4% teachers, 4.6% housewives, and 29.3% freelancers have

been reported. Based on income, 11.7% people had income between 1

and 4 million Tomans, 57.4% had income between 5-9 million Tomans,

and 30.9% had income higher than 9 million Tomans. And based on the

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

amount of monthly expenses, 17.8% reported less than 4 million Tomans,

56.2% between 5 and 9 million Tomans, and 26% reported more than 9

million Tomans. Based on educations, 5.9% of the respondents were illi-

terate, 12.8% have elementary education, 31.9% have secondary and high

school education, and 49.5% have university education. Finally, based on

marital status, 29.9% were single, 66.7% were married, and 3.5% were

divorced or lost their spouse or wife.

Table 1: The attitude of Iranian citizens towards Afghan immigrants and the averages

Lower

bound

Upper

bound

Theoretical

mean

Standard

deviation

Observed

mean

t

sig

Attitude of Iranian citizens towards

Afghan immigrants

33

74

53.5

7.226

53.96

1.231

0.219

Cognitive aspect of attitude

Emotional aspect of attitude

Behavioral aspect of attitude

Social harms

10

6

27

29

25

45

37

18.5

17.57

16

2.889

3.958

3.015

6.134

5.621

18.25

18.57

17

-1.618

5.289

6.516

-4.416

-2.371

0.107

0.000

0.018

7

15

9

30

28.6

22.3

Media advertisements

23

Expectation of the beneﬁts of

presence

4

19

20

11.5

12

2.733

3.311

9.86

-11.65

-1.053

0.000

0.293

Normative beliefs

11.82

Table 1 shows that: The average score of the attitude is about 54,

the upper bound of which is 74 and the lower one is 33. The one sample

t-test also showed that there is no diﬀerence between the theoretical ave-

rage and the observed average in attitude, and therefore, the attitude of

Iranian citizens towards immigrants is average. The behavioral aspect

has the lowest score among the aspects of attitude. Questions were asked

in the behavioral aspect that measure the willingness of these citizens

with Afghan immigrants in social, cultural, economic, kinship, and fa-

mily interactions. The diﬀerence between theoretical and observed ave-

rage is not signiﬁcant in cognitive aspect, but it is signiﬁcant in emotional

and behavioral aspects. The average theoretical scores in the independent

variables, except for normative beliefs, are all signiﬁcant with the obser-

ved average.

Table 2: Results of t-test between the gender variable and the attitude of Iranian

citizens towards Afghan immigrants

Group

women

men

Number

190

Mean attitude score

54/1053

T

Sig

Gender

0.413

0.047

171

53/7895

Based on table 2, it can be seen that the attitude of both genders

towards Afghan immigrants has a signiﬁcant diﬀerence (sig=0.047).

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estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 13, n. 1, (fev. 2025), p. 231-248

Table 3: F-test results between demographic variables and the attitude of Iranian

citizens towards Afghan immigrants

Variable

Group

Mean attitude score

54.5

F

Sig

Single

Marital status

Married

53.86

52.7

0.262

0.902

Divorced. Widow

Unemployed

53.28

32.79

54.3

Self-employed(freelancer)

Government’s employee

Teacher

Job

52.55

55.17

55

0.154

0.017

Private employee

Student

Housekeeper

56.37

53

Illiterate

Primary

52.93

53.46

54.91

54.9

Educations

1.636

0.181

Middle and high school

University

From 1 to 4 million Tomans

From 5 to 9 million Tomans

10 million and higher

From 1 to 4 million Tomans

From 5 to 9 million Tomans

10 million and higher

Income

Expense

53.67

53.85

54.28

53.88

53.72

0.355

0.468

701.0

.6270

In table 3, the f-test report shows that the single people have a more

positive attitude towards these immigrants than the married ones, but

this diﬀerence is not statistically signiﬁcant (sig=0.902). The attitude of

people in diﬀerent occupations is also signiﬁcant, as can be seen in the ta-

ble, housewives and employees of private companies have a more positi-

ve attitude towards Afghan immigrants than other occupational groups,

and this diﬀerence is reported as (sig=0.017). Regarding the relationship

between education level and attitude, although there is a diﬀerence in the

average scores among diﬀerent education levels, these two variables do

not have a signiﬁcant relationship with the value (sig=0.181). The grou-

ped variables of income and monthly expenses show that no signiﬁcant

relationship was reported between the variable of monthly income and

attitude with value (sig=0.701) and monthly family expenses and attitude

status with value (sig=0.627).

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

Table 4: Pearson correlation test results between different variables and the attitude

of Iranian citizens towards Afghan immigrants

Statistical index

Hypothesis

Pearson’s correlation coeﬃcient (r)

Signiﬁcance level

Relationship between age and attitude

Relationship between immigrants’ social harms and attitudes

-0.055

-0.326

0.307

0.000

Relationship between media programs and advertisements and Attitude

Expectations of the beneﬁts of the presence of immigrants and attitude

-0.69

0.001

018.0

0.734

0.000

Relationship between normative beliefs of Iranian citizens towards Afghan immigrants and attitude -0.289

Table 4 shows that there is a negative relationship between age and

attitude, but this relationship is not reported to be signiﬁcant with the le-

vel (sig=0.307). A negative and signiﬁcant relationship (sig=0.000) can be

seen between the variable of social harms of these immigrants and the at-

titude of Iranian citizens towards them. A negative relationship with a sig-

niﬁcant level (sig=0.001) has been reported between programs and media

advertisements and attitude. According to the table above, no signiﬁcant

relationship (sig=0.734) has been reported between the variable of expec-

tations of the beneﬁts of presence and the dependent variable. However,

a negative and signiﬁcant relationship (sig=0.000) has been reported bet-

ween the variable of normative beliefs of Iranian citizens towards these

immigrants and the attitudes of these citizens towards these immigrants.

Table 5: Regression results of the effect of the investigated variables on attitude

R²

Index

Correlation coeﬃcient (R)

0.439

F

Level of signiﬁcance

0.000

Adjusted

0.170

Amount

0.193

8.552

Table 6: Statistical determinants, amount and direction of the effect of the studied

variables on the attitude

Variable

Nonstandard coeﬃcient

Standard error

3.123

Standard beta

T

level Signiﬁcance

constant number

Social harms

68.809

-0.407

0.089

-

21.93

5.054

1.116

-2.681

0.000

0.045

0.008

0.081

-.329

0.066

-0.176

Media advertisements

Eﬀects of normative beliefs

0.079

-0.434

0.162

In table 5, the step-by-step regression analysis shows that the cor-

relation of the total of independent variables with the dependent variable

with a correlation coeﬃcient (R=0.439) and with regard to R²more than

19% of the range of the dependent variable by the variables of social har-

ms, media advertisements, and the eﬀects of normative beliefs are explai-

ned and the signiﬁcance level of the model (sig=0.001) is reported.

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8 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Millions of Afghani immigrants have been living legally and ille-

gally in the Islamic Republic of Iran for more than forty years, and as

an undeniable fact, this huge population is known as one of the social

problems and phenomena in this country. Considering the realities of the

Iranian society, the functions of these immigrants in the destination so-

ciety, the repulsions of the origin society, the dependencies and aﬀections

of these immigrants in the Iranian society and many other factors; it can

be concluded that at least a large part of this million population will be

permanent residents of the Iranian society. As the researches of Abbasi

Shavazi et al. (2016) and Jamshidiha and Anbari (2004) also conﬁrm this

hypothesis (permanent and long-term presence of these immigrants in

Iranian society). This is while the facts and research also show that the

interactions and ties of these two immigrant and host societies are not in

direction of adaptation, acceptance, and conformation, and despite the

presence of immigrants in all non-prohibited areas and metropolises, the

society and culture of the immigrants can be seen apart from the culture

of Iran, and there are huge gaps between these two societies, which are

considered to be due to the negative attitudes of the host society towards

these immigrants. These weak attitudes and relationships (ties) have pla-

ced many limitations and challenges in the lives of these immigrants sin-

ce the attitudes is very important in shaping the people’s behavior and

social life. In fact, our behavior and performance are part of our attitude,

but attitude plays a decisive role in directing the people’s behavior and

type of performance (Shaterian et al., 2015).

This research was implemented as survey using a researcher-made

questionnaire tool with a descriptive-explanatory approach. The statis-

tical population of this research were the citizens of who were over 18

years old and (384) of them were determined by Cochran’s formula and

Morgan’s table as the sample size. The cluster sampling method had three

steps. Clusters or localities were selected in the ﬁrst step. Families were

selected systematically in the second steps and one of the citizens over

18 years old of age was selected randomly in the family in the third step.

The results of the t-test showed that the gender variable had a po-

sitive and signiﬁcant relationship with the participants’ attitude towards

the Afghan immigrants. Women had more positive attitudes than men.

The results of the f-test showed that in terms of occupation, housewives

and employees of private institutions had more positive attitudes than

other groups; Unemployed and freelancers groups have the lowest scores

in attitude. The interpretation of this relationship is that, on the one hand,

a part of attitude creates emotions, and women have more emotions than

men, and on the other hand, these immigrants are not considered as job

competitors of women. In addition, native and immigrant women have

more neighborly interactions with each other. Regarding the occupational

groups, the groups that consider these immigrants as their job-economic

competitors have had more negative attitudes towards them. Therefore,

this part of the research ﬁndings is in line with the theories of Fetzer

(2000) and Fachini and Maida (2006) about job-economic competitions

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Ali Juma Hamdard, Akbar Zareshahabadi, Sayed Mohammad Firozi Social factors related to Iranians attitude towards Afghan immigrants residing in Iran

between immigrants and natives, as well as how to communicate with

neighbors, and conﬁrms the ﬁndings of Shaterian et al. (2016). Ahmad

Roshd and Eidi (2017) and Vosooghi and Mohseni (2016). However, va-

riables such as age, marital status, monthly expenses and income had no

signiﬁcant relationship with the dependent variable. The main reason is

that the discourse environment against the Afghan immigrants is mainly

associated with rejection and alienation, and the researches of Rouhani

and Anbarloo (2015 and 2016) show that even Afghans are taught to fear

the school and family. Regarding monthly expenses and income, the

adoption of the research is that the main dissatisfaction of the Iranians

with the presence of these immigrants is due to social, security, and cul-

tural complications and harms, and the interpretation of these ﬁndings is

in line with the Anthony Giddens theory. Giddens believed that the ﬁrst

harm and eﬀect of international migration is social and cultural conﬂicts

between immigrants and hosts (Boroumandzadeh and Nobakht, 2011).

The results of the Pearson correlation test showed that the social

harms of these immigrants have a negative and signiﬁcant relationship

with the immigrants’ attitudes, that is, as the extent of harms of these

immigrants’ increases, the attitudes of the hosts towards them also tur-

ns more negative and vice versa. This part of the ﬁndings is in line with

conﬁrming the theories of Zygmunt Bauman and Turisten Selin. They

maintained that the culture of international immigrants is a push and a

movement towards the disorder of natives’ culture, and the immigrant’s

transgression (breaking of norm) in the host society is considered a na-

tural phenomenon due to diﬀerent socialization and lack of understan-

ding of the norms and expectations of the host society (Khodaei, 2010).

This section of the research results conﬁrms the ﬁndings of Vosooghi and

Mohseni (2016) and Keshavarz Ghasemi and Naderpour (2018).

Another part of the ﬁndings of this research showed that there is a

negative and signiﬁcant relationship between the media advertisements

and programs and citizens’ attitudes towards Afghan immigrants. The

interpretation and explanation of the research regarding the negative

relationship between media advertisements variable and the attitude of

Iranian citizens towards these immigrants is that; No matter how much

the media advertisements and programs are negative and blackening

against Afghan immigrants, the attitudes of the Iranian audiences to-

wards these immigrants will become negative. This part of the ﬁndings

conﬁrms those of Farmanfarmaei and Jafarzad (2018) and Ahmadi (2017)

and also is in line with the viewpoints of sociologists of mass commu-

nication devices, which inﬂuence and directs the media, attitudes, and

worldviews of people (Saroukhani, 2005).

Another part of the ﬁndings of this research is that the normati-

ve beliefs of Iranian citizens towards these immigrants had a negative

and signiﬁcant relationship with the attitudes of these citizens towards

Afghan immigrants. The interpretation and explanation of this resear-

ch is that: Whatever the mental stereotypes and beliefs are negative and

shaped, the attitudes will also be negative. From a theoretical point of

view, the result of the test of the relationship between these two varia-

bles was in line with “Berry” theory. He believes that the integration and

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adaptation of immigrants in the destination society depends on various

factors, one of these factors is the knowledge (cognitions) and beliefs of

the immigrants from the characteristics of the host society. If these cog-

nitions and beliefs are positive; then the attitude, adaptation, and inte-

gration will be positive and vice versa. From an empirical point of view,

the result of the test of the relationship between these two variables is

considered to be in line with the research of Homa Hoodfer (2007) and

Sadeghi Fasaei Nazari (2016).

The regression results of this research also showed that the varia-

bles of social harms, media advertisements, and normative beliefs accou-

nt for more than 19% of the range of changes in the dependent variable.

In aggregate, the average attitude of Iranian citizens towards the Afghan

immigrants is average in terms of theory and observation. Since these

immigrants are not a temporary phenomenon and some of their limita-

tions and problems depend on the attitude of the host society, therefore,

this research oﬀers the following executive suggestions to the authorities

in charge of the aﬀair based on its ﬁndings.

1) Promotion of immigration literature in the texts of schools, uni-

versities, and educational centers so that the atmosphere (environment)

of the society is softened in terms of culture and socialization in front of

immigrants and the ways of attraction and acceptance get paved.

2) Media’s giving awareness and advertisements about the realities

of immigration, the positive functions and advantages of immigrants in

a realistic and fair manner.

3) Planning and implementation of cultural programs to amend the

beliefs and mental stereotypes of the Iranian citizens against the Afghan

immigrants;

4) Raising awareness of the naturalness of some immigration har-

ms and the incorrectness of judgments and wholistic analogies.

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