Attitudes Towards Refugees: A Case Study on the Unfolding Approach to Scale Construction

In 2015, nearly 5 million people migrated to Europe, making the issue of migration and refugee status a source of high concern among Europeans (European Commission 2016). Countries such as Germany, Austria, Hungary and Sweden, which have experienced the largest influx of refugees, have also shown a decline in public support of generous immigration policies towards refugees (Heath/Richards 2019). Since 2015, Germany has received 1,524,205 first-time asylum applications from non-EU countries – mainly Syria (34%), Afghanistan (11%) and Iraq (12%). Most asylum seekers were men (69%), and 21% were boys under the age of 18 years. Girls under the age of