Attitudes Toward Migrant Integration Policies Scale

Abstract

The Attitudes Toward Migrant Integration Policies (AMIP) Scale (Maratia, Bobba, & Crocetti, 2023) is a robust psychometric instrument designed to quantify the degree to which adolescents and adults possess positive attitudes towards policies aimed at fostering the integration of individuals with a migrant background. The scale comprises eight items, which were meticulously developed based on the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX; Solano & Huddleston, 2020). The psychometric properties of the AMIP Scale were rigorously evaluated using a diverse sample drawn from Italy, encompassing adolescents, parents, and teachers. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses consistently supported a single-factor solution as the most parsimonious and best-fitting model across both adolescent and adult samples. While confirmatory factor analyses indicated a good overall fit for the one-factor solution, it was noted that RMSEA values were above the established cutoff. Detailed findings regarding the internal consistency, convergent validity, and measurement invariance of the scale have been reported, confirming its reliability and validity in assessing attitudes toward migrant integration policies across different generational cohorts.

Keywords

Adolescent Attitudes, Intergenerational Differences, Migrant Integration Policies, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes

Authors

Maratia, Fabio; Bobba, Beatrice; Crocetti, Elisabetta

Purpose

The primary objective of the AMIP Scale is to precisely assess the extent to which individuals from varying generational cohorts exhibit positive attitudes towards policies specifically designed to promote the integration of people who have a migrant background. This evaluation helps in understanding societal receptiveness and support for integration initiatives across different demographic segments.

Validity

Convergent Validity: The AMIP scores demonstrated significant negative associations with both the affective and cognitive dimensions of prejudice. This relationship was observed consistently across the total sample and within each distinct subgroup (adolescents, parents, teachers), providing strong evidence that higher AMIP scores correlate with lower levels of prejudice, thereby supporting the scale’s convergent validity.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The internal consistency of the AMIP Scale was found to be very high, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from .91 to .94. These high values indicate that the items within the scale are highly correlated and consistently measure the same underlying construct, ensuring the scale’s reliability.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): Both EFAs conducted on the adolescent and adult samples unequivocally indicated that a single-factor solution was the only one that met the eigenvalue criteria. This suggests that the AMIP Scale measures a single, unified construct. These models explained a substantial proportion of the variance in the data, specifically 62.10% for the adolescent sample and 73.23% for the adult sample, highlighting the strong underlying factor structure.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): The results from the CFAs further supported the one-factor solution, indicating a good fit to the data. However, it was noted that the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values were consistently above the commonly accepted cutoff of .08 across all three models. To enhance the model fit, modification indices suggested that adding correlations between two specific pairs of items could lead to an improved representation of the data.

Measurement Invariance: Multi-group CFAs were conducted to assess measurement invariance across different subgroups. Full scalar invariance was successfully established between adolescents and teachers, as well as between teachers and parents, indicating that the scale functions similarly across these groups. Conversely, when comparing adolescent and parent groups, only partial scalar invariance was achieved, necessitating the freeing of intercepts for items 4, 6, and 7 to achieve an adequate fit. Despite this, full scalar invariance was ultimately established across all groups, including adolescents, parents, and teachers combined, demonstrating the scale’s generalizability across these populations.

Instrument: AMIP Scale

• Test Type: Original

• Format: Participants are presented with the prompt: “You will be presented with several policies for the integration of people with a migrant background. Please, rate how important it is that Italian national programs support policies to foster…” This is followed by one item for each specific policy area, such as “…family reunion (e.g., accommodation, residence period).” Respondents rate the importance of each policy on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (absolutely important). The scale is an 8-item measure.

• Language Available: Italian

• Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

• Age Group: Adolescence (13-17 years) and Adulthood (18 years and older)

• Population Details: The study participants were drawn from Italy and included adolescents, parents, and teachers.

• Test Methodology: The methodology involved a comprehensive psychometric evaluation including Test Validity (Construct Validity, Convergent Validity), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency), Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis), and Measurement Invariance.

Keywords

Adolescent Attitudes, Intergenerational Differences, Migrant Integration Policies, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes

Authors

• Maratia, Fabio

  • Author ORCID Identifier: orcid.org/0000-0001-7466-1803

  • Affiliation: Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Department of Psychology

  • Email Address: [email protected]

• Bobba, Beatrice

  • Author ORCID Identifier: orcid.org/0000-0003-3653-4197

  • Affiliation: Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Department of Psychology

  • Email Address: No data is Available

• Crocetti, Elisabetta

  • Author ORCID Identifier: orcid.org/0000-0002-2681-5684

  • Affiliation: Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Department of Psychology

  • Email Address: No data is Available

Correspondence Address: Maratia, Fabio: Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Department of Psychology, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, Bologna, BO, Italy, 40127, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: The AMIP Scale may be used for research and teaching purposes.

• Commercial Use: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

References

Maratia, F., Bobba, B., & Crocetti, E. (2024). A near-mint view toward integration: Are adolescents more inclusive than adults? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 153(11), 2729–2741. doi.org/10.1037/xge0001472

Items of the AMIP Scale

The AMIP Scale consists of 8 items, each addressing a specific policy area related to migrant integration. Participants rate the importance of Italian national programs supporting policies for each area on a 5-point Likert scale. While the specific wording of all 8 items is not provided, an example is given: “…family reunion (e.g., accommodation, residence period).” The complete set of items can be found in the Appendix of the source reference (Page 13).

Attitudes Toward Migrant Integration Policies Scale

Please rate how important it is that Italian national programs support policies to foster:

Item 1: Labor Market Mobility

• English: Immediate access to labor market, training courses, recognition of academic qualifications.

• Italian: La mobilità nel mondo del lavoro (per esempio, accesso immediato al mondo del lavoro, corsi di formazione, riconoscimento delle qualifiche accademiche).

Item 2: Family Reunion

• English: Accommodation, residence period.

• Italian: Il ricongiungimento familiare (per esempio, alloggi, permessi di soggiorno).

Item 3: Education

• English: Access to various education levels, educational guidance, provision of support to learn the language.

• Italian: L’educazione (per esempio, accesso a vari livelli di educazione, supporto educativo, assistenza per l’apprendimento della lingua).

Item 4: Health

• English: Health entitlement, information concerning health services.

• Italian: La salute (per esempio, diritto all’assistenza sanitaria, informazioni riguardo ai servizi alla salute).

Item 5: Political Participation

• English: Right to vote, membership in political parties.

• Italian: La partecipazione politica (per esempio, diritto al voto, possibilità di iscrizione a partiti politici).

Item 6: Permanent Residency

• English: Economic resources, renewable permit.

• Italian: La residenza permanente (per esempio, risorse economiche, permessi rinnovabili).

Item 7: Access to Italian Nationality

• English: Citizenship for immigrant children, dual nationality for first-generation, naturalization requirements.

• Italian: L’accesso alla cittadinanza italiana (per esempio, cittadinanza per bambini immigrati, doppia cittadinanza per immigrati di prima generazione, requisiti per la naturalizzazione).

Item 8: Anti-discrimination

• English: Laws against discrimination, social protection.

• Italian: Il contrasto della discriminazione (per esempio, leggi contro la discriminazione, protezione sociale).

Response Scale:

• English:

  1. Not at all important

  2. A little important

  3. Quite important

  4. Very important

  5. Absolutely important

• Italian:

  1. Per niente importante

  2. Poco importante

  3. Abbastanza importante

  4. Molto importante

  5. Del tutto importante