Foreign-Born Population Growth, Intergroup Contact, Perceived Group Threat, and South Koreans’ Attitudes Toward Multiculturalism

Background and Purpose

South Korea, once regarded as an ethnically homogeneous nation, has undergone rapid demographic changes since the early 2000s, alongside the expansion of state-led multicultural policies. As immigration-driven diversity has become more salient, public attitudes toward multiculturalism have emerged as a critical dimension of social integration. Traditionally, such attitudes have been explained through two competing theoretical lenses: intergroup contact theory, which posits that intergroup interaction reduces prejudice through positive experiences, and group threat theory, which suggests that immigrants may be perceived as sources of economic competition and cultural conflict. However, these patterns may depend on contextual conditions, particularly the pace of immigrant influx, which may shape both opportunities for intergroup contact and perceptions of threat. Accordingly, this study examines how intergroup contact and perceived group threat are associated with attitudes toward multiculturalism (multicultural acceptance) and whether these relationships vary by regional growth in the foreign-born population.

Methods

This study used data from the 2021 National Multicultural Acceptance Survey, linked to regional administrative statistics across 17 metropolitan cities and provinces in South Korea (n = 4,992 Korean adults aged 19 or older). The outcome was multicultural acceptance, measured using the Korea Multicultural Competence Inventory (KMCI) with three dimensions: Diversity (D; e.g., cultural openness and inclusive national identity), Relations (R; e.g., reduced avoidance and increased willingness for intergroup interaction), and Universalism (U; e.g., global-citizenship orientations). Individual-level predictors included intergroup contact frequency in public spaces (a single-item, five-point scale) and perceived threat from immigrants (a four-item composite scale). The regional-level predictor was the growth rate of the foreign-born population from 2015 to 2021. Covariates included sociodemographic characteristics, overseas experience, regional foreign population size, and per capita GRDP. Multilevel linear mixed models were estimated to test both main effects and cross-level interactions.

Results

Higher intergroup contact frequency was associated with greater multicultural acceptance across all three dimensions (D: b = .12; R: b = .15; U: b = .10, all p < .001), while higher perceived threat from immigrants was associated with lower multicultural acceptance (D: b = -.36; R: b = -.27; U: b = -.23, all p < .001). At the regional level, higher foreign-born population growth rates were associated only with greater relational acceptance (b = .01, p < .001). Cross-level interactions revealed that in regions with higher foreign-born population growth, individuals with more frequent intergroup contact showed even higher relational acceptance (b = .004, p < .01), whereas individuals with higher perceived threat reported even lower diversity acceptance in such regions (b = -.003, p < .05).

Conclusion and Implications

Taken together, these findings indicate that rapid growth in the foreign-born population may intensify both the integrative role of intergroup contact and the exclusionary role of perceived threat. Policy responses should therefore move beyond broad calls for “integration” and instead be calibrated to local demographic contexts, with greater attention to fostering favorable relational orientations toward immigrants while reducing threat-based resistance to diversity and inclusive national belonging.