Item response models to investigate Maltese attitudes towards xenophobia

Abstract

Item Response Theory (IRT) models are used to evaluate the relationships between the latent trait of interest and the items measuring the trait and accommodate both binary and ordinal response data. For dichotomous responses the one-parameter (1-PL) and two-parameter (2-PL) Rasch models are used, while 1-PL and the 2-PL Rating Scale Model (RSM) are applicable in instances when the test items contain more than two ordinal response categories. A description of the marginal maximum likelihood estimation technique and the numerical optimization algorithm are provided since these techniques used in this paper.

The main causes of irregular immigration include injustice, unemployment, political instability, lack of opportunities to live a decent life, poverty, and war. One of the biggest concerns of our time is the xenophobic behavior of an increasing number of individuals towards irregular immigrants. This fear of strangers is often manifested in prejudicial and hostile attitudes that may lead to methodical oppression and systematic denial of human rights. Using the responses of a sample of 300 individuals, this paper investigates the xenophobic attitudes of Maltese adults towards irregular immigrants, using IRT models.