This study aims to examine if the modernization losers' thesis is applicable in Sweden today in regards to explaining differences in xenophobia. The material that is being examined is from the Swedish division of the European Social Survey round 7 from 2014. The results show some support for some parts of the theory, but are too complex to be generalized to the population. But the study show that education have a negative correlation with xenophobia, which is significant and therefore reliable. Problems with the study is, however, brought up and questioned and also the applicability of the theory which gives some guidelines to further and more specific studies. / Denna studie ämnar undersöka huruvida teorin om modernitetens förlorare går att applicera på dagens Sverige för att förklara skillnader i grad av främlingsfientlighet. Datamaterialet som undersökts är från den svenska delen av European Social Survey round 7 från år 2014. Resultaten ger visst stöd för delar av teorin, men visar sig alltför komplexa för att kunna generaliseras till populationen. Ju högre utbildningsgrad, desto lägre grad av främlingsfientlighet är dock ett signifikant och tillförlitligt resultat. Det tas också upp problem i såväl studiens genomförande som teorins applicerbarhet och riktlinjer ges för mer specifika studier som bör göras i framtiden.

The aim of this paper is to investigate what influences the degree of sympathy for the Sweden Democrats in between 2007-2015 and how this has changed over time. The essay is based on two different theories, one of which claims that the Sweden Democrats' sympathizers are ”losers of modernisation”, where the socio-economic factors are the most important explanation factor for explaining their sympathy for the Sweden Democrats. The second theory highlights instead that the Sweden Democrats' sympathizers focus on issues and party leaders, so their preferences in these areas are the most important explanatory factors for their sympathy for the Sweden Democrats. This essay is based on regression analyzes that utilize data from Super-Riks-SOM, which is collected by the SOM-Institute in Gothenburg. The essay concludes that the issues and the party leadership are the most important factors explaining  to the degree of sympathy for the Sweden Democrats in 2007-2015, and that the importance of these factors have gradually increased during these years while the importance of socio-economic factors have decreased.