Easing the Heavy Hand: Humanitarian Concern, Empathy, and Opinion on Immigration

Newman, Benjamin J.; Hartman, Todd K.; Lown, Patrick L.; Feldman, Stanley

doi:10.1017/s0007123413000410

Cited by 83 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Montada and Schneider (1989), for example, found that Germans who empathize with immigrants tend to support prosocial activities. Further, in three studies conducted in the U.S.A., it was found that individual differences in humanitarian concern and empathy were associated with support for immigration (Newman et al 2015; see also Bansak, Hainmueller, and Hangartner 2016). Iyer, Leach, and Crosb (2003) found that empathy is a general predictor of support for different affirmative action policies for African Americans.…”

Section: Empathy and Angermentioning

confidence: 99%

Public attitudes towards support for migrants: the importance of perceived voluntary and involuntary migration

Verkuyten

Mepham

Kros

2017

Ethnic and Racial Studies

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Immigration leads to strong and polarized public and political debates in Europe and the Western world more generally. In some of these debates, migrants are described as either having little choice but to migrate (involuntary) or as migrating out of their own free choice (voluntary). In two studies and using a social psychological perspective, native Dutch respondents were asked about their support for policies aimed at cultural rights and public assistance to perceived voluntary and involuntary migrants. Study 1 showed that stronger agreement with migration being voluntary was associated with lower policy support, while agreement with migration being involuntary was independently associated with higher support. In Study 2 the degree of support was examined as a consequence of feelings of empathy and anger. Perceived involuntariness of migration elicited feelings of empathy and therefore higher support for newcomers. In contrast, perceived voluntariness elicited stronger anger and therefore less support.

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Section: Empathy and Angermentioning

confidence: 99%

Public attitudes towards support for migrants: the importance of perceived voluntary and involuntary migration

Verkuyten

Mepham

Kros

2017

Ethnic and Racial Studies

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“…Second, cognitive‐developmental theories hold that the effectiveness of social input from parents and peers might depend on the child's socio‐cognitive mindset (Aboud & Amato, ; Black‐Gutman & Hickson, ; Levy, ). Research has shown empathy to moderate the effects of humanitarian concern inductions on immigrant policies (Newman, Hartman, Lown, & Feldman, ) and the effects of ingroup norms on outgroup liking (Nesdale, Griffiths, Durkin, & Maass, ). In line with this reasoning, the attitudes of highly empathic adolescents might be less affected by their parents or peers’ prejudice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of anti‐immigrant attitudes in adolescence: The role of parents, peers, intergroup friendships, and empathy

Miklikowska

2017

British J of Psychology

103

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Ethnic and racial intergroup attitudes are assumed to develop due to the influence of socialization contexts. However, there is still little longitudinal evidence supporting this claim. We also know little about the relative importance of socialization contexts, the possible interplay between them as well as about the conditions and mechanisms that might underlie socialization effects. This longitudinal study of adolescents (N = 517) examined the effects of parents and peers’ anti‐immigrant attitudes as well as intergroup friendships on relative changes in adolescents’ anti‐immigrant prejudice, controlling for the effects of socioeconomic background. It also examined whether the effects of parents or peers would depend on adolescents’ intergroup friendships. In addition, it explored whether the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships would be mediated or moderated by adolescents’ empathy. Results showed significant effects of parents, peers, intergroup friendships, and socioeconomic background on changes in youth attitudes, highlighting the role of parental prejudice. They also showed adolescents with immigrant friends to be less affected by parents and peers’ prejudice than youth without immigrant friends. In addition, results showed the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships to be mediated by adolescents’ empathic concern. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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“…It has been convincingly argued that both cognitive and affective aspects of empathy are essential elements for democratic deliberation (e.g., Newman et al 2015). Moreover, deliberation about immigration can be expected to raise concerns regarding the perspectives of the relevant outgroup (i.e., immigrants).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy in a Citizen Deliberation Experiment

2017

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Despite increased scholarly attention, there is still limited knowledge on how empathy works in democratic deliberation. This article examines the role of empathy in citizen deliberation with the help of a deliberative experiment on immigration. First, a random sample of citizens was surveyed regarding their opinions on immigration. Based on their opinions, they were then divided into a permissive or a non-permissive enclave, and randomly assigned into likeminded or mixed-opinion groups for deliberation. After deliberation, they were surveyed anew. The study analyzes: (a) empathy differences between permissive and non-permissive participants; (b) changes in outgroup empathy toward immigrants as a result of deliberation; and (c) differences in prosocial behavior (i.e., donating to charity). The results show that the permissive respondents had more empathy, especially toward immigrants, than the nonpermissive respondents. Among participants, outgroup empathy increased during deliberation. Regarding prosocial behavior, the permissive participants donated more often to charity at the end of the experiment.

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Easing the Heavy Hand: Humanitarian Concern, Empathy, and Opinion on Immigration

Cited by 83 publications

References 54 publications

Public attitudes towards support for migrants: the importance of perceived voluntary and involuntary migration

Public attitudes towards support for migrants: the importance of perceived voluntary and involuntary migration

Development of anti‐immigrant attitudes in adolescence: The role of parents, peers, intergroup friendships, and empathy

Empathy in a Citizen Deliberation Experiment

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