Contact vs. information: What shapes attitudes towards immigration? Evidence from an experiment in schools

Erminia Florio

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2022, vol. 96, issue C

Abstract: We analyze whether (correct) information provision on immigration is more effective than contact in shaping attitudes towards immigration. We collect data from a randomized experiment in 18 middle- and high-school classes in the city of Rome. Half of the classes meet a refugee from Mauritania and read a book about his story, whereas the rest of them attend a lecture on figures and numbers on immigration in Italy and the world. On average, students develop better attitudes towards immigration (especially in the case of policy preferences and the perceived number of immigrants in their country) and somewhat improve their feelings associated with immigrants after the information treatment more than they do after the contact treatment. Also, students having received the information treatment strongly adjust their knowledge on immigration. However, students’ individual characteristics (sex and, to a lesser extent, age) affect treatments’ relative effectiveness.

Keywords: Attitudes towards immigration; Information provision; Contact theory; Randomized experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Related works:
Working Paper: Contact vs. Information: What shapes attitudes towards immigration? Evidence from an experiment in schools (2021)
Working Paper: Contact vs. Information: What shapes attitudes towards immigration? Evidence from an experiment in schools (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:96:y:2022:i:c:s2214804321001300

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2021.101790

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