Abstract
AbstractThe present study examined the effect of group labels on helping behavioral intentions toward displaced people in Germany. Specifically, it examined the impact of different labels evoking either voluntary or forced migration (i.e., migrants, economic migrants, and refugees) on different helping orientations (e.g., dependency vs. autonomy‐oriented helping) and if these effects occur via perceived intergroup threat, warmth and competence stereotypes. Participants (N = 304) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (refugee vs. migrant vs. economic migrant) and read fabricated case vignettes, featuring a displaced person who arrived in Germany recently. Results showed that, as predicted, the use of different group labels affected the helping orientations of host society members, as well as, the stereotypes they held. No significant label effects were found for intergroup threat. While the label refugee evoked dependency‐oriented helping intentions and triggered paternalistic stereotypes, the label economic migrants increased opposition to help, decreased help affirmation and evoked envious stereotypes. Practical implications to strengthen peaceful intergroup relations between host society members and newcomers are discussed.
Highlights
In the field of social psychology, only few studies distinguished different subcategories of newly arrived people (Murray & Marx, 2013; Kotzur et al, 2017, 2019)
The present study examined the effect of group labels on helping behavioral intentions towards displaced people in Germany
Present Research The present study examines whether different group labels impact the type of help host society members are willing to provide
Summary
Participants were recruited via e-mail and social media platforms, using convenience sampling. Participants were asked whether they had helped refugees and migrants in the past and whether they had a specific group of people in mind while answering the questions (e.g., origin, gender and age group of the person described in the case vignette). The person presented in the text was labelled refugee, migrant or economic migrant. Opposition to helping was assessed with seven items (e.g., Helping refugees/ migrants/economic migrants only makes them more needy in the future”, α = .86). Autonomy-oriented helping intentions were assessed with 7 items (e.g., “The goal of helping should be to make sure refugees/migrants/ economic migrants can eventually take care of their own needs”, α = 85).
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