Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T19:04:43.323Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Brother or Burden: An Experiment on Reducing Prejudice Toward Syrian Refugees in Turkey*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2015

Abstract

Can emphasis on shared religion reduce out-group prejudice? To explore this question, we conducted a survey experiment on the effect of religious primes on Turkish citizens’ attitudes and behavior toward Syrian refugees in Istanbul and Gaziantep. We used a factorial design to compare the independent and interactive effects of primes emphasizing refugees’ Sunni or Muslim identity and a factual statement on the economic cost of the refugees. We find that religious primes increase respondents’ level of donations to a charity supporting Syrian refugees and certain attitudinal measures of support for the refugees. We also uncovered a differential impact among the Sunni and Muslim primes and found that the statement of economic cost removed the pro-refugee effect of religious primes.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
© The European Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Egor Lazarev is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science, Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027 ([email protected]). Kunaal Sharma is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science, Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027 ([email protected]) The authors are thankful to editors and reviewers, Magdalena Bennett-Colomer, Chris Blattman, Clava Brodsky, Ali Carkoglu, Daniel Corstange, Alex Coppock, Jerome Doyon, Florian Foos, Don Green, John Huber, Macartan Humphreys, Shanto Iyengar, Zeynep Keles, Yotam Margalit, Vera Mironova, Harsh Pandya, Serra Saridereli, Aslihan Saygili, Boris Sokolov, David Szakonyi and Kai Thaler for their insights and commentary. The authors are also grateful to Mustafa Akay, Oznur Arabaci, Ahmet Demircioglu, Ipek Erman, Busra Gecer, Elif Gundoglu, Ceren Gunel, Yusuf Gungor, Erdem Idil, Sabri Kalkar, Aycan Kararmaz, Ece Kocak, Cem Lafci, Erol Sayin, Yalcin Ucar and Fatma Zagrali for excellent research assistance. The authors thank the Center for the Study of Development Strategies at Columbia University for its financial support of our project. To view supplementary materials for this article, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.57

References

Anderson, Michael L. 2008. ‘Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects’. Journal of the American Statistical Association 103(484):14811495.Google Scholar
Balci, Bayram. 2014. ‘Syria Drawn into Turkey’s Crisis.’ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 6 February 2014. Available at http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54445, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Barabas, Jason, and Jerit, Jennifer. 2010. ‘Are Survey Experiments Externally Valid?American Political Science Review 104(2):226242.Google Scholar
Blaydes, Lisa, and Gillum, Rachel M.. 2013. ‘Religiosity-of-Interviewer Effects: Assessing the Impact of Veiled Enumerators on Survey Response in Egypt’. Politics and Religion 6(3):459482.Google Scholar
Brader, Ted, Valentino, Nicholas A., and Suhay, Elizabeth. 2008. ‘What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat’. American Journal of Political Science 52(4):959978.Google Scholar
Brewer, Marilynn B, and Miller, Norman. 1984. Groups in Contact: The Psychology of Desegregation. Orlando: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bush, Sarah Sunn, and Jamal, Amaney A.. 2015. ‘Anti-Americanism, Authoritarian Politics, and Attitudes About Women’s Representation: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Jordan’. International Studies Quarterly 59(1):3445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carkoglu, Ali, and Kalaycioglu, Ersin. 2009. The Rising Tide of Conservatism in Turkey. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Charnysh, Volha, Lucas, Christopher, and Singh, Prerna. 2015. ‘The Ties that Bind National Identity Salience and Pro-Social Behavior Toward the Ethnic Other’. Comparative Political Studies 48(3):267300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chong, Dennis, and Druckman, James N.. 2007. ‘Framing Theory’. Annual Review of Political Science 10:103126.Google Scholar
Colby, Anne, and Damon, William. 2010. Some Do Care. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Dancygier, Rafaela M., and Laitin, David D.. 2014. ‘Immigration Into Europe: Economic Discrimination, Violence, and Public Policy’. Annual Review of Political Science 17:4364.Google Scholar
Dovidio, John F., Johnson, James D., Gaertner, Samuel L., Pearson, Adam R., Saguy, Tamar, and Ashburn-Nardo, Leslie. 2010. ‘Empathy and Intergroup Relations’. Prosocial Motives, Emotions, and Behavior: The Better Angels of Our Nature 393408.Google Scholar
Druckman, James N. 2004. ‘Political Preference Formation: Competition, Deliberation, and the (ir) Relevance of Framing Effects’. American Political Science Review 98(4):671686.Google Scholar
Fehim Tastekin. 2013. ‘Turkey’s Sunni Identity Test’. Al Monitor, 21 June 2013.Google Scholar
Gaertner, Samuel L., and Dovidio, John F.. 2000. Reducing Intergroup Bias: The Common Ingroup Identity Model. New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Gaertner, Samuel L., Dovidio, John F., and Bachman, Betty A.. 1996. ‘Revisiting the Contact Hypothesis: The Induction of a Common Ingroup Identity’. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 20(3):271290.Google Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, and Hopkins, Daniel J.. 2014. ‘Public Attitudes Toward Immigration’. Annual Review of Political Science 17:225249.Google Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, and Hangartner, Dominik. 2013. ‘Who Gets a Swiss Passport? A Natural Experiment in Immigrant Discrimination’. American Political Science Review 107(1):159187.Google Scholar
Hardy, Sam A., and Carlo, Gustavo. 2005. ‘Identity as a Source of Moral Motivation’. Human Development 48(4):232256.Google Scholar
Hart, Austin, and Middleton, Joel A.. 2014. ‘Priming Under Fire: Reverse Causality and the Classic Media Priming Hypothesis’. The Journal of Politics 76(2):581592.Google Scholar
Hurriyet Daily News . 2013. ‘Turkey Spent $1.5 billion on Syrian Refugees’. Hurriyet Daily News, 12 March 2013. Available at http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-spent-15-billion-on-syrian-refugees.aspx?pageID=238&nid=42793, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Karaveli, Halil. 2013. ‘Erdogan Stokes the Sectarian Fires’. New York Times, 7 October 2013. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/opinion/erdogan-stokes-the-sectarian-fires.html?_r=0, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Kam, Cindy D.. 2010. Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kirişci, Kemal. 2014. Syrian Refugees and TurkeyÕs Challenges: Going Beyond Hospitality. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Available at http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2014/05/12-turkey-syrian-refugees-kirisci/syrian-refugees-and-turkeys-challenges-may-14-2014.pdf, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Kramer, Roderick M., and Brewer, Marilynn B.. 1984. ‘Effects of Group Identity on Resource Use in a Simulated Commons Dilemma’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46(5):10441057.Google Scholar
Kurzban, Robert, Tooby, John, and Cosmides, Leda. 2001. ‘Can Race be Erased? Coalitional Computation and Social Categorization’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98(26):1538715392.Google Scholar
List, John A., and Price, Michael K.. 2009. ‘The Role of Social Connections in Charitable Fundraising: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment’. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 69(2):160169.Google Scholar
McCleary, Rachel M. 2007. ‘Salvation, Damnation, and Economic Incentives’. Journal of Contemporary Religion 22(1):4974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuberg, Steven L., Cialdini, Robert B., Brown, Stephanie L., Luce, Carol, Sagarin, Brad J., and Lewis, Brian P.. 1997. ‘Does Empathy Lead to Anything More Than Superficial Helping? Comment on Batson et al. (1997)’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73(3):510516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onishi, Norinitsu. 2013. ‘Syria Seen as Most Dire Crisis in Generation’. New York Times, 23 November 2013. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/middleeast/syria-seen-as-most-dire-refugee-crisis-in-a-generation.html, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Özden, Senay. 2013. ‘Syrian Refugees in Turkey’. Migration Policy Centre, Research Report 2013/05. Available at http://www.migrationpolicycentre.eu/docs/MPC-RR-2013-05.pdf, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
Paluck, Elizabeth Levy, and Green, Donald P.. 2009. ‘Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice’. Annual Review of Psychology 60:339367.Google Scholar
Salehyan, Idean, and Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede. 2006. ‘Refugees and the Spread of Civil War’. International Organization 60(2):335366.Google Scholar
Skitka, Linda J., and Morgan, G. Scott. 2014. ‘The Social and Political Implications of Moral Conviction’. Political Psychology 35(S1):95110.Google Scholar
Stürmer, Stefan, Snyder, Mark, and Omoto, Allen M.. 2005. ‘Prosocial Emotions and Helping: The Moderating Role of Group Membership’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88(3):532546.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and Turner, John C.. 1979. ‘An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict’. The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations 3347.Google Scholar
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2014. ‘UNHCR: Mid-Year Trends 2014’. UNHCR. Available at http://unhcr.org/54aa91d89.html, accessed 8 October 2015.Google Scholar
US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 2012. ‘International Religious Freedom Report 2012: Turkey’. Washington DC: US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Lazarev and Sharma supplementary material

Appendix Tables 1-3

Download Lazarev and Sharma supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 70.1 KB