Priming Family History to Increase Support for Immigration

• In Event: Increasing Inclusion, Reducing Prejudice

Abstract

As anti-immigrant political parties have gained strength in recent years, scholars have increasingly sought to understand processes by which individuals may develop more inclusive attitudes toward migrants. Building on a nascent literature that leverages emotion to shift such attitudes, this study utilizes online experiments to test whether priming family history can increase support for immigration in the United States by generating greater empathy for immigrants. Almost all American citizens are descended from elsewhere, and these stories are often passed down to the present. By reminding Americans of the struggles and hopes experienced by their families as they came to the United States, can attitudes toward immigrants and immigration be made more favorable?

The experiment randomizes, in three different studies, whether respondents are asked about their family's immigration history prior to asking about their attitudes toward immigration. The last experiment also directly tests whether the effect occurs via empathy.

The findings have implications for better understanding interventions that increase inclusion and reduce prejudice.

Authors

• Scott Williamson, Bocconi University

• Claire Leslie Adida, UCSD

• Adeline Lo, University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Melina Raquel Platas Izama, NYU Abu Dhabi

• Lauren Prather, University of California, San Diego