Support for Refugee Integration in West and East Germany Results from Two Lost Letter Studies
Original Article Support for Refugee Integration in West and East Germany Results From Two Lost Letter Studies Jens H. Hellmann1 , Boris Forthmann1, Judith Knausenberger1, Deborah F. Hellmann2, Jonas H. Rees3, Eva Gansel1, Mitja D. Back1, and Gerald Echterhoff1 1Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Germany 2University of Applied Administrative Sciences NRW, Duisburg, Germany 3Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence & Department of Social Psychology, Bielefeld University, Germany Abstract: Prior research has reported less favorable attitudes toward and more violent crimes against ethnic out-group members in East (vs. West) Germany. We conducted two pre-registered lost letter studies in West versus East German cities (Study 1, N = 400) and in West versus East German rural areas (Study 2, N = 400). To investigate supportive behavior regarding refugee integration, we manipulated the addressee (refugee-integration vs. immigration-stop projects). Contrary to predictions, letter return rates did not differ between West and East Germany. Across western and eastern German regions, return rates were higher for the refugee-integration project in urban areas while no differences emerged in rural areas. A pooled analysis found greater support for the refugee-integration (vs. immigration-stop) project. Keywords: refugee integration, immigration, lost letters, prosocial behavior, Germany Since 2015, wars and other conflicts have forced more than Attitudes Toward Migrants in East and 68 million individuals globally to flee their places of West Germany residence, leading to what has been coined the greatest so-called “refugee crisis” since World War II (Bansak, The vast majority of previous studies has revealed higher Hainmueller, & Hangartner, 2016; Esses, Hamilton, & levels of prejudice against members of ethnic out-groups Gaucher, 2017).
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