Can We Make a Difference? Prejudice Towards Asylum Seekers in Australia and the Effectiveness of Antiprejudice Interventions

Empathy and social closeness toward refugees from Syria: The mediating role of cultural intelligence

The predictors of social closeness toward refugees are rarely examined. In this study (N = 337), higher cultural intelligence (CQ) and higher empathy were defined as predictors of higher social closeness (lower social distance [the Social Distance Scale] and warmer feelings [the Feeling Thermometer]) toward refugees from Syria. This is the target group of prejudice and intensive coverage in the European mass media. The obtained results indicated that other-oriented empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking) and the motivational CQ predicted higher social closeness and warmer feelings toward refugees from Syria. Empathic personal distress predicted lower social closeness and colder feelings toward this group. Motivational CQ consistently served as the mediator of the relationship between empathy dimensions and social closeness toward Syrian refugees. Our findings reveal the previously unexplored correlations between empathy dimensions and cultural intelligence factors, including the mediational effects in predicting social closeness toward Syrian refugees.

False Beliefs About Asylum Seekers to Australia: The Role of Confidence in Such Beliefs, Prejudice, and the Third Person Effect

There has been much controversy about the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia in recent years, with the Australian Government continuing to enforce a very hard-line stance on asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat. The present study examined attitudes towards asylum seekers using 164 Australian community members during June 2015 by way of questionnaire. Our primary research question involved how five variables predicted false beliefs about asylum seekers. Specifically, we measured prejudice, the third-person effect, and confidence in the answers given to false beliefs about asylum seekers. Regression results indicated that the main predictors of false beliefs were right-wing political orientation, prejudice, confidence in espousing false beliefs, and the third-person effect (politicians). Furthermore, most of our community participants accepted a large number of false beliefs as being true, with approximately two-thirds of our participants scoring above the midpoint. This reflects similar findings over the last decade or so. Our results indicate that, if one believes in bottom-up change, a more nuanced approach needs to be undertaken with community anti-prejudice interventions.

Asylum Seekers and Resettled Refugees in Australia: Predicting Social Policy Attitude From Prejudice Versus Emotion

While most of the world's refugees reside in developing countries, their arrival to western countries is highly politicised, giving rise to questions about the types of entitlements and rights that should, or should not, be granted. In this study, using a mixed-methods community questionnaire (N = 185), we examined attitudes towards social policies aimed at providing assistance to two categories of new arrivals to Australia: resettled refugees (who arrive via its official refugee resettlement program) and asylum seekers (who arrive via boat and then seek refugee status). Social policy attitude was examined as a consequence of feelings of anger, fear, and threat, as well as levels of prejudice. Participants felt significantly higher levels of anger, fear, threat, and prejudice towards asylum seekers compared to resettled refugees. For both resettled refugees and asylum seekers, prejudice was an independent predictor of more restrictive social policy attitudes. For resettled refugees, fear and perceived threat were independent predictors for more restrictive social policy whereas for asylum seekers anger was an independent predictor of restrictive social policy. The qualitative data reinforced the quantitative findings and extended understanding on the appraisals that underpin negative attitudes and emotional responses. Practical implications relating to challenging community attitudes are discussed.