Positiever tegenover vluchtelingen

Abstract

This article examines the effect of imagined contact with a refugee on the attitude of Dutch citizens toward refugees. It has also tested whether this relationship was mediated by realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes. 129 Dutch citizens were asked to imagine for one minute (1) a comfortable, positive interaction with a refugee, or (2) an outdoor scene. Afterwards they filled in a questionnaire in which their attitude toward refugees and their feelings of threat from refugees were measured. A regression analysis was conducted and no relationship was found between imagined contact and attitude toward refugees. This article only found a positive relationship between negative stereotypes and attitude toward refugees. This research contributes to the existing literature by showing that the effect of imagined contact on attitudes toward another group can be very low when the imagination happens in a private situation instead of in a laboratory.