Collaborative Research: Reducing Prejudice Toward Refugees: How Social Networks Reinforce and Unravel Attitude Change

世界上大多数政治难民生活在发展中国家。维持积极的东道国与难民关系对于维持这些国家的安全至关重要。本研究调查了在资源匮乏的背景下，以难民的角度进行面对面的对话是否可以减少个人对难民的偏见，以及干预后，对外围群体的信念和态度的改变是否会通过社交网络在社会上传播。研究结果将显示社会网络如何在长期内加强或破坏信仰和态度的变化，从而提高对这一过程中最困难部分的认识：以具有成本效益和持久的方式消除对难民的偏见。此外，在研究过程中收集的网络数据将用于构建教学资源，以辅助社会网络分析教学。这项研究最终将出版学术刊物，并为难民组织编写一套面向公众的简报。本研究的目的有四个方面：1。从家庭中收集一个新的数据集，其中包含个人属性、对难民的态度、对社区对难民看法的看法以及丰富的社会网络信息。2. 评估旨在减少对难民偏见的轻度干预的有效性。3. 比较两种可能减少偏见的干预措施的有效性，并确定社会处理如何在长期内加强或破坏态度变化。4. 检查哪些网络结构与其他社会身份标记相关，如种族人口统计。随机选择的家庭将接受换位思考治疗。在一半的家庭中，换位思考干预将通过一对一的个人互动进行，而在其他家庭中，换位思考干预将通过社区会议的社会过程进行。将分析基线和后续调查的数据，以满足研究目标。这项研究将是第一个直接检查旨在减少偏见的个人层面治疗的社会处理过程的研究。这些发现将大大促进有关难民人口、偏见管制和社会网络对个人态度的影响等领域的基础研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Most of the world’s political refugees live in developing countries. Maintaining positive host-refugee relations is important for maintaining security in these countries. This study investigates whether face-to-face conversations aimed at taking the perspective of refugees can reduce an individual’s prejudice towards refugees in a resource-poor context, and whether changes in beliefs about and attitudes towards outgroups spread socially, via social networks after the intervention. The study results will show how social networks reinforce or undermine changes in beliefs and attitudes in the longer-term, thereby advancing knowledge on the most difficult part of this process: countering prejudice towards refugees in ways that are cost-effective and durable. Additionally, the network data collected during the study will be used to build a pedagogical resource to aid social network analysis instruction. The study will culminate in both scholarly publications and a public-facing set of briefs for refugee organizations. The objectives of this study are fourfold: 1. Assemble a new dataset from households with information on individual attributes, attitudes towards refugees, beliefs about community views on refugees, and rich social network information. 2. Assess the effectiveness of a light-touch intervention aimed at reducing prejudice towards refugees. 3. Compare the effectiveness of two possible prejudice-reduction interventions and determine how social processing reinforces or unravels attitude change in the longer-term. 4. Examine which network structures correlate with other social identity markers, such as ethnic demography. Randomly selected households will receive a perspective-taking treatment. In half of the households, the perspective-taking intervention will occur via a one-on-one, individual interaction, and in the others, it will occur via a social process at a community meeting. Data from baseline and subsequent surveys will be analyzed to meet the study objectives. The study will be among the first to examine directly the social processing of an individual-level treatment aimed at prejudice reduction. The findings will significantly advance basic research in areas related to the study of refugee populations, prejudice regulation, and the influence of social networks on individual attitudes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.