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。保持积极的收容难民关系对于维护这些国家的安全很重要。这项研究调查了在资源匮乏的情况下，以难民的视角进行面对面对话是否可以减少个人对难民的偏见，以及干预后对外部群体的信念和态度的变化是否会通过社交网络在社会上传播。研究结果将显示，从长远来看，社交网络如何加强或削弱信仰和态度的改变，从而增进对这一进程中最困难的部分的认识：以具有成本效益和持久的方式消除对难民的偏见。此外，研究期间收集的网络数据将被用于构建教学资源，以帮助社会网络分析教学。这项研究将在学术出版物和一套面向公众的难民组织简报中达到高潮。这项研究的目标有四个：1.从家庭收集一个新的数据集，其中包含关于个人属性、对难民的态度、对社区对难民的看法的信念以及丰富的社会网络信息。2.评估旨在减少对难民的偏见的轻微干预措施的有效性。3.比较两种可能的减少偏见的干预措施的有效性，并确定从长远来看，社交处理如何加强或破坏态度的改变。4.检查哪些网络结构与其他社会认同标记相关，例如种族人口统计。随机挑选的家庭将接受前瞻性治疗。在一半的家庭中，采取观点的干预将通过一对一的个人互动进行，而在另一半的家庭中，将通过社区会议的社会过程进行。将对基线和后续调查的数据进行分析，以满足研究目标。这项研究将是第一批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之一。这些发现将极大地推动与难民人口研究、偏见监管以及社会网络对个人态度的影响相关的基础研究。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.