PhD defence Tobias Hillenbrand

Keywords: Immigration, Refugees, Public attitudes, Survey experiments

"Walking the tightrope of humanitarian concerns and perceived threats: Essays on attitudes toward refugee immigration in German"

From “Wir schaffen das” in 2015 to, ten years on, renewed calls for tougher asylum rules, Germany has seen swings in attitudes toward refugee immigration. Against the backdrop of a divisive European public debate, this dissertation examines how perceptions of refugee immigration are formed and how they shape preferences for asylum and refugee policy. It shows, first, that even an ostensibly neutral video providing information on Syrian refugees can erode empathy and heighten perceived threat. Second, it demonstrates that humanitarian messaging can increase concern for refugees and support for helping them abroad, but is not effective in raising support for refugee admission. Third, it finds that recent backlash against asylum immigration is rooted primarily in opposition to irregular border crossings rather than in principled rejection of refugee protection. At the same time, openness to legal and orderly pathways persists. Overall, the dissertation uncovers nuances often missed in polarized public debate.

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