Correcting Misperceptions Can Increase Anti-Immigration Attitudes

Abstract

Anti-immigration attitudes are widespread in many countries. However, recent research has also documented that many natives overestimate the number of immigrants in their countries. As a result, misperceptions have become viewed as an important explanatory factor for anti-immigration attitudes. This paper provides evidence that conflicts with this interpretation. A survey among a representative sample of 2,104 Germans reveals that anti-immigration attitudes are mostly driven by a desire for fewer asylum seekers. Moreover, while I replicate that Germans overestimate the share of immigrants in general, I also show that they strongly underestimate the number of asylum seekers. Finally, I perform an information provision experiment and find that eliminating the misperception regarding asylum seekers increases opposition to immigration.

Keywords: Immigration, Asylum, Information Intervention, Bias, Belief, Misperception, Information Provision Experiment