Empathy and Behavioral Intentions Change Toward Ukrainian Refugees: A Comparative Analysis of Right-Wing and Left-Wing Ideology Endorsement Among Irish Citizens Exposed to War Narrative

Till, Dieter van (2024) Empathy and Behavioral Intentions Change Toward Ukrainian Refugees: A Comparative Analysis of Right-Wing and Left-Wing Ideology Endorsement Among Irish Citizens Exposed to War Narrative. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

The widespread displacement of Ukrainian refugees amid heightened polarization in Europe has raised concerns, particularly in Ireland, where challenges related to the housing crisis coincide with diminishing support for the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees. This thesis delves into the Irish perspective on Ukrainian refugees, specifically examining empathy and behavioral intentions. Through a quasi-experiment involving 225 Irish participants, the study investigates the main effects of political ideology and experimental manipulation (war exposure vs. control) on empathy and behavioral intentions. Additionally, it investigates the interaction effect between political ideology and experimental manipulation on both empathy and behavioral intentions. The findings reveal that participants endorsing a right-wing ideology exhibited reduced empathy and positive behavioral intentions toward Ukrainian refugees. Furthermore, participants displayed heightened empathy and positive behavioral intentions in the war story condition compared to the control condition. However, the interaction effect between political ideology and experimental manipulation on both empathy and positive behavioral intention was not statistically significant. The study concludes with recommendations for further exploration of this topic, extending beyond the Irish population and Ukrainian refugees. Keywords: empathy, behavioral intention, Irish citizens, Ukrainian refugees, war-story exposure

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Borinca, I.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	22 Jan 2024 10:10
Last Modified:	24 Jan 2024 10:28
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3006

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