Transgression between refugees and local citizens: Empathy and behavioural action tendencies as a function of personal experiences with refugees.

Lippold, Yvonne (2025) Transgression between refugees and local citizens: Empathy and behavioural action tendencies as a function of personal experiences with refugees. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

This study examines how personal experiences with refugees influence emotional and behavioural responses to transgressions between local citizens and refugees. Using a between-subjects experimental design, 417 European participants were randomly assigned to read a fictional news article describing a violent incident in which the identities of both the perpetrator and the victim (refugee or local citizen) were manipulated. The study investigates whether positive or negative contact with refugees moderates participants’ levels of empathy and behavioural intentions in response to reading the transgression. The findings demonstrate that, positive experiences predict more empathy with refugees and pro-refugee behaviours, while negative experiences predict the opposite, regardless of victim or perpetrator identity. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed moderating effects of contact on emotional responses, like empathy with the victim and anger. Where higher levels of positive contact with refugees showed that people had more empathy towards the victim and felt more angry, particularly when the refugee was portrayed as the victim. Negative contact, however, showed that people had significantly less empathy with the victim and were less angry when the refugee was the victim in the article. Conversely, people with negative contact were more angry when the local citizens were the victim. These results highlight the crucial role of personal experience in shaping emotional responses and suggest that fostering positive contact may enhance social cohesion.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Gordijn, E.H.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2025 07:25
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2025 07:25
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5502

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