Abstract
Can different political ideologies explain policy preferences regarding asylum seekers? We focus on attitudes regarding governmental policy towards out-group members and suggest that perceptions of threat help to shape these policy attitudes. Study 1 compared public opinion regarding asylum policy in Israel (N = 137) and Australia (N = 138), two countries with restrictive asylum policies and who host a large number of asylum seekers; Study 2, a longitudinal study, was conducted during two different time periods in Israel-before and during the Gaza conflict. Results of both studies showed that threat perceptions of out-group members drive the relationship between conservative political ideologies and support for exclusionary asylum policies among citizens. Perceptions of threat held by members of the host country (the in-group) towards asylum seekers (the out-group) may influence policy formation. The effect of these out-groups threats needs to be critically weighed when considering Israeli and Australian policies towards asylum seekers.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 583-606 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Journal of Refugee Studies |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2016 |
Keywords
- Asylum policy
- conflict
- perception of threats
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Political Science and International Relations
