About the project
The research project IMMIGRANTS IN THE MEDIA aims at a better understanding of how media influence majority’s attitudes and behaviors towards immigrants – a socially pressing issue
connected to rapid expansion of immigration in Europe.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703495.
Our main goals are to determine how
media news about immigrants shape majority’s attitudes toward immigrants.
language labeling immigrants shapes readers’ attitudes toward immigrants.
previous contact with immigrants influences perception of media news about immigrants.
RESEARCH OUTCOMES
We found that reading a single report about an immigrant can influence how people like the given immigrant group. How?
Through CONTENT of media news:
People who have read a positive news about an immigrant liked the given immigrant group more than people who have read a negative news about an immigrant. People who have read an ambivalent news, containing both positive and negative information, did not differ from people who have read a positive news. Adding positive information into a negative report can introduce the given immigrant group in a more neutral way.
Through LANGUAGE describing immigrants:
People who have read a report where immigrants’ nationality was labeled with adjectives (a Kosovar man) liked the given immigrant group more than people who have read the very same report where immigrants’ nationality was labeled with nouns (a male Kosovar). If you want to challenge prejudice, prefer adjectives when describing immigrants’ nationality or ethnicity.
Numbers speak out
Average liking of stigmatized groups (Roma in the Czech Republic and Kosovo Albanians in Switzerland) after having read a positive and a negative report about members of stigmatized minorities.
Evaluation of ROMA after positive report
45%Evaluation of ROMA after negative report
25%Evaluation of KOSOVO ALBANIANS after positive report
62%Evaluation of KOSOVO ALBANIANS after negative report
52%Stigmatized groups were evaluated on feeling thermometers ranging from 0 (cold) to 100 degrees (warm).
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