Out-group penalties in refugee assistance: A survey experiment

We conducted an online survey experiment with 4,087 Italian respondents to study out-group biases and the effect of European Union-wide immigration policies on attitudes towards refugees of different origins, namely war-affected Ukraine and African countries. To assess attitudes, we use a standard measure, the total donation amount from an endowment, and a novel measure, the share donated in cash, which is capable of detecting subtler forms of prejudice. Both out-groups received less than Italian victims of violence (the control group). We observe no difference in overall donations based on the recipient's origin; however, participants gave less cash to Africans, revealing stronger prejudice against distant out-groups, a result mainly driven by individuals with right-leaning political views. This hierarchy of preferences is primarily seen among individuals with right-leaning political views. Providing information on the EU's role in refugee management had no impact. Textual analysis of open-ended responses supports our findings.