Migration narratives and attitudes towards immigration

Last registered on November 30, 2022

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Migration narratives and attitudes towards immigration

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010272

Initial registration date

November 29, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

November 30, 2022, 2:29 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Italy

Region

Lazio

Primary Investigator

Name

Erminia Florio

Affiliation

HEC Montréal

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Alessio Mirtini

PI Affiliation

Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2022-12-01

End date

2023-03-01

Keywords

Behavior, Education

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

The research studies the effect of different narratives on perceptions and policy preferences towards migration among high school students in Rome. How do different narratives shape attitudes towards migrants? Are students more affected by narratives about in-group members or narratives about out-group members?

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Florio, Erminia and Alessio Mirtini. 2022. "Migration narratives and attitudes towards immigration." AEA RCT Registry. November 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10272-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We will administer high school students a survey focusing on the attitudes towards immigrants. Within the survey, students in treatment groups 1 and 2 will be told a migration story (from the point of view of an Italian and an Albanian, respectively) and we will assess how the different migration perspectives shape students attitudes towards immigrants.

Intervention Start Date

2022-12-01

Intervention End Date

2023-03-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Political preferences towards immigration and attitudes towards immigration; willingness to pay for migration charity.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Political preferences towards immigration are measured as: policy relevance of the immigration issue, positions on economic support to immigrants. Attitudes towards immigration: when an immigrant should be considered as country national, perception of immigration as a resource.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We will propose the intervention to 12 schools in southern Rome and, based on the availability of schools, we will randomly select two first-year classes in each high school to participate in the survey (around 50 students per school). Through an individual randomization at the time of survey completion, students will be divided in the three groups above mentioned: the two treatment groups and the control group.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done via survey platform the day of the intervention.

Randomization Unit

Individual randomization

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

12 schools, 2 (first year) classes per school,

Sample size: planned number of observations

600 high school students.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

200 students treatment 1, 200 students treatment 2, 200 students control.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Assuming average intention to repatriate (proxy for bad attitudes towards immigration) is 0.28 (sd 0.45) - we calculated these data from Florio (2022), who collects data from a similar sample of students from Rome -, power of 0.8, a Type-I error of 0.05, we are able to detect a minimum effect of 0.13 or better.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB