Status perceptions and immigration attitudes

Last registered on December 24, 2021
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Status perceptions and immigration attitudes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008630
Initial registration date
December 21, 2021

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
December 24, 2021, 5:04 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Biljana Meiske
Affiliation
Max Planck Insitute for Tax Law and Public Finance
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-12-01
End date
2022-06-30
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Discrimination, Immigration attitudes
JEL code(s)
C90, J15, J71
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research seeks to collect information on immigration attitudes and to understand the drivers behind these attitudes. I study the influence of own status perception among established immigrants on attitudes towards other immigrant groups.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Meiske, Biljana. 2021. "Status perceptions and immigration attitudes." AEA RCT Registry. December 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8630-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants with migration background are presented with the evaluations of different immigrant groups and their influence on life quality in the host country, as evaluated by a group of individuals from the country's majority population.
Intervention Start Date
2021-12-01
Intervention End Date
2022-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Respondents’ willingness to forgo some part of their experimental earnings in order to secure a donation to a refugee supporting program
2. Several attitudinal measures of participants' position towards refugees (as well as some other immigrant groups)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Indirect reciprocity
2. Preference for equality of treatment
3. Attitudinal measure of position towards refugees under observation
4. Self-assessed mood
5. Perceived norm among participants (from majority population) measured in the pre-study, regarding evaluation of impact of multiple immigrant groups on socio-economic and cultural life in Germany
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Indirect reciprocity is measured by means of a dictator game, where participants at the same time play both the role of receiver and a dictator. Participants receive a certain sum from another participant (sender), and decide how much to give to yet another participant (receiver). Indirect reciprocity is measured as a difference in giving when the sender was more generous and in the case where they were less generous towards given participant.

2. Preference for equality of treatment is measured by allowing participants to vote for making the conditions of earning income in the experiment easier for some future participants.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
I use a survey-experiment with a sample of participants with immigration background residing in Germany and experimentally vary the status of the participants' in-group. Participants are randomly chosen to receive a positive or negative evaluation of their own national/regional in-group, while holding the evaluation of several other out-groups fixed. The evaluations are the answers provided by the participants in a separate pre-study. After receiving the evaluation, participants are asked to provide their opinion on immigration of refugees from the Middle East to Germany, as expressed in answers to multiple attitudinal and one quasi-behavioral question.
Additionally, the experiment includes several games that aim to measure individual characteristics that might be relevant in explaining channels for the potential treatment effect, including indirect reciprocity, perceived norm change and preference for equality of treatment.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization performed by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 participants in positive information treatment, 500 participants in negative information treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee of Economics Faculty at the Ludwig Maximilian University
IRB Approval Date
2021-10-22
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials