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Negativity Bias: The Impact of Framing of Immigration on Welfare State Support in Germany, Sweden and the UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Sabina Avdagic Open the ORCID record for Sabina Avdagic [Opens in a new window]  and
Lee Savage
Sabina Avdagic*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Lee Savage
Affiliation:
Department of European and International Studies, King's College London, UK
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

How does the framing of immigration influence support for the welfare state? Drawing on research from psychology, specifically the notion of negativity bias and the sequencing of negative and positive information, this article argues that negative immigration frames undermine welfare support, while positive frames have little or no effect. Individuals take less notice of positive frames, and the effect of such frames is further undermined by the previous exposure to negative frames, which tend to stick longer in people's minds. The findings, based on survey experiments on over 9,000 individuals in Germany, Sweden and the UK, show that negative framing of immigration has a strong and pervasive effect on support for welfare. The article also finds some evidence that this effect is further amplified for people who hold anti-immigrant and anti-welfare attitudes or feel economically insecure. The effect of positive framing is considerably weaker and does not strengthen welfare support in any of the three countries.

Keywords

welfare spendingimmigrationframing
Type
Article
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 624 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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