A study published last year indicates that many people
with anti-immigrant positions will change their attitudes if presented with
facts about immigrants—such as immigrants’ share in the overall
population, their incarceration rate, their employment rate, and their ability
to speak English. This suggests that one major factor in anti-immigrant
attitudes is the failure omedia to present an accurate picture of
immigration. However, the study also indicates that the simple presentation of
facts generally doesn’t change people’s preferences on immigration policy, as
opposed to their attitudes toward immigrants. In other words, facts aren’t
enough by themselves—suggesting that we need more engagement with people in the
form of discussion, dialogue, and organizing.—TPOI editor
By Ilya Somin, Washington Post
April 6, 2017
April 6, 2017
Widespread political ignorance is a serious problem, and
affects public opinion on many issues. Immigration figures prominently on the
list of those issues. During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump effectively
exploited public ignorance about the number of immigrants and their effect on
the crime rate. Similar ignorance likely had an impact on the Brexit referendum
in Britain. One of the most pernicious aspects of political ignorance is that
many people, both right and left, tend to reject new information that conflicts
with their preexisting views. Such “motivated reasoning” is particularly likely
on emotionally charged issues, such as immigration. That reality makes it
difficult to break through misinformation when it does arise. Even otherwise
intelligent and knowledgeable people tend to process new political information
in a highly biased way.
But new research by economists Alexis Grigorieff,
Christopher Roth, and Diego Ubfal suggests that combating public ignorance
about immigration may not be as hopeless a task as it might seem.[…]
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