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Perspective taking can promote short-term inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees.

ABSTRACT: Social scientists have shown how easily individuals are moved to exclude outgroup members. Can we foster inclusion instead? This study leverages one of the most significant humanitarian crises of our time to test whether, and under what conditions, American citizens adopt more inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees. We conduct a nationally representative survey of over 5,000 American citizens in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election and experimentally test whether a perspective-taking exercise increases inclusionary behavior in the form of an anonymous letter supportive of refugees to be sent to the 45th President of the United States. Our results indicate that the perspective-taking message increases the likelihood of writing such a positive letter by two to five percentage points. By contrast, an informational message had no significant effect on letter writing. The effect of the perspective-taking exercise occurs in the short run only, manifests as a behavioral rather than an attitudinal response, and is strongest among Democrats. However, this effect also appears in the subset of Republican respondents, suggesting that efforts to promote perspective taking may move to action a wide cross-section of individuals.

SUBMITTER: Adida CL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6156655 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Perspective taking can promote short-term inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees.

Adida Claire L CL Lo Adeline A Platas Melina R MR

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20180904 38

Social scientists have shown how easily individuals are moved to exclude outgroup members. Can we foster inclusion instead? This study leverages one of the most significant humanitarian crises of our time to test whether, and under what conditions, American citizens adopt more inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees. We conduct a nationally representative survey of over 5,000 American citizens in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election and experimentally test whether a perspe ...[more]

PMID: 30181296

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Project description:BackgroundMounting evidence is revealing disparities in cognitive function and heightened dementia risk among refugees, yet research in this area remains scant. Despite bearing most of the world's refugee burden, limited-resource countries like Jordan are facing challenges when dealing with refugee health. There is a lack of research on the attitudes toward dementia and the cognitive healthcare gaps among refugees in Jordan.Methods32 older (≥ 55 years) Syrian refugees resettled in Jordan were recruited through a local community-based organization and interviewed in four focus groups (2 female and 2 male groups). Interviews were transcribed and translated, then coded using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsMean age of the sample was 60.1 years and 53.1% were female. Only 34.4% rated their memory as good or excellent. Themes were organized using the socioecological model: 1) At the individual level, participants believed high levels of stress, including low socioeconomic status, poor health, and traumatic history from their refugee experience increased their dementia risk. 2) Interpersonally, there is a fear of dementia due to the possible impact and burden on loved ones, particularly with the stigma surrounding dementia. 3) At the community level, participants noted that resettlement in Jordan - with a shared language, religion, and culture - offered protective effects due to facilitated access to social connection, information, and mental health self-care. 4) At the institution and policy level, participants believed older refugees faced restrictive policies for economic aid, healthcare, and employment, presenting a significant barrier to healthy aging.ConclusionsFindings from this study are the first to examine the attitudes of Syrian refugees in Jordan toward dementia and cognitive aging. These results could provide essential data inclusive of refugees as Jordan develops its National Dementia Plan. Investing in dementia awareness interventions and age-friendly neighborhoods may benefit aging refugees in limited-resources settings.

Project description:A number of post-migration stressors have been shown to adversely affect mental health in refugees resettled in high-income countries, including poor social integration, financial difficulties and discrimination, and recent evidence suggests that these effects are gender specific. Social support has been found to buffer against post-migration stress in some studies on refugee populations, though the evidence on this is mixed. The present study used cross-sectional survey data from a nationwide, randomly sampled group of adult refugees from Syria resettled in Sweden between 2008 and 2013 (N sample = 4,000, n respondents = 1,215, response rate 30.4%) to investigate gender-specific associations between post-migration stressors and subjective well-being (SWB) and whether these associations were modified by social support. SWB was measured with the WHO-5 Well-being Index (scaled 0-100), dichotomized into high (≥50) and low (<50) SWB. Main analyses were stratified by gender, and regressed SWB on four domains of post-migration stress (financial strain, social strain, competency strain and discrimination) using logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic variables and traumatic experiences. Social support was tested as an effect modifier. In fully adjusted models, main risk factors for low SWB were high financial strain, especially in males (ORhigh vs. low strain, males = 10.30 [4.91-21.6], p < 0.001 vs. ORhigh vs. low strain, females= 3.84 [1.68-8.79], p = 0.002), and high social strain, only in males (ORhigh vs. low strain, males = 9.21 [3.96-21.4], p < 0.001 vs. ORhigh vs. low strain, females = 1.03 [0.40-2.64], p = ns). There was some evidence that social support buffered the adverse association of financial strain with SWB. In conclusion, the present study found clear support of gender-specific effects of post-migration stressors on SWB. Mitigation strategies and interventions should be aware of and sensitive to these potential gendered effects, and future research exploring mental health in the context of resettlement stress should have a heightened focus on the important role of gender.

Project description:BackgroundScabies is one of the prevalent dermatological conditions, accounting for a substantial proportion of skin diseases in developing countries. It represents a significant health challenge when an outbreak appears in homecare and refugee camps as it may lead to enormous morbidity and high treatment costs. Because Scabies can be easily prevented through education, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of socio-demographic factors on the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices among Syrian refugees in Jordan's northern region.MethodsA prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among Syrian refugees attending primary health centers in northern Jordan, Ramtha, Mafraq, and Irbid, from February 2021 to May 2021. The targeted population was adult Syrian refugees above the age of 18. Two thousand participants were included in this study using simple random selection. The study questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge questions such as hearing about Scabies, causes of Scabies, signs and symptoms of Scabies, and its way of transmission. The data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 25.ResultsFemales with a mean age of 37.9 years old comprised the majority of the participants. The majority of the participants were married and had intermediate levels of education. The knowledge about Scabies lacked among the majority of the respondents (N = 1259); 321 respondents had moderate knowledge, while only 650 had good knowledge. A statistically significant association was found between knowledge scores and all demographic characteristics, including gender, marital status, income, and educational level.ConclusionThe general knowledge about Scabies among Syrian refugees is relatively low, with 1259 out of 2000 participants having a bad knowledge score. Moreover, the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices toward Scabies is highly affected by the demographic factors of the Syrian refugees' Health education for refugees is needed to improve their knowledge and help implement prevention programs.

Dataset Information

Perspective taking can promote short-term inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees.

Publications

Perspective taking can promote short-term inclusionary behavior toward Syrian refugees.

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