Mating Market Shock and Gendered Support for Ukrainian Refugees in Poland

• In Event: New Directions in Immigration Research

Abstract

Gender-based differences in attitudes toward immigration have been overlooked in extant literature, yet a gender gap exists in refugee support, with women being more favorable than men. Exploring this gender gap can yield important new insights regarding determinants of public attitudes toward immigration. In Poland, which currently hosts the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in the world, the gender gap in refugee support is reversed as women are less supportive of refugees than men, even though most Ukrainian refugees are women. We analyze data from three original surveys targeting nearly 10,000 respondents and find that self-interest and normative concerns shape attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees. Specifically, mating market competition and norms of paternalistic help both shape male respondents’ attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, though they leave female respondents relatively unaffected. Our analysis suggests that prevalent theories must account for gendered responses to immigration, and for the gender composition of the refugee population

Authors

• Nicholas Sambanis, Yale University

• Krzysztof Krakowski, King’s College London