Fleeing Voluntarily? How Projected Patriotism Shapes Attitudes towards Refugees

• In Event: Migration Motives and Public Opinion

Abstract

What shapes attitudes towards conflict migrants? A growing literature points out the events that cause displacement, which can be grouped as voluntary (economic mi- gration) and involuntary (fleeing from persecution, war, or natural disasters). However, the distinction between voluntary and involuntary migration is based on assumptions or labels that need to be addressed. While involuntary migration is argued to attract more sympathy than voluntary migration, I argue that fleeing from war, the main driver for the majority of forced displacements is not necessarily perceived as an invol- untary act. To explain when and how people perceive it as a voluntary act, I introduce a new definition and concept of patriotism called Projected Patriotism. People who embrace this notion expect citizens from other countries to act in patriotic ways and judge them accordingly, shaping their attitudes toward refugees. Employing survey ex- periments in the US and Turkey, first, I analyze how external factors such as potential refugee influx, political elites’ rhetorical use of refugees’ impact on economy, security and culture, and internal attributes such as attachment to national symbolic values, and existing patriotic ideologies affect their Projected Patriotism levels. Second, I ana- lyze how Projected Patriotism impacts attitudes towards conflict migrants conditional on events that cause displacement, and the ethnicity and gender of refugees.

Author

• Olgahan Çat, University of Texas at Austin