What drives welfare chauvinism in Europe?

Robert Ford, Maria Sobolewska, Anouk Kootstra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper examines exclusionary reactions to welfare claimants based on their identity using two studies conducted in Great Britain and the Netherlands. The first employs repeated observations in a panel dataset to identify discriminatory responses to ethnic cues at the individual level. Three individual predispositions shape responses to ethnic cues in different ways: First, ethnocentric respondents respond negatively to ethnic cues. Second, those committed to anti-prejudice norms respond positively to the same cue. Third, the link between general redistributive principles and support for particular claimants weakens in the presence of ethnic cues. The second study conducts a randomised experiment to test how perceptions of claimant characteristics are impacted by ethnic cues. We find that ethnic cues do not yield harsher judgements of claimant needs or attitudes, but do have a negative impact on expressed sympathy with welfare claimants, suggesting welfare chauvinism may operate more through the ‘heart’ than the ‘head’.
Original languageEnglish
JournalWest European Politics
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 14 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • welfare chauvinism, deservingness, experiments, ethnocentrism, anti-prejudice norms

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