What determines positive attitudes toward refugees and why? Comparing Türkiye and Germany in response to post-2011 forced migration crisis based on the context of value change and institutional trust

Abstract

This study aims to provide empirical evidence in exploring the determinants of creating positive attitudes toward refugees and the reason behind this by responding the question: ‘Under what conditions do communities with migration experience in refugee-receiving states become more open toward accepting more refugees, and why?’. This research seeks answers to this question by testing two hypotheses: (i) post-materialist, cooperative, inclusive and egalitarian norms within the population may serve as an effective strategy for fostering a more welcoming attitude towards refugees and mitigating xenophobic sentiments and (ii) well-functioning migration governance based on the high-level of institutional and regulatory capacity of host countries and the ability to foster institutional trust within the resident communities are anticipated to play a crucial role in shaping a positive attitude towards refugees. Even though findings obtained under this research did not produce any significant result for supporting or falsifying the first hypothesis which aims to examine the impact of change in value preferences on attitudes toward refugees, this research found that regulatory and institution of host countries and institutional trust toward them among people matter in shaping people’s attitudes toward acceptance of further refugees in a positive way.