Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees
- Author
- Dawid Walentek (UGent) , Natalia Letki, Peter Thisted Dinesen and Ulf Liebe
- Organization
- Abstract
- Research demonstrates that media framing of immigrants and refugees affects sentiments toward these groups in the receiving societies; however, no evidence on the media effects on actual behavior toward these groups has been offered. We contribute by testing the impact of media framing on a behavioral outcome through an online experiment carried out in seven European Union (EU) countries. We randomly assigned visual treatments corresponding to humanitarian, security, and economic burden media frames, and offered respondents an opportunity to donate to a charity supporting refugees. Exposure to the humanitarian frame increases the probability of a donation, while there is no statistically significant effect of the security and economic frames. Furthermore, we observe a moderating role of ethnocentrism and political ideology on the humanitarian and the security frames.
- Keywords
- Experiment, design, theoretical model and method, public opinion, subfields, rational choice, theory
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01KJDD4FT4CEMB7QV81F9HCJMJ
- MLA
- Walentek, Dawid, et al. “Measuring the Effect of Media Framing on Behavior towards Refugees.” EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS, vol. 26, no. 4, 2025, pp. 714–35, doi:10.1177/14651165251365550.
- APA
- Walentek, D., Letki, N., Dinesen, P. T., & Liebe, U. (2025). Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees. EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS, 26(4), 714–735. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251365550
- Chicago author-date
- Walentek, Dawid, Natalia Letki, Peter Thisted Dinesen, and Ulf Liebe. 2025. “Measuring the Effect of Media Framing on Behavior towards Refugees.” EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS 26 (4): 714–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251365550.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Walentek, Dawid, Natalia Letki, Peter Thisted Dinesen, and Ulf Liebe. 2025. “Measuring the Effect of Media Framing on Behavior towards Refugees.” EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS 26 (4): 714–735. doi:10.1177/14651165251365550.
- Vancouver
- 1.Walentek D, Letki N, Dinesen PT, Liebe U. Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees. EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS. 2025;26(4):714–35.
- IEEE
- [1]D. Walentek, N. Letki, P. T. Dinesen, and U. Liebe, “Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees,” EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 714–735, 2025.
@article{01KJDD4FT4CEMB7QV81F9HCJMJ,
abstract = {{Research demonstrates that media framing of immigrants and refugees affects sentiments toward these groups in the receiving societies; however, no evidence on the media effects on actual behavior toward these groups has been offered. We contribute by testing the impact of media framing on a behavioral outcome through an online experiment carried out in seven European Union (EU) countries. We randomly assigned visual treatments corresponding to humanitarian, security, and economic burden media frames, and offered respondents an opportunity to donate to a charity supporting refugees. Exposure to the humanitarian frame increases the probability of a donation, while there is no statistically significant effect of the security and economic frames. Furthermore, we observe a moderating role of ethnocentrism and political ideology on the humanitarian and the security frames.}},
author = {{Walentek, Dawid and Letki, Natalia and Dinesen, Peter Thisted and Liebe, Ulf}},
issn = {{1465-1165}},
journal = {{EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS}},
keywords = {{Experiment,design,theoretical model and method,public opinion,subfields,rational choice,theory}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{714--735}},
title = {{Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251365550}},
volume = {{26}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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