When Hearts Meet Minds: Complementary Effects of Perspective-Getting and Information on Refugee Inclusion (With Claire Adida, Adeline Lo, Melina Platas, and Lauren Prather). Under Review.
Perspective-getting and correcting misconceptions are two common interventions to promote inclusion toward outgroups. However, each strategy has limitations. Empirical work on information corrections yields inconclusive results, and empathy-based interventions may reproduce the biases they are meant to alleviate. We clarify the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy and offer a design to identify the conditions under which they are most effective. Using three studies on refugee inclusion with nearly 15,000 Americans over three years, we find that information and perspective-getting affect different outcomes. Perspective-getting affects warmth, policy preferences, and behavior, while information leads to factual updating only. We show that combining both interventions produces an additive effect on all outcomes, but neither strategy enhances the other. Bundling the strategies helps guard against potential backfire effects of information, however. Our results underscore the promise and limits of information and perspective-getting for promoting inclusion, highlighting the benefits of integrating the two strategies.