Studie om hur fördomar kan förändras över tid

Published: 03 January 2022 in European Sociological Review.

Paolo Velásquez has written the article together with his supervisor Maureen Eger, both from the Department of Sociology.

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What is the article about?

Using longitudinal data from Norway for the years 2013-2020, we look at the different effects of education on anti-immigrant sentiment. We took a very consistent finding in the social sciences and examined it at different levels, that is, the more education, the lower the levels of prejudice. Namely, we look at education at the individual- and regional-level, and how individuals with different educational attainment reacted to the migration crisis of 2015.

Why is it important to study this topic?

We often hear and assume that more education (especially tertiary education) has a causal effect on lowering prejudice. Is this true? Using longitudinal data, we follow the same individuals over time which can help us answer that question, by looking at whether individuals who attain more education exhibit lower levels of prejudice.

Is this part of a larger project?

This is part of the project "The Evolution of Prejudice" led by Professor Mikael Hjerm. We know quite a lot about the origins and the nature of prejudice, but surprisingly little on how or if prejudice changes over time. The project seeks to fill in this gap in our understanding.

What are the main takeaway points of the study?

The results indicate that individuals with higher levels of education have lower levels of anti-immigrant sentiment. We also found a small effect of attaining more education on lowering prejudice (at the individual- and regional-level). Lastly, individuals with at least 3-4 years of university of education did not react as strongly to the migration crisis of 2015 than those with lower levels of education.

Is there any result that surprises you?

I was surprised to see the small effect of attaining more education on lowering anti-immigrant sentiment. I thought the effect would be much larger. Some explanations as to why this is not the case can be that due to the highly salient migration crisis, the effect of more education was not as strong on lowering prejudice if it had happened at a time without a large influx of refugees. Education’s effects can also take more time to manifest themselves in later years which are not captured in the study. There is also self-selection. It could be that individuals with lower levels of prejudice self-select into higher education and that attaining more education has a very small or negligible effect on prejudice.

Was this an exciting study to conduct? Why?

It was great working with my main supervisor, Maureen Eger. I learned a ton from working on this paper with her for over a year! I also benefited greatly from comments and help from my second supervisor, Mikael Hjerm and from Malcolm Fairbrother.