Speaking-out on the Migration Crisis in Europe or remaining silent? The importance of the interplay between personal attitudes and the perceived group norm in speaking out behaviours

Khamzina, Kamilla [UCL] Cougnon, Louise-Amélie [UCL] Guimond, Serge [Université de Clermont-Ferrand]

What do Europeans think immigration and how do they express themselves on this issue? These questions were examined in the present research from both a social psychological and a semantic perspective. Drawing on the distinction between people’s personal attitudes and their perceptions of the attitudes of others, or perceived group norm, the mismatch between the two was tested as a determinant of Europeans’ speaking-out behaviours on immigration. Moreover, by using a word-associations task, the manner in which Europeans express themselves was also examined. Overall, the results from both methodologies were largely consistent with each other, showing that Europeans are generally less hostile than they perceive others to be. Moreover, speaking-out behaviours resulting from such a mismatch were moderated by the level of identification with Europe, providing evidence of conformity among the weakly identified but also evidence of dissent and resistance among those identifying strongly with Europe. Distinguishing between personal attitudes and perceived norm thus allowed for a better understanding of changing public opinion on sensitive social issues.