| Summary: | Migration research searches for ways for natives to offer more help to migrants and for migrants to become more willing to integrate into host societies. We investigate whether cooperation between natives and migrants can be improved when a shared historical identity is made salient. We also examine whether cooperation levels decrease as the social status gap between natives and migrants increases. We do this in a lab-in-the-field experiment by studying interactions between native South Koreans and ethnic Korean migrants from China and North Korea. Shared historical Korean ethnic identity is activated through a video and, separately, an intergroup discussion. Willingness to cooperate is measured in behavioural games. We find that for supraordinate identity appeals to increase cooperation they must be substantive, lengthy, and ideally involve interpersonal communication. A simple video appeal fails. Supraordinate identity appeals are more likely to increase the natives' willingness to help, not the migrants' willingness to cooperate. We also find that supraordinate identity appeals fail even with natives when there is a large social status gap between natives and migrants.
|
|---|