Identification with all humanity, support for refugees and for extreme counter-terrorism measures

Abstract

Two studies examined the ability of Identification with all Humanity to predict attitudes in the United States regarding support for refugees and tolerance for civilian casualties in the war on terrorism. We expected identification with humanity to predict more support for refugees and less tolerance of civilian casualties in the war on terrorism. Moreover, we expected these effects to hold even when taking into account more frequently studied predictors of intergroup attitudes. In Study 1, 202 people (143 women, Age M = 26.62) completed an online survey, assessing Identification with all Humanity, social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, political orientation, and religiosity. In Study 2, the same measures were administered in person to a sample of 126 university students (91 women, Age M = 18.92). Identification with all Humanity was associated with more support for refugees in both studies and less support for extreme counter-terrorism measures in Study 1, even when controlling for other variables.