How do narratives shape our thoughts and actions? What’s the effect of testimonial narratives on people’s attitude towards migration?

This infographic sums up the main conclusions of the BRIDGES Working Paper on the influence of narratives on attitudes towards migrants, together with the methodology followed in the unique experiment conducted in Spain and Hungary.

After sharing diverse immigrant work-life stories with the participants, manipulated in terms of narrative frame (immigrant as a Profiteer vs Victim vs Hero), origin of the immigrant (higher vs lower stigma), and narrative voice used (1st vs 3rd person), the experiment measured participants’ attitudes and helping intentions towards immigrants, along with a series of mechanisms that evaluated participants’ psychological experience with the testimony. The infographic shows the potential of testimonial narratives to generate certain emotions that lead to identification and more positive attitudes towards migration as a whole. It also shows how the results differ depending on the frame (Profiteer vs Victim vs Hero).

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