University of Michigan and Cardiff University researchers concluded that public support for disability benefits in Wales depends on the degree of responsibility placed on the person for their disability—in a way we might expect—and whether the disabled person is an immigrant—in a way we might not expect.
Study participants considered the case of a man unable to work because of a brain injury. Depending on which of three groups the participant was assigned to, the brain injury was said to be either the result of childbirth complications, a high-speed motorcycle accident, or illicit drug use. For about half the number of participants in each of the three groups, the man was described as, “David is 28 years old and lives in Cardiff.” For the others, the man was described as, “Khalid is 28 years old and emigrated to Wales from Yemen with his family when he was 5.” Participants were asked to indicate how strongly they believed the man deserved some financial assistance from the government and how responsible they thought the man was for his disability.
Overall, respondents in the drug use condition were most likely to say the man was responsible for his disability, and those in the childbirth complications condition were least likely to say that.
Did David and Khalid deserve disability benefits? For those presented a David scenario, the childbirth group gave the highest ratings of deservedness, the drug group gave the lowest ratings, and the motorcycle group results were in the middle. But for Khalid, there was one intriguing exception to this same pattern: Respondents in the childbirth group gave lower ratings of deservedness than did those in the motorcycle group.
After considering the full set of findings, including from a study in Scotland, the researchers attribute this exception to respondents suspecting Khalid’s family of exploiting a more generous UK welfare system by emigrating to Wales after learning of Khalid’s disability. This suspected responsibility for gaming the system was intertwined with perceived responsibility for the brain injury, and the responsibility of Khalid for his actions was intertwined with the responsibility of Khalid’s family for their actions.
To effectively assess and change public opinion, attend to intertwined attributions which may not be apparent at first glance.
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