Support for resettling refugees: role of fixed-growth mindsets

Psychological Science

Organisational Behaviour

Psychological Science 2019 Vol 30:2 p 238-249

Madan S;Basu S;Rattan A;Savani K

Aneeta Rattan

2019

Six studies (N=2,340) identify one source of people’s differential support for resettling refugees in their country—their beliefs about whether the kind of person someone is fixed (i.e., a fixed mindset) or can be changed (i.e., a growth mindset). US and UK citizens who believed that the kind of person someone is can be changed were more likely to support resettling refugees in their country (Studies 1-2). Study 3 identified a causal relationship between fixed-growth mindsets and people’s support for resettling refugees. Importantly, people with a growth mindset were more likely to believe that refugees can assimilate in the host society, but not that they should assimilate; and the belief that refugees can assimilate mediated the relationship between people’s mindsets and their support for resettling refugees (Studies 4-6). The findings identify an important antecedent of people’s support for resettling refugees, and provide novel insights into the science of mindsets.

Refugees; Lay theories; Mindsets; Fixed-growth; Assimilation

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