Social Attitudes, Behaviour And Influence Towards Asylum Seekers: A Case Study Of The United Kingdom

Introduction

Concisely, the views of many British people towards asylum seekers and the entire immigration phenomena are unfavourable with a substantial majority opining that immigration ought to be reduced. However, evidence from multiple sources indicate that over the recent years, attitudes towards the same have softened. According to (Blinder, 2011), immigration was long considered as Britain’s ‘most important issue’ between 2001 and mid-2016. Since the EU referendum, however, people have displayed an accommodating attitude towards the issue of asylum seekers.

The UK makes a clear distinction between the types of migrants – highly skilled immigrants are preferred to unskilled and those from countries with a similar cultural background e.g. Australia preferred over immigrants from countries perceived to be culturally distant e.g. Muslim countries (Ford, 2011)

Moreover, in the wake of the Brexit move, the attitude towards asylum seekers in the UK have changed drastically making immigration a new point of political cleavage in the country. In 2013 for example, opponents of immigration stood at 77% making the UK one of the most anti-immigration countries in the EU. On average, opponents of Brexit were considered more socially liberal and pro-immigration whereas proponents of Brexit are considered anti-immigrants and more socially conservative (Hobolt, 2016).

Despite the enormity of the task for the British government, there are possible solutions that can help mitigate the attitude, behaviour and influence on asylum seekers amongst the British population. In this report, we will utilize two major persuasion models that can offer solutions to the current behaviour of the UK population towards immigration and asylum seekers. The two models are the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM), which are discussed in the subsequent section of this report.

One of the solution entails putting in place frameworks and policies that provide protection for immigrants. This does not mean that the UK government should allow the blanket access of immigrants but rather, to identify immigrants who are most in need of international protection and affording them protection accordingly. For immigrants whose asylum claims are rejected, the UK should ensure their humane treatment including safe return to their home countries (Favell, 2016).

Secondly, in conjunction with other EU governments, the British government ought to adopt a coherent comprehensive and long-term strategy to deal with both the cause and repercussions of the current influx of asylum seekers in the region. This includes adequate political, diplomatic and economic investments in their countries of origin and enhancing asylum systems for possible resettlement of immigrants within the country and the region at large (McLaren, 2012).

Finally, it is crucial that the UK views the current situation, not as a crisis, but as an opportunity in relation to human capital since the human capital brought by immigrants rarely features in political and public discourse. Asylum seekers invariably possess and offer entrepreneurial expertise, skills and capacities that can help address income and labour market gaps the country faces due to the decline of their population age and birth rates (Bodewig, 2015).

Social Attitude, Behaviour and Practice Defined

Social Attitude

According to (Robinson, 2013), social attitude is a psychological construct, emotional and mental entity that is inherent in and which characterizes people in a particular society. Social attitude is a society’s predisposed state of mind on a certain issue or value acquired through experiences and precipitated via responsive expression towards a place, person (s), thing or event, which influences the society’s actions and thoughts (Robinson, 2013).

Social Behaviour

According to (Davis, 2015), social behaviour is an individual or society’s activities that alter, modify or qualify the act of another individual or social group. It is stimulated by the society that further stimulates the other members of the group or society in question. Social behaviour can be beneficial, friendly and mutualistic, altruistic or mutually antagonistic.

Social Influence

Social influence is the change in behaviour that a society or person causes in another or others within the society, intentionally or unintentionally that culminates from the perception of the changed person or society in relation to the influencer. Social influence is divided into three major areas namely, conformity, compliance and obedience (Chryssochoou, 2003). Conformity entails a society’s behaviour change to behave more like others whereas compliance entails adhering to societal demands. Obedience, on the other hand, entails obeying and accepting a society’s authority figures.

Persuasive Communication Models for Social Attitude, Behaviour and Influence Change towards Asylum Seekers in the UK

As an umbrella term of influence, persuasion can influence and affect the attitudes, beliefs, motivations, intentions and behaviours of an individual or society (Erwin, 2014). The process of persuasion aims at changing the attitude or behaviour of the society towards a social group, event, object or idea using written, visual or spoken media tools to convey information, ideologies, opinions, feelings and reasoning or a combination thereof (Erwin, 2014).

In this report, we elaborate on three persuasive communication models namely the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) and the Yale Model and their significance in changing the overall perception of British citizens regarding immigration and asylum seekers.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

The Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion is a dual-process theory developed in the mid-1970s by psychologists John Cacioppo and Richard Petty. The theory seeks to understand and explain the peculiar nature of human process stimuli and the way these processes influence attitude and behaviour change (Frederick, 2010). According to the ELM theory, when a persuader offers presents information to an audience, their reaction can be viewed through two channels: central route processing and peripheral route processing or sometimes a combination of both. The audience experiences either high or low elaboration, which depicts the type of processing used.

Central route processing involves a high elaboration level of the information or matter at hand. The audience examines the message, content comprehensively, and ignore distractions that may affect their perceptions and goals due to high motivation levels. The two main influencing factors on how and how much a persuasive message is elaborated are the motivation to elaborate and the ability to elaborate. This makes the central route advantageous since attitude changes last longer and are highly predictive of behaviour (Frederick, 2010).

The peripheral route processing is mainly applied on an audience that shows little or no interest in the subject or depict low abilities to process the message. The audience does not scrutinize the contents of the information thoroughly and mostly rely on general impressions like their current mood, and the content that only matters to them.

Changing British Perceptions and Attitudes towards Asylum Seekers using ELM

In relation to the subject matter of this report, the ELM theory can be used as an approach strategy to influence the perception of UK residents in regards to immigration and asylum seekers. The model, which has two processes, can be used on different groups of people in the country depending on their level of motivation and ability to elaborate information about asylum seekers.

The central route processing of persuasion can be used in an audience that is inherently concerned about the issue of immigration and asylum seekers in the UK based on their respective ages, social class, and level of education – irrespective of the medium used to convey the information. The central route processing, for example, can be used to address politicians, educational elites, and citizens of a higher social class. The three audiences display higher cognitive ability of understanding the issue of immigration and asylum seekers in the countries. The central route can be effective on an audience comprising politicians, scholars, professors and other highly educated personnel in different professions. The assumption is that this group of people is better placed to understand the issue and are likely to take into consideration the factors and issues surrounding the matter compared to another group like the elderly who cognitive abilities are generally lower.

According to (Blinder, 2011), for example, 61% and 57% of professionals and skilled workers and 68% and 62% of highly educated people – degree and above, in the UK believe that immigration enriches culture and is good for the economy respectively.

From this deduction, it is evident that the central route process would be effective if used to influence change on the two audiences concerning immigration and asylum seeking in the country.

The peripheral route processing, on the other hand can be used when addressing an audience that relies on general impressions like mood, and passive cognitive capabilities e.g. the elderly, unskilled workers and people with low education levels. According to (Blinder, 2011), only 32% and 27% of unskilled workers believe that immigration enriches culture and is good for the economy respectively. Moreover, a whopping 60% and 52% of the elderly and unskilled workers respectively believe that immigration makes crime worse in the country.

From the above deduction, it is evident that these groups perceptions are emotionally based, which makes the peripheral route processing more ideal compared to the central route processing.

Heuristic-Systematic Model

The Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) developed by Shelly Chaiken explains the manner in which an audience receives and processes information. According to (Chaiken, 2011), HSM model, an audience processes messages either heuristically or systematically. Systematic processing entails in-depth and deliberative processing of information whereas heuristic processing entails the utilization of heuristics or simplified decision rules for quick assessment of the information. Each processing type influences the degree of persuasion and the extent of longevity towards attitude change, which makes it somewhat similar to the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Changing British Perceptions and Attitudes towards Asylum Seekers using HSM

Although both processes can be used together, each process comprises factors that make it ideal when addressing a particular audience depending on their perception and the degree of persuasion required concerning the subject matter.

The heuristic process, for example, proves effective when used to address an audience comprising elderly people and people with low cognitive capabilities unskilled scholars and professionals. Heuristic processing requires minimal cognitive efforts with the audience only requiring persuasion from experts since the audience does not require to entirely process the information’s sematic content.

Regarding the subject matter of this report, the heuristic process can be beneficial to an audience who view the immigration issue as less personally important to them or whose judgement display insignificant impacts on themselves e.g. the youth, elderly, amateurs and unskilled workers. According to (Blinder, 2011), only 31% of the British youth aged 18-29 years and 29% aged 70 years and above believe that immigration creates jobs respectively. Moreover, over 83% and 86% of unskilled workers in the country believe that immigration is detrimental to the economy and does not create jobs respectively.

From the above deduction, the audiences – comprising people with low cognitive capabilities on the subject matter, are best suited for the heuristic process. For effective persuasion on changing their attitude and perceptions on the issue, the audiences only require an expert to persuade them on the effect of immigration on the economy.

The systematic approach, like the central route processing of the ELM model involves the analytical and comprehensive cognitive processing of information, making it ideal for persuading recipients with high cognitive capabilities e.g. politicians, scholars, professionals and other skilled workers. Because of its long-term effects, the systematic process can be used to persuade this particular audience, who in turn, become the experts required to convince audiences that utilize the heuristic approach.

According to (Blinder, 2011), only 32% and 38% of people with a degree level of education believe that immigration negatively affects culture and economy respectively. Moreover, 61% and 57% of skilled professionals and workers believe that immigration enriches culture and is good for the economy.

From the above deduction, it is evident that elites and people with high cognitive abilities – who analyse and carefully examine immigrant issues, view it more positively compared to the other audiences. This makes systematic processing the ideal persuasive approach for the particular audience who eventually become the experts required to persuade audiences where the heuristic process is used.

Yale Attitude Change Model

Also referred to as the Yale attitude change approach, the Yale model of attitude change was developed by Carl Hovland at Yale University. The model studies the different conditions under which audiences change their attitudes in response to persuasive information (Maio, 2018). Some of the factors that affect the components of persuasion in this model include the credibility and attractiveness of the communicator, the quality of the message and the age, attention and intelligence of the audience. The basic model of the Yale approach describes ‘who said what and to whom it was said.’

The speaker’s credibility, prominence and trustworthiness are some of the factors on which the models relies. A prominent and attractive communicator, for example, persuades a larger audience regardless if the content is factual or vague. Moreover, the nature of communication influences the extent of attitude change on the audience whereas the nature and characteristics of the audience affects the degree of persuasion.

Changing British Perceptions and Attitudes towards Asylum Seekers using Yale Approach

As seen above, the effectiveness of the Yale model of attitude change depends on three main approaches namely: the communicator, the nature of communication and the audiences’ characteristics. Moreover, different audiences are influenced differently depending on the three approaches, which also determine the degree of persuasion recorded.

In relation to immigration and the issue of asylum seekers, the approach can be used differently when dealing with a specific audience. According to (Blinder, 2011), for example, 31% of the British youth aged 18-29 years and 29% aged 70 years and above believe that immigration creates jobs respectively. In regards to the communicator, a young, attractive and vibrant communicator who understands that young people are mainly passive listeners would more likely persuade the younger audience. An audience of elderly people, on the other hand, are likely to be persuaded by an older communicator who understands their needs as an audience.

Moreover, the younger audience is likely to be persuaded by a communicator who uses the latest technological media of information transmission whereas the elderly prefer one who utilizes mediums of communication.

In relation to the nature of the audience, a younger audience is likely to be persuaded by a communicator who relates with their feelings regardless of the quality of information he/she offers whereas an elderly audience is likely to prefer a communicator who is more factual than emotional.

Evaluation Proposal

The Effectiveness of the Yale Model of Attitude Change in the Persuasion of British Youths Regarding Immigration and Asylum Seekers

Introduction

This study intends to determine the effectiveness of the Yale Model of Attitude Change in changing the attitude and perception of British youths regarding the issue of immigration and the plight of asylum seekers in the UK. According to UK demographics, the total youth population accounted for over 30% of the entire population amounting to over 18 million people aged between 14 and 35 years (Statistics, 2017). With the current demographics, it is evident that the youth population in the country influences many national decisions including immigration and policies relating to asylum seekers in the country. In this study, we review and research the effect of persuasion models in influencing the perception of this age group towards issues of immigration and their perceptions about asylum seekers.

Hypothesis of the Study

This study is designed to evaluate and assess the hypothesis that the Yale Model of Attitude Change is an effective approach of influencing the attitude and perceptions of British youths regarding immigration and asylum seeking in the country.

Methodology

The study will incorporate and utilize both primary and secondary sources of information to determine the degree of effectiveness that the approach offers regarding the matter at hand. For primary sources, the researcher intends to sample a maximum of 100 random youths in the UK by using questionnaires to determine the approach’s effectiveness on the population in question. For secondary sources, the researcher will use scholarly journals and peer-reviewed articles with relevant and science-backed information on the study.

Dependant Variables

The dependant variable of this research study is the attitude and perception of UK youths in relation to immigration and the plight of asylum seekers in the country.

Independent Variable

The independent variable of this study is the population and the degree of persuasion that the Yale model of attitude change offers concerning the matter at hand.

Key Materials

This study will utilize numerous materials including questionnaires, whose information will be evaluated and analysed using graphs and tables. The study will also consider other materials sourced from credible secondary sources like expert opinions on the subject matter of research.

Ethical Implications

All participants of the study will be asked to voluntarily take part in the exercise and no form of coercion or enticement will be used to convince a participant to take place. The researcher will also ensure that all the data collected is kept private and only analysed by the University.

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