The Role of Altruism in Decision Making on Immigration Politics in the Netherlands

Immigration is a growing topic of concern in Dutch politics. Due to these growing immigration concerns, an alteration in the Dutch political landscape is likely to happen. Right-winged-Political parties are gaining more support because of the negative perceived impact of immigration. Countries that showed a more negative view towards immigration were deemed as being selfish. However, whether these differences in attitude towards immigration are related to different levels of altruism is unclear. This paper investigates the extent to which altruism affects views towards immigration. A survey was conducted to collect data, which was further analyzed using multiple regression models, a Two-way ANOVA and post-hoc paired sample T-tests. The sample existed majorly of students, which was not very representative for the Dutch population. Different results were found; altruism measured through statements showed a significant effect on views towards immigration but measured through the dictator game, the result was not significant. Thus, there might be a weak relationship between altruism and views on immigration. Timing of payoff did not seem to make a difference, but the type of recipient did. Immigrant recipients received higher payoffs. Furthermore, subjects showed to differentiate in levels of altruism and trust towards immigrants compared to these levels towards fellow Dutch people. Future research is necessary to further investigate the relationship between altruism and views on immigration.