The role of intergroup relations and emotion in predicting the deservingness of welfare aid

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1628623 (Table of Contents)

Previous literature suggests that the welfare policy judgments are often explained by psychological mechanisms, such as the deservingness heuristic which describe that people evaluate if the potential recipient deserves the benefit or not when they formulate welfare policy decisions. The present study aimed to investigate whether people favor their in-group members, and endorse the idea that their in-group members to deserve to receive welfare aid more compared to the members of other groups. The role of emotional reactions in the formation of people's social welfare opinions towards different social and political groups were also considered as an additional factor. The findings demonstrated that deservingness heuristic operates as a major factor for explaining welfare aid opinions in the Turkish context. The results are discussed within the framework of in-group vs. out-group distinction literature.