Misperceived DiscriminationHow accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive discrimination?Merlin Schaeffer & Judith Kas2022-05-251 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.

2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.
Mis-perceptions $\neq$ correlation: Measure actual and perceived discrimination on the same scale.

2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.
Mis-perceptions $\neq$ correlation: Measure actual and perceived discrimination on the same scale.
Ethics: Researchers must not discriminate participants.

2 / 26

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Two players' mutual evaluation.
Clear metric: €.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent.

$\to$ Survey expected € received.

3 / 26

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Two players' mutual evaluation.
Clear metric: €.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent.

$\to$ Survey expected € received.

True first name & city of residence from registers
Alisina, Ahmad, Anne, Binyamin, Joyce, Somaia, Sarah, Hayriye, Saibe, Björn, Salem, Fabienne, Sadet, Linda, Margarita, Ali, Joseph, Mhd Kheir, Baran, Bahaa, Jebran, Reno, Seiji, Irina, Ajsel, Christine, Rahim, Yaw Abrefa, Mark, Anjali Dev, Elmar, Anke, Laura, Heiko, ...

4 / 26

10 Trust games per participant

Mainstream¹ participants:
- 3 games with mainstream players.
- 7 games with immigrant origin players.

Immigrant origin² participants:
- 7 games with mainstream players.
- 3 games with immigrant origin players.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent to others.

1: Born in Germany and both parents born in Germany.
2: Born abroad or at least one parent born abroad.

5 / 26

10 Trust games per participant

Mainstream¹ participants:
- 3 games with mainstream players.
- 7 games with immigrant origin players.

Immigrant origin² participants:
- 7 games with mainstream players.
- 3 games with immigrant origin players.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent to others.

1: Born in Germany and both parents born in Germany.
2: Born abroad or at least one parent born abroad.

6 / 26

Sample

1 Pre-game survey Jul-Oct '21 $\to$ 2 Trust games Nov-Dec '21 $\to$ 3 Pay-out experiment Mar '22

7 / 26

Sample

1 Pre-game survey Jul-Oct '21 $\to$ 2 Trust games Nov-Dec '21 $\to$ 3 Pay-out experiment Mar '22

Stratified random sample from German registers.
Invitation via postal mail.
Unconditional €20 after survey. Up to €120 overall.
Online surveys/games in German.
Response rate approx. 12%-4%.

imor		Hamburg	Köln	Frankfurt am Main	München	Berlin	All
Mainstream	N	198	222	204	184	243	1051
	% row	18.8	21.1	19.4	17.5	23.1	100.0
Immigrant	N	118	90	113	153	101	575
	% row	20.5	15.7	19.7	26.6	17.6	100.0
Child of immigrant	N	66	100	61	84	72	383
	% row	17.2	26.1	15.9	21.9	18.8	100.0
All	N	382	412	378	421	416	2009
	% row	19.0	20.5	18.8	21.0	20.7	100.0

7 / 26

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

${Act Discr}_{i j} = €_{i j} - {\bar{€}}_{j (Germ. name)}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	2699	36.2
Distinct Non-German name	4760	63.8

8 / 26

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

${Act Discr}_{i j} = €_{i j} - {\bar{€}}_{j (Germ. name)}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	2699	36.2
Distinct Non-German name	4760	63.8

8 / 26

Actual trust discrimination avg. by person

${\bar{Act Discr}}_{i} = \frac{\sum_{j = 1}^{n_{j}} {Act Discr}_{i j}}{n_{j}}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	348	36.3
Distinct Non-German name	610	63.7

9 / 26

After the 10 games Expectations

10 / 26

After the 10 games Expectations

On average, immigrant minorities do not (mis-)expect to be discriminated!

Discrimination is not a lens through which immigrant minorities frame any random interaction.

10 / 26

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

11 / 26

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

Do immigrant minorities (mis-)perceive discrimination when they observe a cue of ethnic inequality?

11 / 26

Follow-up experiment Disadvantage cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 6 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 8 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received 2 € more than you. How do you rate this result?

12 / 26

Follow-up experiment Advantage cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 8 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 6 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received 2 € less than you. How do you rate this result?

13 / 26

Follow-up experiment Equality cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 7 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 7 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received the same amount as. How do you rate this result?

14 / 26

May name played a role ...

15 / 26

May name played a role ...

16 / 26

May name played a role ...

17 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

18 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

19 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

20 / 26

But how accurate are their perceptions about ...

whether their name did (not) play a role?
whether Merlins were generally: advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged?

21 / 26

Accurate perceptions

22 / 26

Accurate perceptions

23 / 26

Accurate perceptions

24 / 26

Accurate perceptions

25 / 26

Preliminary conclusionOn average, people expect no discrimination, but perceive it once ethnicity is made salient.... even under the equal cue!

Persons with a German-sounding name are perceiving advantage at least as much as those with a non-German name are perceiving disadvantage.

People generalize their personal experience to equivalent others close to 1:1.

People seem somewhat better than random at perceiving ethnic discrimination. (in the absence of obvious racial slurs etc..)

26 / 26

Preliminary conclusion

On average, people expect no discrimination, but perceive it once ethnicity is made salient.
- ... even under the equal cue!

Persons with a German-sounding name are perceiving advantage at least as much as those with a non-German name are perceiving disadvantage.

People generalize their personal experience to equivalent others close to 1:1.

People seem somewhat better than random at perceiving ethnic discrimination.
- (in the absence of obvious racial slurs etc..)

Thank you for your attention!

Please contact me,
if you have alternative ideas on how these data can be used and would like to team-up

26 / 26

Misperceived DiscriminationHow accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive discrimination?Merlin Schaeffer & Judith Kas2022-05-251 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.

2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.
Mis-perceptions $\neq$ correlation: Measure actual and perceived discrimination on the same scale.

2 / 26

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Challenges

No aggregate analysis: Measure actual and perceived discrimination for individuals.
Mis-perceptions $\neq$ correlation: Measure actual and perceived discrimination on the same scale.
Ethics: Researchers must not discriminate participants.

2 / 26

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Two players' mutual evaluation.
Clear metric: €.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent.

$\to$ Survey expected € received.

3 / 26

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Two players' mutual evaluation.
Clear metric: €.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent.

$\to$ Survey expected € received.

4 / 26

10 Trust games per participant

Mainstream¹ participants:
- 3 games with mainstream players.
- 7 games with immigrant origin players.

Immigrant origin² participants:
- 7 games with mainstream players.
- 3 games with immigrant origin players.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent to others.

1: Born in Germany and both parents born in Germany.
2: Born abroad or at least one parent born abroad.

5 / 26

10 Trust games per participant

Mainstream¹ participants:
- 3 games with mainstream players.
- 7 games with immigrant origin players.

Immigrant origin² participants:
- 7 games with mainstream players.
- 3 games with immigrant origin players.

$\to$ Observe actual € sent to others.

1: Born in Germany and both parents born in Germany.
2: Born abroad or at least one parent born abroad.

6 / 26

Sample

1 Pre-game survey Jul-Oct '21 $\to$ 2 Trust games Nov-Dec '21 $\to$ 3 Pay-out experiment Mar '22

7 / 26

Sample

1 Pre-game survey Jul-Oct '21 $\to$ 2 Trust games Nov-Dec '21 $\to$ 3 Pay-out experiment Mar '22

Stratified random sample from German registers.
Invitation via postal mail.
Unconditional €20 after survey. Up to €120 overall.
Online surveys/games in German.
Response rate approx. 12%-4%.

imor		Hamburg	Köln	Frankfurt am Main	München	Berlin	All
Mainstream	N	198	222	204	184	243	1051
	% row	18.8	21.1	19.4	17.5	23.1	100.0
Immigrant	N	118	90	113	153	101	575
	% row	20.5	15.7	19.7	26.6	17.6	100.0
Child of immigrant	N	66	100	61	84	72	383
	% row	17.2	26.1	15.9	21.9	18.8	100.0
All	N	382	412	378	421	416	2009
	% row	19.0	20.5	18.8	21.0	20.7	100.0

7 / 26

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

${Act Discr}_{i j} = €_{i j} - {\bar{€}}_{j (Germ. name)}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	2699	36.2
Distinct Non-German name	4760	63.8

8 / 26

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

${Act Discr}_{i j} = €_{i j} - {\bar{€}}_{j (Germ. name)}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	2699	36.2
Distinct Non-German name	4760	63.8

8 / 26

Actual trust discrimination avg. by person

${\bar{Act Discr}}_{i} = \frac{\sum_{j = 1}^{n_{j}} {Act Discr}_{i j}}{n_{j}}$

Name	N	%
Name not distinct from German	348	36.3
Distinct Non-German name	610	63.7

9 / 26

After the 10 games Expectations

10 / 26

After the 10 games Expectations

On average, immigrant minorities do not (mis-)expect to be discriminated!

Discrimination is not a lens through which immigrant minorities frame any random interaction.

10 / 26

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

11 / 26

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

Do immigrant minorities (mis-)perceive discrimination when they observe a cue of ethnic inequality?

11 / 26

Follow-up experiment Disadvantage cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 6 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 8 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received 2 € more than you. How do you rate this result?

12 / 26

Follow-up experiment Advantage cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 8 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 6 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received 2 € less than you. How do you rate this result?

13 / 26

Follow-up experiment Equality cue

On average, your ten game partners sent and thereby entrusted 7 € to you.

In addition, your ten game partners played trust games with other 68 more participants. 25 of these other participants had names that sound typically German.

Below you see a selection of three of these participants with names that sound typically German.

On average, your game partners sent and thereby entrusted 7 € to these three persons:

Annegret from Hamburg

Klaus from Berlin

Hartmut from München

The three have thus received the same amount as. How do you rate this result?

14 / 26

May name played a role ...

15 / 26

May name played a role ...

16 / 26

May name played a role ...

17 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

18 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

19 / 26

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

20 / 26

But how accurate are their perceptions about ...

whether their name did (not) play a role?
whether Merlins were generally: advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged?

21 / 26

Accurate perceptions

22 / 26

Accurate perceptions

23 / 26

Accurate perceptions

24 / 26

Accurate perceptions

25 / 26

Preliminary conclusionOn average, people expect no discrimination, but perceive it once ethnicity is made salient.... even under the equal cue!

Persons with a German-sounding name are perceiving advantage at least as much as those with a non-German name are perceiving disadvantage.

People generalize their personal experience to equivalent others close to 1:1.

People seem somewhat better than random at perceiving ethnic discrimination. (in the absence of obvious racial slurs etc..)

26 / 26

Preliminary conclusion

On average, people expect no discrimination, but perceive it once ethnicity is made salient.
- ... even under the equal cue!

Persons with a German-sounding name are perceiving advantage at least as much as those with a non-German name are perceiving disadvantage.

People generalize their personal experience to equivalent others close to 1:1.

People seem somewhat better than random at perceiving ethnic discrimination.
- (in the absence of obvious racial slurs etc..)

Thank you for your attention!

Please contact me,
if you have alternative ideas on how these data can be used and would like to team-up

26 / 26

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Misperceived Discrimination

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive discrimination?

Merlin Schaeffer & Judith Kas

2022-05-25

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

10 Trust games per participant

10 Trust games per participant

Sample

Sample

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

Actual trust discrimination avg. by person

After the 10 games Expectations

After the 10 games Expectations

Expected ≠≠ perceived discrimination

Expected ≠≠ perceived discrimination

Follow-up experiment Disadvantage cue

Follow-up experiment Advantage cue

Follow-up experiment Equality cue

May name played a role ...

May name played a role ...

May name played a role ...

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

But how accurate are their perceptions about ...

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Preliminary conclusion

Preliminary conclusion

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Help

Misperceived Discrimination

Misperceived Discrimination

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive discrimination?

Merlin Schaeffer & Judith Kas

2022-05-25

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

How accurate do persons of immigrant origin perceive ethnic discrimination?

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

Central idea Mutual evaulation in behavioral games

10 Trust games per participant

10 Trust games per participant

Sample

Sample

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

Actual trust discrimination by game partner

Actual trust discrimination avg. by person

After the 10 games Expectations

After the 10 games Expectations

Expected ≠≠ perceived discrimination

Expected ≠≠ perceived discrimination

Follow-up experiment Disadvantage cue

Follow-up experiment Advantage cue

Follow-up experiment Equality cue

May name played a role ...

May name played a role ...

May name played a role ...

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

But how accurate are their perceptions about ...

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Accurate perceptions

Preliminary conclusion

Preliminary conclusion

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

Expected $\neq$ perceived discrimination

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"

"Were participants called Merlin generally
advantaged, treated equally, or disadvantaged by their game partners?"