%0 Report
        %A Levi, Eugenio
%A Bayerlein, Michael
%A Grimalda, Gianluca
%A Reggiani, Tommaso G.
        %T Narratives of Migration and Political Polarization: Private Preferences, Public Preferences and Social Media
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Mar
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 17749
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17749
        %X We study how preferences for migration-related narratives differ between private and public contexts and how social media fuel opinion polarization. Using a German representative sample (n=1,226), we found that individuals, especially from the left and center, avoided publicly endorsing anti-migration narratives. In an experiment on Twitter (n=19,989) we created four Twitter profiles, each endorsing one of the narratives. Far-right users exhibited markedly different engagement patterns. While initial public endorsements, measured by follow-back rates, aligned with private preferences, social media interactions amplified support for the most hostile and polarizing narrative. We conclude that social media significantly distort private preferences and amplify polarization.
        %K immigration
%K narratives
%K political polarization
%K economic reciprocity
%K survey experiment
%K field experiment
%K group identity
%K social media
%K Twitter