Hacking Anti-Immigration Attitudes and Stereotypes: A Field Experiment in Italian High Schools

Global demographic shifts have increased population diversity in advanced economies, often leading to anti-immigrant attitudes and discrimination fueled by prejudice and stereotypes. In this paper, we study a short educational program for high-school students aimed at promoting cultural diversity and improving attitudes toward immigration through active learning. To identify the impact of the program, we designed a randomized controlled trial involving 4,500 students from 252 classes across 40 schools in northern Italy. The program led to more positive attitudes and behaviors toward immigrants, especially in more mixed classes. In terms of mechanisms, the intervention reduced students' misperception and changed their perceived norms toward immigration, while it had no impact on implicit bias, empathy, or social contacts. Our findings suggest that anti-immigrant attitudes are primarily driven by sociotropic concerns rather than individual inter-group experience, and that educational programs fostering critical thinking and group discussion in an issue-salient context can correct them.