Understanding perception and prosocial dispositions: A comparative study of support for Ukrainian and Afghan refugees in Belgium

“Why do we help?” This question has persistently occupied my thoughts, but it evolved into a profound curiosity after reading a research paper from Politi and colleagues (2023) exploring the complex dynamics of individual prosocial dispositions, superordinate European identity, and their predictive roles in intentions to help Ukrainian refugees. The two main psychological processes studied as the moderators of intergroup helping were empathy and identity fusion. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has made salient the geopolitical borders and psychological boundaries of Europe, European identity as a superordinate entity emerges as a pertinent level of self-categorization to explain helping intentions (Politi et al.,2023). In fact, previous studies had shown that the role of European identification in intergroup relations varies depending on its level of inclusiveness in a given context (Green, & Sarrasin, 2018 as cited in Politi et al.,2023 ). Their findings, although subject to clear limitations, unveiled intriguing insights. The concept of a broader European identity emerged as a new category for Ukrainians (outgroup members) and Belgians (ingroup members), suggesting the possibility of a shared common group. These interesting findings appear to be a potential predictor of helping intentions through a combination of empathy and identity fusion with Ukrainians. It is worth observing, however, one of the limitations of this study related to the impossibility to ascertain whether individuals who exhibit a strong European identity as evidenced by their willingness to help Ukrainians, would extend similar intentions to help other outgroup members. These outgroup members, probably perceived as more distant both in geographical and psychological terms from European borders, and maybe even perceived as a possible threat to the “European” values and beliefs or even to their safety, politics and well-being, as could be the case with other refugee populations, such as Afghans. It is on account of this limitation that I have chosen to direct my focus towards a comparative analysis of the empathy experienced and intentions to help Ukrainian refugees when compared with Afghan refugees. Additionally, the present study aims not only to answer the initial question of “why do we help?”, but also to explore whether certain groups receive more assistance than others, shedding light on the exclusivity and/or selectivity in intentions to help certain (out)groups. And if such disparities exist, this little research seeks to uncover the underlying reasons behind this difference of treatment. Employing a sample of 84 individuals from the French-speaking population in Belgium, our aim was to demonstrate that dispositional prosociality and European identification were both positively related to intentions to help Ukrainians. However, such a relationship is not expected in the case of Afghan refugees. The current thesis comprises five chapters. The first chapter introduces the Ukrainian and Afghan refugee crisis in Belgium, focusing on the immediate responses taken by Belgium - and Europe- and the differences exhibited by those humanitarian responses to two refugee populations suffering from a very similar and distressful situation. The second chapter provides a comprehensive review of literature on various theories rooted in the social identity perspective, with a specific emphasis on recategorization. Additionally, it explores how empathy and European-identification could act as mediating factors in shaping intentions to help certain groups over others. The third chapter describes the current study, outlining the research questions, procedure, and analytic plan. Results will be presented in the fourth chapter and discussed in the final chapter together with the study limitations and implications for future research.