This study investigates why anti-democratic laws persist in democratic societies, focusing on South Korea's National Security Act (NSA). Enacted in 1948, the NSA restricts freedom of expression and... Show moreThis study investigates why anti-democratic laws persist in democratic societies, focusing on South Korea's National Security Act (NSA). Enacted in 1948, the NSA restricts freedom of expression and movement to deter pro-North Korea behaviour. Despite being at odds with the tenets of liberal democracy, the act remains in place. Existing public opinion data indicates modest to strong support for the law, but measurement concerns leave much to be desired. Using a choice-based conjoint, we test the impact of democratic norms and national security rationales on various policy propositions related to the NSA, including its abolition. Results show widespread support for the Act, driven by both democratic norms and security concerns. Progressives are more likely to support revisions limiting the scope of the Act on the basis that it safeguards democracy, but they agree with conservatives that it should not be abolished. This research contributes to understanding South Korea's post-democratic transition and the balance between national security and democracy more broadly. Show less
What can public attitudes towards the integration of co-ethnic migrants teach us about social integration in newly diverse societies? Research finds that South Koreans prefer co-ethnic migrants... Show moreWhat can public attitudes towards the integration of co-ethnic migrants teach us about social integration in newly diverse societies? Research finds that South Koreans prefer co-ethnic migrants from culturally similar or desirable origins, but it says little about the integration of migrant groups. Existing data and qualitative studies suggest considerable barriers to fully incorporating otherwise preferred migrants. Focusing on integrating North Korean migrants in South Korea – a relatively privileged migrant group that enjoys substantial resettlement support but encounters barriers to full integration – this paper addresses the research gap by testing competing explanations of migrant incorporation. Informed by Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT), the study examines how threats defined as realistic or symbolic shape native attitudes toward these migrants. Using a conjoint survey experiment to measure preferences for economic, political, and social integration, we find South Koreans favor North Korean migrants with extended residence in South Korea, which is a marker for diminishing realistic and symbolic intergroup threats. Conversely, migrants signaling stronger affiliations to North Korea or lacking diverse social ties in South Korea fail to alleviate intergroup threat concerns and consequently face discrimination. Our findings offer insights into integration policy and contribute to the migration and citizenship literature and contemporary Korean Studies. Show less
Migrant entrepreneurship is viewed as a pathway to substantive social integration, one that makes host countries more prosperous in the process. Accordingly, scholars have studied the social... Show moreMigrant entrepreneurship is viewed as a pathway to substantive social integration, one that makes host countries more prosperous in the process. Accordingly, scholars have studied the social context in which migrant entrepreneurs operate, and considered at length the range of policy options that governments can use to support their activities. Conversely, the issue of public attitudes to policies that support migrant entrepreneurship has been largely neglected. Leveraging the case of North Korean migrant entrepreneurs in South Korea, this article fills this gap in the literature by examining how the structure of government support within a broader “policy mix” for migrant entrepreneurship policies acts on public attitudes. Overall, it finds South Koreans are most supportive of migrant entrepreneurship policies endorsed and paid for by large companies through corporate taxation or loans to the individual, rather than the state, and which have a target goal of employment support for profitable migrant-run firms or joint ventures run by teams of natives and migrants. Notably, policies explicitly justified as tools to address discrimination actively discourage support. The specifics of the Korean case show that determinants of native hostility toward migrants apply to migrant entrepreneurship even when ethnic differences and many of the institutional barriers that apply in other cases do not exist, suggesting that ethnicity is not a major motivating factor; economic rationality and what is “good for South Korea” are. Show less
This paper asks whether welfare chauvinism applies to co-ethnic migrants. Existing research on welfare chauvinism, the view that welfare provision should be restricted to native-born citizens and... Show moreThis paper asks whether welfare chauvinism applies to co-ethnic migrants. Existing research on welfare chauvinism, the view that welfare provision should be restricted to native-born citizens and that migrants should be excluded from provision, has largely focused on ethnic difference as a main motivation, but little attention is given to whether native-born citizens discriminate among co-ethnics. Using a choice-based conjoint experiment and various framing interventions, this paper considers whether South Koreans discriminate against co-ethnic migrants in providing social housing. It also considers whether public cost and recipient contribution requirements affect discrimination. We find that co-ethnics are subject to welfare chauvinism, with applicants from more developed and culturally similar origins more preferred, but we do not find that the cost structure motivates discrimination based on origins. Accordingly, this paper expands the literature on migration and welfare states to better consider non-Western societies with high levels of co-ethnic migration. Show less
This research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. It reviews ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of... Show moreThis research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. It reviews ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of migration, as well as ways in which psychological scholarship could be integrated with work from other social science fields. Broadly, the note discusses four major contributions that psychology brings to the study of international migration—studying migrants’ internal psychological experiences, incorporating a developmental perspective, conducting experimental studies, and integrating across levels of analysis. Given the position of psychology as a ‘hub science’ connecting more traditional social sciences with health and medical sciences, we argue for a more prominent role for psychologists within the study of international migration. Such a role is intended to complement the roles of other social scientists and to create a more interdisciplinary way forward for the field of migration studies. The research note concludes with an agenda for further scholarship on migration. Show less
Effective public communications have been proposed as a remedy for citizens’ distrust in government. Recent studies pointed to the emotional effect of symbolic elements, entangled in government... Show moreEffective public communications have been proposed as a remedy for citizens’ distrust in government. Recent studies pointed to the emotional effect of symbolic elements, entangled in government public communications (e.g., logos, images, and celebrities). Still, they did not examine the interaction between these symbols and the substantive information in communications about bureaucracies’ performance and policies. Exploring this interaction is important for understanding the theoretical mechanisms underlying the effect of symbolic communication on citizens’ trust. Also, it is essential to assess symbols’ potency to unduly compensate for unfavorable or logically unpersuasive information, and enable public organizations to escape justified public criticism. Building on the social psychology Elaboration Likelihood Model, I theorize that symbols may increase citizens’ trust by conducing citizens to pay less attention to logically unpersuasive information, and thus offsetting its negative effect. I test this indirect mechanism via a large survey experiment, focusing on the Israeli Environment Protection Ministry. The experimental results support the research hypotheses and suggest that the effect of symbolic elements is stronger when communications include logically unpersuasive information. I discuss the implications of these findings for democratic responsiveness and accountability. Show less
In the Netherlands, information provision about fertility preservation (FP) for young women with breast cancer is not sufficient. Since an increasing number of Dutch breast cancer patients will... Show moreIn the Netherlands, information provision about fertility preservation (FP) for young women with breast cancer is not sufficient. Since an increasing number of Dutch breast cancer patients will face this preference-sensitive decision each year, there is a clear need for improvement of information provision about FP. The overall aim of this thesis was therefore to (a) develop and (b) evaluate a Decision Aid (DA) about FP that is targeted to improve information provision and decision making about FP for young women with breast cancer. This thesis describes consecutively the development and evaluation of such a DA with values clarification exercise (VCE) Show less
In the last decade, the deployment of simulation systems in the automotive industry on the basis of the finite element method (FEM) became a standard for the evaluation of sheet metal forming... Show moreIn the last decade, the deployment of simulation systems in the automotive industry on the basis of the finite element method (FEM) became a standard for the evaluation of sheet metal forming processes. The technical and economic benefits of the FEM based simulation strongly depends on the accuracy of the computed prediction. The predictive capability of FEM based simulations is mainly determined by the chosen physical theory and its numerical solution. This thesis focuses on the application of optimization algorithms for the identification and validation of material models, which belong to the group of the constitutive laws. The objective of this thesis is threefold: Firstly, the identification of potentials regarding the material models in order to maximize the benefit of the FEM forming simulation and, secondly, the development of an identification and validation procedure for material models. Finally, the effect of the deviations between the measured data and the true values of the calibration experiments on the predictive capability of material models is investigated Show less
