How many migrants are people willing to welcome into their country? The effect of numerical anchoring on migrants’ acceptance

How many migrants are people willing to welcome into their country? Relying on a classical anchoring paradigm, we investigated the effect of numerical anchors reported in communication media echoing political positions regarding how many migrants should be accepted in one country. Four studies (N = 601) tested the effect of a numerical anchor within a politician’s statement on the number of migrants that people think should be accepted in their home country. Across studies, we found a strong anchor effect (average Cohen’s d = 1.40, 95% CI [1.18, 1.63]): participants were willing to accept a higher (vs. lower) number of migrants following a high (vs. low) anchor. Importantly, the effect occurred among both left wing‐ and right wing oriented participants, although being slightly smaller among the latter (Study 3). Moreover, it was independent from the political party serving as the source for the anchors as well as participants’ attitude toward these political parties (Study 4). Relevance of the present findings for persuasion and political decision‐making literature is discussed.