Affective dynamics of welfare chauvinism under different policy funding structures

Abstract This research investigates how distinct emotional responses to immigrants—namely, compassion, anger, and anxiety—are connected to welfare chauvinist attitudes within varying welfare policy funding contexts. Leveraging Turkey's experience with large‐scale immigration and the exogenous nature of EU funding, a population‐representative survey experiment was conducted, manipulating claimant identity (native vs. immigrant) and the funding source of welfare assistance (state vs. EU‐funded). Results show that a “care deficit” operates as a key mechanism linking immigrant identity and lower support for immigrant welfare access, but only within the nation‐bound welfare system. Once compassion is evoked, however, it operates similarly for natives and immigrants. Furthermore, moderation analyses reveal divergent patterns of compassion, anger, and anxiety in shaping welfare chauvinist attitudes across different policy funding structures. Highlighting the crucial interplay between emotions and the policy funding schemes in which welfare assistance is delivered, this research contributes to the debate on what drives welfare chauvinism. Drawing on the political psychology literature, this study offers a perspective on the emotional dynamics associated with the persistent native‐immigrant welfare support gap and discusses potential factors that may contribute to narrowing this disparity.