Objective: In 2022, there were 281 million migrants worldwide, 32.5 million of which were refugees. When migrants and refugees arrive to a new country, cross-cultural contact produces a complex process of change defined as acculturation. Although the literature stresses that acculturation is a multidimensional and mutual process involving members of both migrant and receiving societies, migrants and refugees are often considered responsible for their own integration. This narrative is dangerous since it releases receiving societies and their individual members from responsibility in shaping the acculturation process of migrant populations. In this context, intercultural trainers and educators have used interventions to promote positive attitudes, increase empathy and perspective-taking, and decrease prejudice among members of receiving societies towards migrants and refugees. Yet, few studies have sought empirical evidence for their effectiveness. To address this gap, the present study aimed to conduct and assess a role-play-based intervention to increase knowledge and empathy and decrease prejudice towards migrants and refugees among members of receiving societies. Methods: A mixed-methods design (quan + qual) was adopted to assess the effectiveness of the intervention conducted among Portuguese nationals (N = 44, Mage = 28.2, SD = 11.9). The intervention consisted of a role-play simulation (“The history of Sovarians and Belarians”), debriefing, and short presentation of theoretical and statistical information about international migration, refugees, and acculturation. Before and after the intervention, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their ethnocultural empathy, affect, and prejudice towards migrants and refugees, and knowledge about migration and acculturation-related issues. Moreover, qualitative data was collected by videorecording the debriefing phase of the intervention and via a feedback form containing open-ended questions. Results: Quantitative data analysis, consisting of paired t-tests, revealed significant differences in pre- and post-test scores, with participants reporting higher ethnocultural empathy, warmer feelings towards migrants and refugees and higher knowledge of migration and acculturation-related issues after the intervention. Results for prejudice (i.e., social distancing) were non-significant. Qualitative data analysis revealed that participants provided an overall positive evaluation of the intervention, indicating the following to be the most helpful or interesting: a) perspective-taking component of the role-play, b) simulation of intergroup dynamics, and c) debriefing and presentation of theoretical and statistical information. Conclusions: The present study provided initial empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a role-play-based intervention to foster empathy, positive feelings and higher knowledge about migration and acculturation among members of receiving, which might likely lead to more positive acculturation environment. Additionally, participant qualitative evaluations of the role-play itself provided evidence that each component of the intervention was useful, and we gained insight into the ways each contributed to the observed changes. Future studies should seek empirical evidence of its effectiveness in other organizational and cultural contexts.

We would like to thank the project mentors, Saba Safdar and Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka for their support throughout the development of our research.

Acculturation,Refugees,Role-play,Intervention-based design,Host/receiving society members