Abstract
In this article, we discuss the results of a survey experiment designed to examine the impact of issue framing on the level of aversion to ethnic-targeted school policies in the Netherlands, in 2000 and 2005. Emphasizing the costs for Dutch children increased the level of aversion to these policies, compared to the level of aversion expressed by respondents in the unframed condition (control group). Emphasizing the benefits for ethnic minorities was less effective in altering the level of aversion. Moreover, when respondents were confronted with both the cost and benefit frames - a situation which closely resembles the political and public debate - they still showed less support for ethnic-targeted school policies. We also found that aversion to ethnic-targeted school policies is driven by negative considerations such as a preference for hierarchical social relations and perceptions of ethnic threat. Emphasizing out-group benefits did neither decrease the impact of these negative considerations on the level of aversion to ethnic-targeted school policies, nor strengthen the liberalizing effect of education.
