Borders, Migration Hard barriers and soft power: Study assesses outsider perceptions of border walls

When it comes to being divisive, it doesn’t get more literal than a wall. Walls exist as a means of separation, creating a sense of security by keeping something — or more typically someone — out. And whether it’s separating Americans and Mexicans, Israelis and Palestinians, East Germans and West Germans, or any other two groups, the political divisiveness of border walls makes headlines around the globe. 

Noting the strong reactions that many people have toward border walls, researchers Diana Mutz and Beth Simmons wondered if walls carried a more universal meaning in the human mind, regardless of a person’s nationality. And as it turns out, they do — with real implications for international influence and soft power. [...]

“People in Ireland, the U.S., and in Turkey all responded in the same way to the presence of a wall, and they all held the country that built it in lower esteem,” said Simmons. “We had assumed that those who favored walls in their own domestic political context would be less likely to draw these same inferences. That’s not at all what we found.”

Read more on the Annenberg School for Communications website >>