Integration of refugees: Germans in east and west show similar willingness to help

In discussions in Germany on immigrants, particularly eastern Germany is often associated with attacks on foreigners and hate crimes against refugees. Research data and surveys also indicate that prejudices against immigrants are often stronger in the east of the country than in the western half. But are these differences also reflected in small acts of everyday help? This question was looked at in detail by researchers at the University of Münster, the University of Bielefeld and the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and management of North Rhine-Westphalia. They carried out two field studies in which they compared the behaviour of people in eastern and western Germany as far as helping was concerned. For this purpose, the team of psychologists led by Dr. Jens H. Hellmann from the University of Münster opted for a rarely used method. They deposited stamped envelopes over the street: half of the letters were addressed to a project on the integration of refugees, and the other half were addressed to a project working to stop immigration. The researchers checked to see how many of the letters were sent back, taking the particular region into account: urban and rural, East and West Germany.