Replication Data for: Priming Assad: An Experiment of Ethnic Priming and Attitudes toward Military Action in Syria

Americans’ low level of support for intervening in Syria presents a puzzle raising questions about how democracies approach conflict. Scholars have noted that the United States’ public may need to view opponents in conflict as different than themselves before military force is used. But what is the tipping point between perceiving someone as “one of us,” or “one of them?” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s actions fit the model of a villain, but his appearance represents a divergence from recent leaders cast as enemies to the United States. Using a unique experiment examining citizen evaluations of the Syrian crisis, we demonstrate that subtle manipulations of Assad’s skin tone led respondents to view him more negatively and increased support for U.S. intervention to effect regime change. Respondents primed with an image of Assad with darker skin are more likely to support aggressive policies in Syria. Ethnocentric sentiment also influences attitudes toward Assad and intervention in Syria. The findings from our experiment have implications for racial stereotypes, priming, and their interactions with attitudes toward American foreign policy