Work Commitment and Interview Effects in Cross-Cultural Studies

Germany has experienced a significant influx of refugees since summer 2015, especially from Syria. Surveying this special population, special attention has to be paid to the target groups’ linguistic and cultural background as well as the specific situation of these refugees. Thus we expect effects of the modus of interview (CATI vs CAWI), gender effects of the interviewer and effects of social desirability regarding the receiving country.

To test this hypothesis we use data from two related surveys conducted in the year 2016, the IAB-study „Youth unemployment, mental health and labor market outcome“ and the IAB study “WELLCOME”. Both surveys sampled young people 18 to 25 years of age, who entered the German unemployment register for the first time shortly before the interview

The CATI and CAWI interviews of the WELLCOME study have been performed in Arabic language, the CATI interviews by native Arabic speaking interviewer. The interviewer population for the CATI interviews is gender balanced.

To identify social desirability we employ two scales, the work-commitment scale (Warr et al 1979) and the short form Hopkins Symptom Check List (HSCL10; Derogatis 1974). Whilst we anticipate a clear direction of social desirability with the Warr scale (work commitment is preferred by the receiving country), we assume a unclear profile for the HSCL10 scale (workability versus medical support).

The results indicate significant differences in respondents´ work commitment (Warr scale) between Syrian refugees and German residents. Furthermore, we identified a significant mode-effect in answering behavior of work commitment.

We assume, part of the mode effect could be connected to the interaction between respondent and interviewer. Both male and female report a higher level of work commitment in case of a male interviewer compared to female interviewer.

We apply logit models to control for individual and migrant-specific covariates and additional interviewer characteristics.