Mating Market Competition Reduces Support for Ukrainian Refugees Among Polish Women

We present evidence in support of self-interested motives shaping attitudes toward migrants by exploring an unusual form of competition between native and migrant populations. Analyzing new data from Poland and taking advantage of the skewed gender composition of Poland's unprecedented wave of refugee arrivals from the war in Ukraine, we test the effects of mating market competition in Poland. More than 2 million Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland, and more than 80\% of them are young women. The Polish population is supportive despite high costs of accommodating these refugees. However, we identify a gender gap in support for Ukrainian refugees, with women being clearly less supportive than men. Analyzing data from 3 surveys targeting nearly 10,000 Polish citizens, we show that concerns over mating competition make Polish women less positively disposed toward Ukrainian refugees, while Polish men become more positively disposed