News exposure predicts anti-Muslim prejudice

<div><p>News coverage of Islamic extremism is reigniting debates about the media’s role in promoting prejudice toward Muslims. Psychological theories of media-induced prejudice date to the 1950’s, and find support from controlled experiments. However, national-scale studies of media effects on Muslim prejudice are lacking. Orthogonal research investigating media-induced prejudice toward immigrants has failed to establish any link. Moreover, it has been found that people interpret the news in ways that confirm pre-existing attitudes, suggesting that media induced Muslim prejudice in liberal democracies is unlikely. Here, we test the association between news exposure and anti-Muslim prejudice in a diverse national sample from one of the world’s most tolerant societies, where media effects are least likely to hold (<i>N</i> = 16,584, New Zealand). In support of media-induced Islamophobia, results show that greater news exposure is associated with both increased anger and reduced warmth toward Muslims. Additionally, the relationship between media exposure and anti-Muslim prejudice does not reliably vary with political ideology, supporting claims that it is widespread representations of Muslims in the news, rather than partisan media biases, that drives anti-Muslim prejudice.</p></div

Results of a Bayesian regression model (<i>N</i> = 16,548) predicting warmth toward Arabs, Asians, and Muslims, with 95% posterior density intervals.

<p>Political conservatism, religious identification, and socioeconomic deprivation were standardized, and age and education were centered.</p

Expected anger toward Muslims and expected warmth toward Muslims in response to news exposure across two standard deviations of new exposure (0–15.486 hours).

<p>Expected anger toward Muslims and expected warmth toward Muslims in response to news exposure across two standard deviations of new exposure (0–15.486 hours).</p

Coefficients of predictors for anger toward Muslims.

<p>A graph of the posterior means and 95% posterior density intervals for all anger coefficients in the model, allowing a relative comparison of news effects with known drivers of minority group prejudice.</p

Results of a Bayesian regression model (<i>N</i> = 16,548) predicting anger toward Arabs, Asians, and Muslims, with 95% posterior density intervals.

<p>Political conservatism, religious identification, and socioeconomic deprivation were standardized, and age and education were centered.</p

Coefficients of predictors for warmth toward Muslims.

<p>A graph of the posterior means and 95% posterior density intervals for all warmth coefficients in the model, allowing a relative comparison of news effects with known drivers of minority group prejudice.</p

Expected effects of news exposure on anger (red) and warmth (green) toward Muslims compared to the expected effects of political orientation on anger and warmth toward Muslims.

<p>The response scale for news exposure and for conservatism is one standard deviation. In standard deviation units, the expected news exposure effect for anger is 30.5% that of the political orientation effect; the expected news exposure effect for warmth is 12.5% that of the political orientation effect.</p

MCMC Solutions: Warmth to Arabs, Muslims, Immigrants.

<p>MCMC Solutions: Warmth to Arabs, Muslims, Immigrants.</p

Religion and the Unmaking of Prejudice toward Muslims: Evidence from a Large National Sample

<div><p>In the West, anti-Muslim sentiments are widespread. It has been theorized that inter-religious tensions fuel anti-Muslim prejudice, yet previous attempts to isolate sectarian motives have been inconclusive. Factors contributing to ambiguous results are: (1) failures to assess and adjust for multi-level denomination effects; (2) inattention to demographic covariates; (3) inadequate methods for comparing anti-Muslim prejudice relative to other minority group prejudices; and (4) <i>ad hoc</i> theories for the mechanisms that underpin prejudice and tolerance. Here we investigate anti-Muslim prejudice using a large national sample of non-Muslim New Zealanders (<i>N</i> = 13,955) who responded to the 2013 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. We address previous shortcomings by: (1) building Bayesian multivariate, multi-level regression models with denominations modeled as random effects; (2) including high-resolution demographic information that adjusts for factors known to influence prejudice; (3) simultaneously evaluating the relative strength of anti-Muslim prejudice by comparing it to anti-Arab prejudice and anti-immigrant prejudice within the same statistical model; and (4) testing predictions derived from the Evolutionary Lag Theory of religious prejudice and tolerance. This theory predicts that in countries such as New Zealand, with historically low levels of conflict, religion will tend to increase tolerance generally, and extend to minority religious groups. Results show that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments are confounded, widespread, and substantially higher than anti-immigrant sentiments. In support of the theory, the intensity of religious commitments was associated with a general increase in tolerance toward minority groups, including a poorly tolerated religious minority group: Muslims. Results clarify religion’s power to enhance tolerance in peaceful societies that are nevertheless afflicted by prejudice.</p></div

Warmth towards Immigrants, Arabs and Muslims.

<p>Warmth towards Immigrants, Arabs and Muslims.</p