Exploring How National Politics Influences the Outcome of Intergroup Contact among Muslim Minority Members

• Published in: Sociological inquiry 2018-05, Vol.88 (2), p.297-321
• Main Authors: Thomsen, Jens Peter Frølund, Rafiqi, Arzoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Classification; Data collection; Debates; Ethnicity; Intergroup relations; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority groups; Muslims; Political culture; Political majority; Prejudice; Religion & politics; Social contact
• ISSN: 0038-0245; 1475-682X
• DOI: 10.1111/soin.12193

This article adds to the existing research in intergroup contact among ethnic minority members by hypothesizing that national political debate has the capacity to enhance the positive outcomes of cross‐group interaction. Analyses show that the capacity of intergroup contact to reduce prejudice toward majority members is disproportionately stronger among Muslims than among non‐Muslim minority members. Specifically, at the time of data collection, the two categories—Muslims and majority members—were highly salient in the public debate, whereas the non‐Muslim minority member category was not primed as a contrast to the majority culture. The political debate most likely stimulated Muslims to generalize their positive contact experiences to the entire majority group. The analysis contributes to the theoretical refinement of the so‐called categorization model by focusing on politically induced reactions among contacted ethnic minority members toward majority members. The analysis utilizes a tailor‐made national sample (fielded during the Mohammad Cartoon Crisis in 2006) among ethnic minority members in Denmark (N = 3,272).