Attitudes towards Muslim Immigrants: Evidence from Survey Experiments across Four Countries

Abstract

There has been much negative focus on Muslims in public debates in the West and it is a matter of great interest to examine whether Muslims are particularly exposed to prejudice and hostility. Since it is known that immigrants tend to be exposed to prejudice, and practically all Muslims living in Western countries are either immigrants or are of immigrant origin, it is useful to analyse whether Muslims are viewed more negatively than immigrants in general. Using data from survey experiments conducted in Norway, Sweden, the USA and the United Kingdom in 2009, we find that Muslim immigrants were not more negatively viewed than immigrants in general. In the two countries that have experienced large-scale attacks by Islamic extremists, the USA and the United Kingdom, the expressed levels of anti-Muslim attitudes were actually lower than the levels of general anti-immigrant attitudes. We find that individual traits that influence general xenophobia also influence anti-Muslim attitudes.

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