Group‐based discrimination, national identification, and British Muslims’ attitudes toward non‐Muslims: the mediating role of perceived identity incompatibility

Abstract

In two studies, we tested a model in which the perceived (in)compatibility of being British and Muslim (identity incompatibility) was expected to mediate between group-based discrimination and the identifications and attitudes of British Muslims. In Study 1 (N = 76), anti-Muslim discrimination was associated with lower national identification and more negative attitudes toward non-Muslims, and these relationships were mediated by perceived identity incompatibility. In Study 2 (N = 70), we additionally found that anti-Muslim discrimination predicted stronger endorsement of Islamic group rights, and this relationship was also mediated by perceived identity incompatibility. The studies highlight the importance of groupbased discrimination in shaping the perceived (in)compatibility of being British and Muslim, and, in turn, the identifications and attitudes of British Muslims.

‘Healthy’ identities? Revisiting rejection‐identification and rejection‐disidentification models among voluntary and forced immigrants

“…In addition, our research provided strong support for the rejection‐disidentification hypothesis, which is in line with empirical evidence from previous studies (Badea et al, ; Hutchison et al, ; Jasinskaja‐Lahti et al, , ; Matschke & Sassenberg, ; Verkuyten & Yildiz, ; Wiley et al, ). The rejection‐disidentification link held across nine different ethnic minority groups including both forced and voluntary migrants from the two cultural contexts.…”

“…Immigrants may not feel fully recognized as citizens of the host society and might therefore react with host national disidentification. Multiple studies have shown that minority group members tend to distance themselves from the majority group as a reaction to perceived ethnic discrimination (Badea et al, 2011;Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006;Hutchison, Lubna, Goncalves-Portelinha, Kamali, & Khan, 2015;Jasinskaja-Lahti et al, 2009Kunst et al, 2012;Matschke & Sassenberg, 2010;Verkuyten & Yildiz, 2007;Wiley, 2013;Wiley et al, 2013). Successful adaptation to a new cultural context requires participation in the dynamics of the majority group .…”

“…Second, we tested these models with representative samples of refugees (Study 1) and foreign-born voluntary immigrants (Study 2) in two different European contexts with high immigration rates, the Netherlands and Spain. To our knowledge, existing research has mostly focused on minority group members that were born and raised in a given society, such as African Americans or British Muslims (Branscombe et al, 1999;Hutchison et al, 2015), or on samples with relatively high-status groups such as international students (Jetten et al, 2001;Ramos et al, 2012;Schmitt et al, 2003). Research testing either RIM or RDIM among voluntary immigrants is rather scarce (Jasinskaja-Lahti et al, 2009Verkuyten & Yildiz, 2007;Wiley et al, 2013), and research on RIM and RDIM among refugees is almost non-existent (but see Verkuyten and Nekuee's (1999) study on RIM among Iranian refugees in the Netherlands).…”

Identity Multiplicity, National Group Contact, and Acculturation: The Role of Identity‐Related Cognitions

“…As we have described above, Muslims in Germany often experience group‐based rejection. As studies have shown, group‐based rejection of Muslims in a Christian majority country can relate to increased perception of incompatibility of national and Muslim identities on the part of Muslim PMB (Hutchison, Lubna, Goncalves‐Portelinha, Kamali, & Khan, ).…”

Predictors of “the last acceptable racism”: Group threats and public attitudes toward Gypsies and Travellers

“…Such threats arise where another group, by adhering to a different worldview or belief system than the ingroup, is perceived as posing a challenge to the ingroups way of life. In such situations, ingroup members may feel that their cultural identity will be undermined and important norms or values corroded, leading to prejudice (Hutchison, Lubna, Goncalves-Portelinha, Kamali, & Khan, 2015). Indeed, several studies have shown that perceived threats to important ingroup norms, values, or cultural practices predict more negative outgroup attitudes (e.g., Abrams, Van de Vyver, Houston, & Vasiljevic, 2017;Semyonov et al, 2004;Stephan et al, 1999).…”