Muslim mass shooters are perceived as less mentally ill and more motivated by religion

Abstract

Objective: We test whether prejudice can influence lay attributions of mental illness to perpetrators of violence. Specifically, we examine whether people with negative attitudes towards Muslims perceive Muslim mass shooters as less mentally ill than non-Muslim shooters. Method: Study 1 compares attributions of mental illness to Muslim and non-Muslim perpetrators of recent mass shootings. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally test whether a mass shooter described in a news article is seen as less mentally ill when described as being a Muslim, compared to when described as a Christian (Study 2) and to when religion is not mentioned (Study 3). Study 4 tests whether a Muslim shooter is seen as less mentally ill than a Christian shooter, even when both shooters have symptoms of mental illness. Results: In all studies, Muslim shooters were seen as less mentally ill than non-Muslim shooters, but only by those with negative views towards Muslims. Conclusion: Those with anti-Muslim prejudices perceive Muslim mass shooters as less mentally ill, likely to maintain culpability and fit narratives about terrorism. This may reinforce anti-Muslim attitudes by leading those with anti-Muslim prejudice to overestimate the amount of violence inspired by groups like ISIS relative to extremist groups from other ideologies.

Simply Insane? Attributing Terrorism to Mental Illness (Versus Ideology) Affects Mental Representations of Race

“…It has repeatedly been documented that Western mainstream media tends to readily attribute the motives of potential terrorists to ideology when the alleged perpetrator is non-White and/or foreign but attributes it to mental illness when the perpetrator is a member of the White majority group (Gill & Corner, 2017). Arguably, this bias reflects people’s desire to protect the worth of their in-group and to hold out-group members morally accountable (Chen et al, 2015; Clark et al, 2014; Mercier et al, 2018; Noor et al, 2018). The present research highlights the consequences that learning about a terrorist’s motivations can have at a perceptual level.…”

“…Similarly, ascribing ideological motivation to terrorists may serve the purpose of distancing the perpetrator from the in-group, whereas ascribing mental illness to a terrorist may offset this need to protect the in-group's worth (Noor, Kteily, Siem, & Mazziotta, 2018). Finally, work in progress indicates that, among those with negative attitudes toward Muslims, non-Muslim mass shooters are seen as more driven by mental illness than Muslim mass shooters, and that a mass shooter driven by mental illness is perceived as less likely to be Muslim than one who is driven by unknown motives (Mercier, Norris, & Shariff, 2018).…”