How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present

8/3/2019 How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/how-a-tolerant-past-affects-the-present 1/14

How a tolerant past affects the present:Historical tolerance and the acceptance

of Muslim expressive rights

Anouk Smeekes, Maykel Verkuyten & Edwin Poppe

European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic

Relations (ERCOMER)



• Two related developments in Western Europe1.

Growing electorates anti-immigrant parties

2.

Fierce debates about national identity

The question ‘who we are’

is triggered by the presence of

‘them’

Different representations/understandings of national identity

Determine attitudes towards immigrant out-groups

Introduction



National

identification

Prejudice towards

immigrants/Muslims

+ ?

Content of national

identity

EthnicCivic

Nationalhistory

Nationalhistory

Different versions

& representations

Different versions

& representations

Used by politiciansto mobilize support

Used by politiciansto mobilize support

Temporal & historicalnarratives often

ignored in Social Ψ



“ H i st or i c a l l y , t he N et her l a nd s i s a c ount r y of t ol er anc e and

r es pec t . S o , peo pl e d eser v e r es pec t f or t hei r d ee pest bel i ef s ,

t hei r f a i t h , a nd i d ent i t y .” ( Jan P et er Balk enende, 20 0 7 )

Focus of present article – the Netherlands

Famous for its history & tradition of religious tolerance

But currently much electoral support for anti-Islam party

(Party for Freedom)

41% of native Dutch population perceives incompatibilitybetween Dutch and Muslim way of life (Gijsberts & Lubbers, 2009)

http://picses.eu/image/50c49e2b/



Theory and hypotheses

Representation of

historical tolerance

Acceptance of Muslim

expressive rights

Nationalidentification

Perceived identity

incompatibility

Study 1

Study 2

Rights of Muslims to publicly confirm

and express their religious identity



Study 1

Dutch students UU (N=368)

Study 2

Dutch students secondary &higher education (N=172)

Historical tolerant identity representation: 2 items (7p Likert scales)

“The Netherlands has a long history of religious tolerance”

“In the Netherlands there has always been room for various religions”

National identification: 4 items (7p scales)

“I feel committed to the Netherlands”

“I identify with the Netherlands”

DV = Acceptance of Muslim expressive rights: 6 items (7p scales)

Wearing a veil, Islamic schools, building Mosques

Controls

Gender, age & Educational level (Study 2)

Method

Perceived incompatibility: 3 items –

reverse coded (7p scales)“The fact that the Dutch and Muslim way of life differ does not mean they are necessarily in opposition”



AnalysesHierarchical linear regression (2 Steps)

Simple slope analysis: 1SD above/below identification Mean ( M

= 4.99, SD

= 1.05)

β = -.22*

Analyses & Results – Study 1

Representation of



expressive rightsNational

identification

Historical tolerance x

identification

β = .37***

β = .31***



STUDY 1

β = .01

β = .34*

Results simple slope analysis

A c c e p t a n c e o f M u s

l i m e

x p r e s s i v

e r i g h t s

Historical tolerance (centered)



9

β = -.13*

Results acceptance – Study 2

Representation of



expressive rightsNational

identification


identification

β = .13*

β = .17*

Simple slope analysis

+ 1SD: historical tolerance positive effect on Muslim rights ( β = .35*)

-

1SD: historical tolerance no effect on Muslim rights ( β = -.15)



10

β = .04

Results incompatibility – Study 2

Representation of


Perceived

incompatibilityNational

identification


identification

β = -.22**

β = -.27***

Simple slope analysis

+ 1SD: historical tolerance negative effect on incompatibility ( β = -.54***)

-

1SD: historical tolerance no effect on incompatibility

( β = .14)



11

Results mediated moderation – Study 2

Representation of


Perceivedincompatibility

Nationalidentification


identification β = .17*

Preacher & Hayes (2008) bootstrapping macro

Positive conditional indirect effect of interaction term on acceptance through PI (p < .05)

Acceptance of Muslimexpressive rights

β = -.66***

β = -.27***

X



Conclusion

• Representations national history shape intergroup attitudes

• Positive representation can improve attitudes

• National identification acceptance immigrants, not generic

negative relationship – Dependent on historical understanding national ‘we’

– Strong national attachment can go together with acceptance



Thank you for your attention

Questions?

European

Research Centre of Migration

and Ethnic

Relations

Faculty

of Social

and Behavioural

Sciences

Utrecht University

The Netherlands

www.ercomer.eu

T: + 31 30 253 8206

F: + 31 30 253 4733

[email protected]



Limitations & future directions

• External validity

– Confined to the Dutch context?• Future studies: examine historical representations in other

countries

– Confined to Muslims as immigrant out-group?

• Future studies: examine other immigrant out-groups

• Cross-sectional data – causality problem• Future studies: experiments

How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present

Documents

Transcript of How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present