Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-hgkh8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-17T20:02:59.349Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Religious Social Identity, Religious Belief, and Anti-Immigration Sentiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2015

PAZIT BEN-NUN BLOOM*
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
GIZEM ARIKAN*
Affiliation:
Yasar University
MARIE COURTEMANCHE*
Affiliation:
Thiel College
*
Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel (pazit.bennun@mail.huji.ac.il).
Gizem Arikan, Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey (gizem.arikan@yasar.edu.tr).
Marie Courtemanche, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Thiel College, Greenville, PA, USA (mcourtemanche@thiel.edu).

Abstract

Somewhat paradoxically, numerous scholars in various disciplines have found that religion induces negative attitudes towards immigrants, while others find that it fuels feelings of compassion. We offer a framework that accounts for this discrepancy. Using two priming experiments conducted among American Catholics, Turkish Muslims, and Israeli Jews, we disentangle the role of religious social identity and religious belief, and differentiate among types of immigrants based on their ethnic and religious similarity to, or difference from, members of the host society. We find that religious social identity increases opposition to immigrants who are dissimilar to in-group members in religion or ethnicity, while religious belief engenders welcoming attitudes toward immigrants of the same religion and ethnicity, particularly among the less conservative devout. These results suggest that different elements of the religious experience exert distinct and even contrasting effects on immigration attitudes, manifested in both the citizenry's considerations of beliefs and identity and its sensitivity to cues regarding the religion of the target group.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abramson, Harold J. 1980. “Assimilation and Pluralism.” In Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, ed. Thernstrom, Stephan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 150–60.Google Scholar
Adorno, Theodor W., Frenkel-Brunswik, Else, Levinson, Daniel J., and Sanford, Nevitt R.. 1950. The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Ahmed, Ali M., and Salas, Osvaldo. 2008. “In the Back of Your Mind: Subliminal Influences of Religious Concepts on Prosocial Behavior.” University of Gothenburg Working Papers in Economics, No. 331.Google Scholar
Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Allport, Gordon W. 1966. “The Religious Context of Prejudice.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 5 (3): 447–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appleby, Scott R. 2000. The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin, and Sobel, Zvi. 1991. “Introduction.” In Tradition, Innovation, Conflict: Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Israel, eds. Sobel, Zvi and Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. New York: SUNY Press, 124.Google Scholar
Ben-Nun Bloom, Pazit, and Arikan, Gizem. 2013a. “Religion and Support for Democracy: A Cross-National Test of the Mediating Mechanisms.” British Journal of Political Science 43 (2): 375–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Nun Bloom, Pazit, and Arikan, Gizem. 2013b. “Priming Religious Belief and Religious Social Behavior Affects Support for Democracy.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 25 (3): 368–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Nun Bloom, Pazit, Arikan, Gizem, and Lahav, Gallya. 2015. “The Effect of Perceived Cultural and Material Threats on Ethnic Preferences in Immigration Attitudes.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. In press.Google Scholar
Ben-Nun Bloom, Pazit, and Courtemanche, Marie. 2015. “Religion, Morality, and Tolerance: The Role of Disgust.” In Religion and Political Tolerance in America: Advances in the State of the Art, ed. Djupe, Paul. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Boomgaarden, Hajo G., and Freire, André. 2009. “Religion and Euroscepticism: Direct, Indirect, or No Effects?West European Politics 32 (6): 1240–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brader, Ted, Valentino, Nicholas A., and Suhay, Elizabeth. 2008. “What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat.” American Journal of Political Science 52 (4): 959–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, Marilynn B. 1999. “The Psychology of Prejudice: In-Group Love or Out-Group Hate?Journal of Social Issues 55 (3): 429–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Rupert. 2000. “Social Identity Theory: Past Achievements, Current Problems, and Future Challenges.” European Journal of Social Psychology 30 (6): 745–78.3.0.CO;2-O>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caprara, Gian Vittorio, Schwartz, Shalom, Capanna, Cristina, Vecchione, Michele, Barbaranelli, Claudio. 2006. “Personality and Politics: Values, Traits, and Political Choice.” Political Psychology 27 (1): 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carkoglu, Ali, and Kalaycioglu, Ersin. 2009. The Rising Tide of Conservatism in Turkey. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassidy, John. 2014. “Obama Goes Big on Immigration.” The New Yorker (November 21, 2014).Google Scholar
Chong, Dennis, Citrin, Jack, and Conley, Patricia. 2001. “When Self-Interest Matters.” Political Psychology 22 (3): 541–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Citrin, Jack, Reingold, Beth, and Green, Donald. 1990. “American Identity and the Politics of Ethnic Change.” The Journal of Politics 52 (4): 1124–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Citrin, Jack, and Sides, John. 2008. “Immigration and the Imagined Community in Europe and the United States.” Political Studies 56 (1): 3356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornelius, Wayne A., and Rosenblum, Marc R.. 2005. “Immigration and Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 8: 99119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, Richard J., Walsh, Judi, and Hewstone, Miles. 2006. “Crossed Categorization in Common In-group Contexts.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 32 (9): 1204–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Zavala, Agnieszka G., Cislak, Aleksandra, and Wesolowska, Elzbieta. 2010. “Political Conservatism, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Intergroup Hostility.” Political Psychology 31 (4): 521–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dekker, Paul, and Halman, Loek. 2003. The Values of Volunteering: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New York: Kluwer Academic Plenum Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Calfano, Brian R.. 2013a. “Religious Value Priming, Threat, and Political Tolerance.” Political Research Quarterly 66 (4): 768–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Calfano, Brian R.. 2013b. God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A. and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2006. “The Resourceful Believer: Generating Civic Skills in Church.” The Journal of Politics 68 (1): 116–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dougherty, Kevin D., and Huyser, Kimberly R.. 2008. “Racially Diverse Congregations: Organizational Identity and the Accommodation of Differences.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47 (1): 2344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg-Berg, Nancy, and Mussen, Paul. 1980. “Personality Correlates of Socio- Political Liberalism and Conservatism in Adolescents.” Journal of Genetic Psychology 137: 165–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fetzer, Joel S. 2000. Public Attitudes toward Immigration in the United States, France, and Germany. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fish, Steven M. 2011. Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foner, Nancy, and Alba, Richard. 2008. “Immigrant Religion in the U.S. and Western Europe: Bridge or Barrier to Inclusion?International Migration Review 42 (2): 360–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, James W. 1981. Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Gibson, James L. 2010. “The Political Consequences of Religiosity: Does Religion Always Cause Political Intolerance?” In Religion and Democracy in America: Danger or Opportunity?, eds. Wolfe, Alan and Katznelson, Ira. New York and Princeton: Russell Sage Foundation and Princeton University Press, 147–75.Google Scholar
Graham, Jesse, Haidt, Jonathan, and Nosek, Brian A.. 2009. “Liberals and Conservatives Rely on Different Sets of Moral Foundations.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96 (5): 1029–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guth, James L., Green, John C., Kellstedt, Lyman A., Smidt, Corwin E.. 1995. “Faith and the Environment: Religious Beliefs and Attitudes on Environmental Policy.” American Journal of Political Science 39 (2): 364–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagendoorn, Louk. 1993. “Ethnic Categorization and Out-group Exclusion: Cultural Values and Social Stereotypes in the Construction of Ethnic Hierarchies.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 16 (1): 2651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagendoorn, Louk, and Henke, Roger. 1991. “The Effect of Multiple Category Membership on Intergroup Evaluations in a North Indian Context: Class, Caste, and Religion.” British Journal of Social Psychology 30 (3): 247–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, Lesa, and Rovine, Michael J.. 2007. “Multilevel Models for the Experimental Psychologist: Foundations and Illustrative Examples.” Behavior Research Methods 39 (1): 101–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunsberger, Bruce. 1995. “Religion and Prejudice: The Role of Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism.” Journal of Social Issues 51 (2): 113–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 2004. Who Are We? America's Great Debate. London: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 1992. “Political Christianity: A Contextual Analysis.” American Journal of Political Science 36 (3): 692714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Megan, Rowatt, Wade C., and Labouff, Jordan. 2010. “Priming Christian Religious Concepts Increases Racial Prejudice.” Social Psychology and Personality Science 1 (2): 119–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jost, John T., Glaser, Jack, Kruglanski, Arie W., and Sulloway, Frank J.. 2003. “Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition.” Psychological Bulletin 129 (3): 339–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kedem, Peri. 1995. “Dimensions of Jewish Religiosity.” In Israeli Judaism, ed. Deshen, Shlomo, Liebman, Charles, and Shokeid, Mishe. London, UK: Transaction Publishers, 3362.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Kam, Cindy D.. 2009. Us against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Sears, David O.. 1981. “Prejudice and Politics: Symbolic Racism versus Racial Threats to the Good Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40 (3): 414–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinnvall, Catarina. 2004. “Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security.” Political Psychology 25 (5): 741–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirisci, Kemal. 2007. “Turkey: A Country of Transition from Emigration to Immigration.” Mediterranean Politics 12 (1): 91–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knoll, Benjamin R. 2009. “And Who Is My Neighbor? Religion and Immigration Policy Attitudes.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48 (2): 313–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kotler-Berkowitz, Laurence A. 2001. “Religion and Voting Behaviour in Great Britain: A Reassessment.” British Journal of Political Science 31 (3): 523–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurin, Kristin, Shariff, Azim F., Henrich, Joseph, and Kay, Aaron C.. 2012. “Outsourcing Punishment to God: Beliefs in Divine Control Reduce Earthly Punishment.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 (1741): 3272–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey. 2000. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Leege, David C., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. 1993. “Religious Worldviews and Political Philosophies: Capturing Theory in the Grand Manner through Empirical Data.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics. eds. Leege, David. C. and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 216–31.Google Scholar
Lipka, Michael, and Martínez, Jessica. 2013. “Catholic Leaders Urge Immigration Reform.” Fact Tank: Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/06/demographics-play-role-in-catholic-leaders-push-for-immigration-bill/ Google Scholar
Lubbers, Marcel, Coenders, Marcel, and Scheepers, Peer. 2006. “Objections to Asylum Seeker Centres: Individual and Contextual Determinants of Resistance to Small and Large Centres in the Netherlands.” European Sociological Review 22 (3): 243–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lugo, Luis (ed.). 2008. US Religious Landscape Survey. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Lustick, Ian S. 1999. “Israel as a Non-Arab State: The Political Implications of Mass Immigration of Non-Jews.” Middle East Journal 53 (3): 417–33.Google Scholar
McDaniel, Eric Leon, Nooruddin, Irfan, and Shortle, Allyson Faith. 2011. “Divine Boundaries: How Religion Shapes Citizens’ Attitudes toward Immigrants.” American Politics Research 39 (1): 205–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarland, Sam G. 1981. “Effects of Question Order on Survey Responses.” Public Opinion Quarterly 45: 208–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norenzayan, Ara. 2014. Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
O’Reilly, Charles T., and O’Reilly, Edward J.. 1954. “Religious Beliefs of Catholic College Students and Their Attitudes toward Minorities.” Abnormal Social Psychology 49 (3): 378–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, Ashley, and Shear, Michael D.. 2013. “Catholic Push to Overhaul Immigration Goes to Pews.” New York Times (August 21, 2013).Google Scholar
Perdue, Charles W., Dovidio, John F., Gurtman, Michael B., and Tyler, Richard B.. 1990. “Us and Them: Social Categorization and the Process of Intergroup Bias.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59 (3): 475–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philpott, Daniel. 2007. “Explaining the Political Ambivalence of Religion.” American Political Science Review 101 (3): 505–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, Robert D., and Campbell, David E.. 2012. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Roccas, Sonia, and Amit, Adi. 2011. “Group Heterogeneity and Tolerance: The Moderating Role of Conservation Values.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 47 (5): 898907.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roccas, Sonia, and Brewer, Marilynn B.. 2002. “Social Identity Complexity.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 6 (2): 88106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saroglou, Vassilis, Delpierre, Vanessa, and Dernelle, Rebecca. 2004. “Values and Religiosity: A Meta-Analysis of Studies using Schwartz's Model.” Personality and Individual Differences 37 (4): 721–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheepers, Peer, Gijsbert, Merove, and Hello, Eveline. 2002. “Religiosity and Prejudice against Ethnic Movements in Europe: Cross-National Tests on a Controversial Relationship.” Review of Religious Research 43 (3): 242–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Shalom, and Huismans, Sipke. 1995. “Value Priorities and Religiosity in Four Western Religions.” Social Psychology Quarterly 58 (2): 88107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shariff, Azim F., and Norenzayan, Ara. 2011. “Mean Gods Make Good People.” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 21 (2): 8596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, Peter. 2011. The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Guth, James L.. 2009. “The Role of Religion in American Politics: Explanatory Theories and Associated Analytical and Measurement Issues.” In Oxford Handbook on Religion and American Politics, eds. Smidt, Corwin, Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Guth, James L.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 342.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., Hagendoorn, Louk, and Prior, Markus. 2004. “Predispositional Factors and Situational Triggers: Exclusionary Reactions to Immigrant Minorities.” American Political Science Review 98 (1): 3550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snijders, Tom, and Bosker, Roel. 1999. Multilevel Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Multilevel Modeling. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Srull, Thomas, K., and Wyer, Robert S.. 1979. “The Role of Category Accessibility in the Interpretation of Information about Persons: Some Determinants and Implications.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37 (10): 1660–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steensland, Brian, Robinson, Lynn D., and Wilcox, W. Bradford. 2000. “The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art.” Social Forces 79 (1): 291318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strabac, Zan, and Listhaug, Ola. 2008. “Anti-Muslim Prejudice in Europe: A Multilevel Analysis of Survey Data from 30 Countries.” Social Science Research 37 (1): 268–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, Henri. 1981. Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and Dawson, John. 1965. Disappointed Guests. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline, and Hero, Rodney. 1996. “Race/Ethnicity and Direct Democracy: An Analysis of Californian's Illegal Immigration Initiative.” The Journal of Politics 58 (3): 806–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Transue, John E. 2007. “Identity Salience, Identity Acceptance, and Racial Policy Attitudes: American National Identity as a Uniting Force.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (1): 7891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, Harry C., and Triandis, Leigh Minturn. 1960. “Race, Social Class, Religion, and Nationality as Determinants of Social Distance.” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 61 (1): 110–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turner, John C., and Reynolds, Katherine J.. 2001. “The Social Identity Perspective in Intergroup Relations: Theories, Themes, and Controversies.” In Blackwell Handbook of Social Processes: Intergroup Processes, ed. Brown, Rupert and Gaertner, Sam. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 133–52.Google Scholar
Urban, Lynn M., and Miller, Norman. 1998. “A Meta-analysis of Crossed Categorization Effects.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74: 894908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Nicholas A., Brader, Ted, and Jardina, Ashley E.. 2013. “Immigration Opposition among U.S. Whites: General Ethnocentrism or Media Priming of Attitudes about Latinos?Political Behavior 34 (2): 149–66.Google Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D., and Smidt, Corwin E.. 1993. “Measurement Strategies in the Study of Religion and Politics.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, eds. Leege, David. C. and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2652.Google Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde. 2006. “Getting Religion: Has Political Science Rediscovered the Faith Factor?American Political Science Review 100 (4): 523–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D., Owen, Dennis E., and Hill, Samuel S.. 1988. “Churches as Political Communities.” American Political Science Review 82 (3): 531–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, Dennis, and Green, Samuel B.. 2002. “Analysis of Repeated Measures Designs with Linear Mixed Models.” In Modeling Intra-individual Variability with Repeated Measures Data: Methods and Applications, ed. Moskowitz, D. S., and Hershberger, Scott L.. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 103–34.Google Scholar
Wright, Matthew, Citrin, Jack, and Wand, Jonathan. 2012. “Alternative Measures of American National Identity: Implications for the Civic-Ethnic Distinction.” Political Psychology 33 (4): 469–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yilmaz, Ihsan. 2005. “State, Law, Civil Society, and Islam in Contemporary Turkey.” The Muslim World 95 (3): 385411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Ben-Nun Bloom supplementary materials

Appendix

Download Ben-Nun Bloom supplementary materials(PDF)
PDF 701.9 KB