Islamophobia: Social Distance, Avoidance, and Threat

Abstract A sample of undergraduate college students (N = 610) enrolled in Introductory Sociology courses participated in a study exploring attitudes toward and social distance from persons who are Arab, Pakistani, and Muslim vis a vis other ethnic and religious groups. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016 using the Bogardus Social Distance scale and a 16-item Islamophobia scale. Respondents positioned Arabs, Pakistanis, and Muslims at the bottom of a closeness hierarchy. In multiple regression analyses where race, religion, political affiliation and preferred news source are regressed on Islamophobia scores we find that being Christian, being a Republican and watching Fox News, separately and together, significantly influence negative attitudes toward Muslims and persons from those regions, while knowing someone Muslim diminishes these views. The persistence of these sentiments is explored.