Diğer Dini Gruplara Yönelik Tutumların Algılanan İslamofobi, Gruplar Arası İletişim ve Sosyal Kimlik ile İlişkisi: Batı Ülkelerinde Yaşayan Müslümanlar Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Year 2024, , 69 - 81, 20.10.2024

Kenan Sevinç , Metin Güven

https://doi.org/10.32950/rid.1496733

Abstract

Batı ülkelerindeki Müslüman nüfus giderek artmakta ve buna bağlı olarak Müslümanların hayatını ilgilendiren bireysel, toplumsal, kültürel, ekonomik, siyasi vb. farklı meseleler her geçen gün araştırmacıların ilgi sahasına dahil olmaktadır. Azınlık bir grup olarak genel nüfus içerisinde kendine yer bulmaya çalışan Müslümanlar dışlanma, ayrımcılık, önyargı, damgalama, nefret öfke ve şiddet gibi olumsuz tutum ve davranışlarla hayatın farklı alanlarında karşılaşabilmektedirler. Sözlü sataşma, dini pratiklere müdahale, iş yerinde ayrımcılığa maruz kalma, seyahat esnasında dışlayıcı güvenlik taramalarına katlanma, silahlı saldırı, tehditler, zorbalık ve vandallık yaşanan problemler örnekleri olarak tespit edilmiştir. Özellikle 11 Eylül saldırıları, bu tür olumsuz tutum ve davranışlar açısından Müslümanların hayatında yeni bir dönemin başlangıcı olmuş; hayatı zorlaştırıcı bu tür olaylar çok daha fazla yaşanır hale gelmiştir. Dolayısıyla Batı toplumu içerisindeki farklı dini grupların birbiri ile olan ilişkileri araştırmacılar açısından yeni bir boyut kazanmıştır. Mevcut literatür, dini grupların birbirine yönelik düşünce, tutum ve davranışları üzerine incelemeler yapmış ve Müslümanlara karşı sergilenen böylesi yıpratıcı tutumların diğer herhangi bir dini gruba yönelik tutumlardan daha yıkıcı olduğunu tespit etmiştir. Bu bağlamda, şu önemli soru akla gelmektedir: Batı ülkelerinde yaşayan Müslümanlar, diğer dini grupların olumsuz ve hayatı zorlaştırıcı düşünce, tutum ve uygulamalarına maruz kalıyorken, onlar diğer dini gruplara karşı hangi düşünce, hissiyat ve tutumlara sahiptirler? Buradan hareketle bu çalışma, Batı ülkelerinde yaşayan Müslümanların diğer dini gruplara yönelik tutumlarını, bu tutumların tecrübe edilen gruplar arası temas ile ilişkisini, diğer gruplar ile olan iletişimlerinin kalitesini, algıladıkları İslamofobi düzeyini ve kendi grup içi dinamiklerini belirleyen sosyal kimlik seviyelerini incelemiştir. Araştırmada ilişkisel tarama yöntemi ve anket tekniğinin kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri ise kesitsel desenle Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, İngiltere, Almanya başta olmak üzere Batı ülkelerinde yaşayan, 18 ile 55 ve üzeri yaşlardaki 158 Müslüman katılımcıdan elde edilmiştir. Katılımcıların 93’ü erkek (%58,9) ve 65’i kadındır (%41,1). Katılımcılara sunulan anket formunda “Grup İçi Kendini Tanımlama Ölçeği” ve “Algılanan İslamofobi Ölçeği,” kullanılmıştır. Bunun yanında gruplar arası ilişkilerin sıklığı ve niteliğine dair sorular ile diğer dini gruplara yönelik tutumları belirlemeyi amaçlayan sorular katılımcılara yönlendirilmiştir. Araştırma bulguları (a) Müslümanların en olumlu şekilde yaklaştığı dini grubun Katolikler olduğunu ve en sık şekilde Katolikler ile iletişime geçtiğini, (b) diğer dini gruplara yönelik tutumların onlarla iletişime geçme sıklığı ve olumlu temaslarda bulunma ile ilişkili olduğunu, (c) sosyal özdeşleşme, temas ve algılanan İslamofobi düzeyleri ile diğer dini gruplara yönelik tutumlar arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmadığını ve (d) algılanan İslamofobi’nin sadece Yahudilere yönelik tutumlar ve bu grupla olan nitelikli iletişim ile ilişkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçları, sınırlılıkları ve konuya dair ileride yapılabilecek çalışmalar çalışma içerisinde değerlendirilmektedir.

Keywords

İslamofobi, Batı, Müslümanlar, Dini Gruplar, Tutumlar, Sosyal Kimlik

The Relationship of Attitudes toward Other Religious Groups with Perceived Islamophobia, Intergroup Contact, and Social Identity: A Study among Muslims Living in Western Countries

Abstract

The Muslim population in Western countries gradually increases, and thereby, individual, social, cultural, economic, political, etc. matters related to the lives of Muslims draw researchers’ attention day by day. Muslims, who make efforts to survive within the given population as a minority group, may encounter negative attitudes and behaviors in different life venues such as exclusion, discrimination, prejudice, labeling or stigmatization, hatred, anger, and violence. In this regard, the literature addressed verbal taunting, obstructing religious practices, workplace discrimination, travel discrimination, armed attacks, threats, bullying, and vandalism as significant problem instances. Particularly, the 9/11 attacks had caused a breakthrough change in the lives of the Muslim population in terms of the addressed negative attitudes and behaviors, causing such complicated and deleterious incidents to happen increasingly. Therefore, the relationships of different religious groups with each other living in Western society prompted a significant scholarly interest. The existing literature explored the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of religious groups toward each other and found that Muslims have to struggle with detrimental attitudes more compared to any other religious group. In this regard, an important question that comes to mind is what thoughts, feelings, and attitudes Muslims living in Western countries may have toward other religious groups while facing negative and complicated thoughts, attitudes, and actions of other religious groups. Accordingly, this research explored the attitudes of Muslims living in Western countries toward other religious groups and the relationship of these attitudes with intergroup contact, quality of contact, perceived Islamophobia level, and social identification level. As a quantitative study, we collected the data with the survey technique and ran the correlational analysis. The cross-sectional data came from 158 participants (93 Males (58.9%) - 65 Females (41.1%)), who mostly live in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and other Western countries, aged 18 and 55+. The survey deployed “Social Identification Scale” and “Perceived Islamophobia Scale.” In addition, we ask questions to the participants regarding (a) the frequency and quality of intergroup relations and (b) the attitudes towards other religious groups. Results indicated that (a) Catholics are the most positively regarded religious group for Muslims and they are the group with whom Muslims have the highest frequency of contact; (b) attitudes toward other religious groups were associated with frequency of contact and positive evaluation of contact; (c) there was no statistical relationship between levels of social identification, contact and perceived Islamophobia and attitudes towards other religious groups, and (d) among religious groups, perceived Islamophobia was only associated with attitudes toward Jews and evaluations of contact with this group. We discuss the study implications, limitations as well as future research avenues.

Keywords

Islamophobia, West, Muslims, Religious Groups, Attitudes, Social Identity

References

• Allen, Chris. Islamophobia. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2010.
• Allport, Gordon. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1954.
• Bangstad, Sindre - Bunzl, Matti. ““Anthropologists are Talking” About Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in the New Europe.” Ethos 75/2 (2010), 213-228.
• Başaran, İsmail - Özbay, Hüseyin. “Avrupa’da islamofobi ve aşırı sağ hareketin yükselişi.” Uluslararası İslamofobi ve Terör Sempozyumu Bildiriler Kitabı, ed. Azize Toper Kaygın ve Cüneyd Aydın. 287-301, Bartın: Bartın Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2017.
• Bleich, Erik. “Defining and Researching Islamophobia.” Review of Middle East Studies, 46/2 (2012), 180-189. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2151348100003402
• Bravo López, Fernando. “Towards a Definition of Islamophobia: Approximations of the Early Twentieth Century.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 34/4 (2011), 556-573. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2010.528440
• CAIR. “The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States 1999.” https://www.cair.com/civil_rights/1999-civil-rights-report-expressions-of-faith/ (1999), Access date: January 28th, 2017.
• CAIR. “The American mosque 2011.” https://www.cair.com/success_stories_qgafj_dwotsu7axdijni5w/the-american-mosque-2011/ (2012), Access date: January 28th, 2017.
• Carr, James. “Regulating Islamophobia: The Need for Collecting Disaggregated Data on Racism in Ireland.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 31/4 (2011), 574-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2011.630863
• Cesari, Jocelyne. “Securitization of Islam in Europe.” Muslims in the West after 9/11: Religion, Politics, and Law. ed. Jocelyne Cesari 9-27. London: Routledge, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x10000517
• Ciftci, Sabri. “Islamophobia and Threat Perceptions: Explaining Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32/3 (2012), 293-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2012.727291
• Cinnirella, Marco. “Think “Terrorists”, Think “Muslim”? Social-psychological Mechanisms Explaining Anti-Islamic Prejudice.” Islamophobia in the West: Measuring and Explaining Individual Attitudes. ed. Marc Helbling 179-214, New York: Routledge, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203841730-23
• Clay, Rebecca A. “Islamophobia.” Monitor on Psychology 48/4 (2017), 34-37.
• Cole, Juan. “Islamophobia as a Social Problem: 2006 Presidential Address.” Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 41/1 (2007), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0026318400051002
• Dekker, Henk - Noll, Jolanda V. “Islamophobia and Its Origins: A Study among Dutch Youth.” IMISCOE cross-cluster theory conference: Interethnic relations multidisciplinary Approaches (May 2009). 13-15. Lisbon, Portugal, 2009.
• Demmrich, S., Ağılkaya-Şahin, Z., Şenel, A. "Love Thy Neighbor: Exploring Religious and Social Openness among Prospective Theologians in Germany and Turkey." Religions 15/3 (2024), 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030260
• Ekman, Mattias. “Online Islamophobia and the Politics of Fear: Manufacturing the Green Scare.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 38(11) (2015), 1986-2002. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2015.1021264
• Esses, Victoria M. et al. “Intergroup Competition and Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration: An Instrumental Model of Group Conflict.” Journal of Social Issues 54/4 (1998), 699-724. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1998.tb01244.x
• European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EUFRA), “Perceptions of Discrimination and Islamophobia: Voices from Members of Muslim Communities in the European Union.” ed. Dilwar Hussain, Tufyal Choudhury, Mohammed Aziz. European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, 2007.
• Everett, Jim A. - Onu, Diana. “Intergroup Contact Theory: Past, Present, and Future.” The Inquisitive Mind 2/17 (2013), 1-6.
• Fekete, Liz. A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe. New York: Pluto Press, 2009.
• Fetzer, Joel S. - Soper, J. Christopher. “The Roots of Public Attitudes toward State Accommodation of European Muslims' Religious Practices Before and After September 11.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42/2 (2003), 247-258. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5906.t01-1-00176
• Gingrich, Aandre. “Anthropological Analyses of Islamophobia and Antisemitism in Europe.” American Ethnologist 32/4 (2005), 513-515. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2005.32.4.513
• Haji-Ghasemi, Ava. Predictors of Islamophobia among Non-Muslim Americans. (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation), Chicago, IL: Adler School of Professional Psychology, 2013.
• Helbling, Marc. “Opposing Muslims and the Muslim Headscarf in Western Europe.” European Sociological Review 30/2 (2014), 242-257. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jct038
• Höllinger, Franz. “The Impact of Religiousness on Attitudes towards Religious Others.” Österreich Z Soziol 45/2 (2020), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11614-020-00400-5
• Jang, Yuri et al. “Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Wellbeing: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Sense of Control.” Int J Aging Hum Dev. 66/3 (2008), 213–227. https://doi.org/10.2190/ag.66.3.c
• Jung, Jong Hyun. “Islamophobia? Religion, Contact with Muslims, and the Respect for Islam.” Review of Religious Research 54/1 (2012), 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-011-0033-2
• Kanas, Agnieszka et al. “Positive and Negative Contact and Attitudes towards the Religious Out-group: Testing the Contact Hypothesis in Conflict and Non-conflict Regions of Indonesia and the Philippines.” Social Science Research 63 (2017), 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.09.019
• Kanol, Eylem. “Explaining Unfavorable Attitudes Toward Religious Out‐Groups Among Three Major Religions.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 60/3 (2021), 590-610. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12725
• Kaplan, Jeffrey. “Islamophobia in America? September 11 and Islamophobic Hate Crime.” Terrorism and Political Violence 18/1 (2006), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550500383209
• Kaya, Serdar. “Islamophobia in Western Europe: A Comparative Multilevel Study.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 35/3 (2015), 450-465. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2015.1080952
• Kenworthy, Jared B. et al. “Ingroup Identification as a Moderator of Racial Bias in a Shoot–no Shoot Decision Task.” Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14/3 (2011), 311-318. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430210392932
• Kessler, Ronald C. et al. “The Prevalence, Distribution, and Mental Health Correlates of Perceived Discrimination in the United States.” Journal of health and social behavior 40/3 (1999), 208-230. https://doi.org/10.2307/2676349
• Khan, Mussarat - Ecklund, Kathryn. “Attitudes toward Muslim Americans Post-9/11.” Journal of Muslim Mental Health 7/1 (2012), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.10381607.0007.101
• Kim, Hyemee et al. “Perceived Discrimination as a Critical Factor Affecting Self-Esteem, Satisfaction with Physical Appearance and Depression of Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Korea.” Behavioral Sciences 13/4 (2023), 343-356. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13040343
• Kunst, Jonas. R. et al. “Coping with Islamophobia: The Effects of Religious Stigma on Muslim Minorities’ Identity Formation.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 36/4 (2012), 518-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.12.014
• Kunst, Jonas. R. et al. “Perceived Islamophobia: Scale Development and Validation.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37/2 (2013), 225-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2012.11.001
• Lee, Sherman et al. “The Islamophobia Scale: Instrument Development and Initial Validation.” The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 19/2 (2009), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508610802711137
• Love, Erik Robert. Confronting Islamophobia: Civil Rights Advocacy in the United States. California: University of California, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, 2011.
• Martín-Muñoz, Gema. “Unconscious Islamophobia. Human Architecture.” Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge 8/2 (2010), 21-28.
• Nimer, Mohamed. “Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Measurements, Dynamics, and Consequences.” Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century. ed. John L. Esposito – Ibrahim Kalin. 77-92. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
• Van der Noll, Jolanda. “Public Support for a Ban on Headscarves: A Cross-national Perspective.” International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV), 4/2 (2010), 192-204. DOI: 10.4119/ijcv-2825
• Van der Noll, Jolanda et al. “Western Anti‐Muslim Prejudice: Value Conflict or Discrimination of Persons Too?” Political psychology, 39/2 (2018), 281-301. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12416
• Ogan, Christine et al. “The Rise of Anti-Muslim Prejudice: Media and Islamophobia in Europe and the United States.” International Communication Gazette 76/1 (2014), 27-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048513504048
• Okumuş, Fatih. “Avrupa’da İslamofobi ve Mabadı.” Batı Dünyasında İslamofobi ve Anti-İslamizm. Ed. Kadir Canatan – Özcan Hıdır. 119-144. Ankara: Eskiyeni Yayınları, 2007.
• Pascoe, Elizabeth A. - Smart Richman, Laura. “Perceived Discrimination and Health: A Meta-analytic Review.” Psychological Bulletin 135/4 (2009), 531-554. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016059
• Perozzo, Cristina et al. “Social Identity Change in Response to Discrimination.” British Journal of Social Psychology 55/3 (2016), 438–456. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12145
• Perry, Barbara. “Gendered Islamophobia: Hate Crime Against Muslim Women.” Social Identities 20/1 (2014), 74-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2013.864467
• Pettigrew, Thomas F. - Tropp, Linda R. “A Meta-analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90/5 (2006), 751-783.
• PEW. “The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010”. Report by PEW Research Center, 2010.
• PEW. “Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2011.
• PEW. “The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2013.
• PEW. “How Americans Feel About Religious Groups.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2014.
• PEW. “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2015.
• PEW. “Global Restrictions on Religion Rise Modestly in 2015.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2017.
• PEW. “New Estimates Show US Muslim Population Continues to Grow.” Report by PEW Research Center, 2018a.
• PEW. “Being Christian in Western Europe.” Report by Pew Research Center, 2018b.
• PEW. “Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016.” Report by Pew Research Center, 2018c.
• Pratt, Douglas. “Expressing Fear of Islam: The Swiss Minaret Ban.” Fear of Muslims? International Perspectives on Islamophobia, ed. Douglas Pratt - Rachel Woodlock. 213-230. Switzerland: Springer, 2016.
• Conway, Gordon (ed.). Islamophobia, a Challenge for Us All: Report of the Runnymede Trust Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia. London: The Runnymede Trust, 1997.
• Samari, Goleen. “Islamophobia and Public Health in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 106/11 (2016), 1920-1925. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303374
• Samari Goleen, Alcalá Hector, Sharif Mienah Zulfakar. “Islamophobia, Health, and Public Health: A Systematic Literature Review.” American Journal of Public Health 108/6 (2018), e1-e9. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304402.
• Samur, Hakan. “Avrupa’daki İslamofobinin Avrupalı Sebepleri.” Mukaddime, 7/2 (2016), 295-319. https://doi.org/10.19059/mukaddime.88976
• Saroglou, Vassilis - Cohen, Adam B. “Cultural and Cross-cultural Psychology of Religion.” Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. ed. Raymond F. Paloutzian – Crystal L. Park. 330-353. New York: Guilford Press, 2013.
• Sevinç, Kenan. Batı’da İslamofobi ve Psikolojik Temelleri. Bursa: Emin Yayınları, 2009.
• Shryock, Andrew J. “Attack of the Islamophobes: Religious War (and Peace) in Arab/Muslim Detroit.” Islamophobia in America: The anatomy of intolerance. ed. Carl W. Ernst. 145-174. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
• Silverstein, Paul A. “The Context of Antisemitism and Islamophobia in France.” Patterns of Prejudice 42/1 (2008), 1-26.
• Stevens, Gonneke WJM - Thijs, Jochem. “Perceived Group Discrimination and Psychological Well‐being in Ethnic Minority Adolescents.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 48/10 (2018), 559-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12547
• Stolz, Jörg. “Explaining Islamophobia. A Test of Four Theories Based on the Case of a Swiss City.” Swiss Journal of Sociology 31/3 (2005), 547-566.
• Taras, Ray. Europe Old and New: Transnationalism, Belonging, Xenophobia. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
• Taras, Ray. “Islamophobia Never Stands Still: Race, Religion, and Culture. Ethnic and Racial Studies 36/3 (2013), 417-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2013.734388
• Taylor, Shelley E. et al. Sosyal Psikoloji. çev. Ali Dönmez. Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, 2012.
• Te Lindert, Annet et al. “The Role of Perceived Discrimination, Intergroup Contact and Adoption in Acculturation among Four Dutch Immigrant Groups.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 91 (2022), 297-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.02.005
• Tuzer, Salih. “The Impact of Islamophobia on the Education and Religious Identity of Muslims in the USA.” Türkiye Din Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 17 (2024), 131-143.
• Uddin, Mohammed Fahim et al. “Visibility as Muslim, Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress among Muslim Students in the UK.” Journal of Muslim Mental Health 16/1 (2022), 74-102. https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.135
• Commission. Western Perception of Islam and Muslims: A Study of Public Opinion and the Role of the Media in the United States and Western Europe. California: Communique Partners LLC, 2005.
• Zick, Andreas - Küpper, Beate. Attitudes towards the Islam and Muslims in Europe. Report by University of Bielefeld, 2009.
• Zick, Andreas et al. Intolerance, Prejudice, and Discrimination: A European Report. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Forum, 2011.