Muslim Immigration,Critical Events,and the Seeds of Majority Members’ Support for Radical Responses: An Interactionist Perspective

Abstract

This article uses an interactionist perspective to understand the role of media framings of critical events in catalyzing Western citizens’ support for radical responses to Muslim immigration (e.g., armed self-defense). A multi-method series of three studies tested this perspective in the context of the 2015/2016 Cologne New Year’s Eve sexual assaults on women. Study 1, a content analysis of 163 online newspaper articles, revealed that mass media attributed the assaults to the suspects’ Muslim culture. Study 2, a correlational study (N = 487) conducted at the peak of the media coverage, confirmed that the degree to which participants accepted the veracity of the culture-focused media representation strengthened the relation between their feelings of symbolic threat as a result of Muslim immigration and their approval of radical responses. Study 3, an experiment with pre-registered hypotheses (N = 91), replicated and extended these interaction effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.