The roles of national anti-Muslim policy,state context,and individual ideology in anti-Muslim implicit bias in the United States

Abstract

Corresponding with President Trump’s campaign rhetoric and enactment of the “Muslim ban,” anti-Muslim bias and hate crimes rose in the US. Although it was repealed in 2021, many Americans disagreed with revoking the ban and continued to stereotype Muslims as terrorists. This study investigates whether the Muslim ban affected implicit anti-Muslim bias in the US using Project Implicit data, Muslim ban activity records, and state-level election data. Multilevel modeling revealed that, across state political contexts (i.e., presidential election outcomes), the ban was associated with less anti-Muslim implicit bias among liberals during – compared to before and after – the Muslim ban. Conservatives, instead, showed stable but higher levels of anti-Muslim bias across Muslim ban periods and state political contexts. Demonstrating a policy backlash effect among liberals, this study sheds light on how individuals unconsciously responded to the Muslim ban across state political contexts and holds implications for policy implementation across the political spectrum.