Title
Silent Sympathy: News Attention, Subtle Support for Far-Right Extremism, and Negative Attitudes Toward Muslims
Abstract
Right-wing terrorist (RWT) incidents targeting Muslims have become more frequent and news reporting about these incidents can trigger a variety of cognitions and behaviors in audiences. While some studies report more tolerance and openness in response to RWT, hate crimes against minorities can increase in their aftermath. To date, we know little about the associations between following news reporting about RWT and attitudes toward Muslims as one of the main target groups of modern RWT. Using a young, quota-based German sample (aged 16–25, N = 865), we build on Terror Management and Social Identity Theory to shed light on the relationships between attention to RWT in the media, threat attributed to RWT, and negative attitudes toward Muslims. Additionally, a measure of subtle support for far-right extremist stances (SSE) was included, accounting for moderation effects. Results suggested that attention to RWT was positively related to perceived threat. This association was weaker in individuals with higher levels of SSE. Attributing more threat was associated with less negative attitudes toward Muslims, independent of SSE. Media attention only had a (positive) association with negative attitudes in individuals with moderate to high levels of SSE. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Keywords
Media attentionterrorismfar-right extremismMuslimsintergroup relations
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2044886
Appeared in
Title
Terrorism and Political Violence
ISSN
0954-6553
Issued
2023
From page
1
To page
19
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Date issued
2023
Access rights
Rights statement
© 2023 The Author(s)

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