National identity, religious tolerance, and group conflict: Insights from a survey experiment in Pakistan

Michael Kalin and Niloufer Siddiqui
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Michael Kalin: Yale University, USA
Niloufer Siddiqui: University at Albany — SUNY, USA

Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2020, vol. 37, issue 1, 58-82

Abstract: Can highlighting the national contributions of a religiously marginalized group increase tolerance toward that group, even when its presence in the national identity is disputed? Research shows that prejudice can be overcome by emphasizing a superordinate identity to which members of different groups belong. Our paper investigates whether the provision of information about a religious minority group’s contribution to the nation—and in the process, reiterating to citizens the broader identity to which they all belong—can increase tolerance toward members of that group. We test the effect of randomly exposing survey respondents to factual information about Pakistan’s first Nobel Prize winner, a member of the widely ostracized Ahmadi minority sect, on support for pro-Ahmadi policies. We find that respondents overall are more willing to express tolerant views toward Ahmadis, but that this effect is attenuated (and in some cases, reversed) among respondents potentially alienated from the national identity.

Keywords: Nationalism; Pakistan; religious conflict; survey experiment; tolerance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:compsc:v:37:y:2020:i:1:p:58-82

DOI: 10.1177/0738894217724568

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