Reducing Islamophobia: An Assessment of Psychological Mechanisms That Underlie Anti-Islamophobia Media Interventions
Key Finding
An intervention tournament testing 11 practitioner-developed videos found that interventions prompting recognition of media bias against Muslims reduced anti-Muslim hostility, both immediately and one month later.
About this research
This peer-reviewed study, published in Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, used an “intervention tournament” design to test 11 practitioner-developed videos aimed at reducing Islamophobia among U.S. participants, then ran follow-up studies to probe why the most effective ones worked. The videos that succeeded did so largely by increasing viewers’ recognition of media bias against Muslims, which in turn reduced anti-Muslim hostility and support for anti-Muslim policies both immediately after viewing and one month later.