Islam as threat?: Descriptions and explanations of attitudes towards Islam in comparative perspective

Currently, in many European countries public protests, opinion polls, election forecasts and election results create concerns regarding a radicalization of the political culture. Again and again, it seems as if patterns of arguments appear which are particularly directed against one religion – Islam. This paper examines the question whether in Europe a general tendency of skepticism and defense towards Islam and its members is predominant and what reasons for such an attitude in populations might be. Considering socio-psychological approaches to determine the mechanisms for the development of islamophobic attitudes a comparative picture of the situation is drawn. The results reveal that primarily a wide existing feeling of threat to the own identity leads to a fear of many citizens against Islam and Muslims. An essential role for this similarity and “levelling” are para-social-contacts via media. The result is an increased conflict potential in societies, which in the medium term can lead to a significant threat to social cohesion as well as to a radicalization of political opinions. © 2016, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.