Religious Elites, Politicization, and Intergroup Attitudes among Muslim Immigrants in the Western Europe

How do sermons from religious leaders with different view on the role of religion in politics affect intergroup attitudes among Muslim immigrants in the West? Although it is expected that Muslim religious leaders play an important role in shaping believers' attitudes and behaviors, we know less about how they do that, particularly in a Muslim minority-majority context in the West. Using a representative survey of 1,671 Turkish immigrants and a preregistered online survey experiment, we investigate the effects of inclusive religious messages on intergroup attitudes. Our observational analyses indicate that Muslims who hear sermons from non-politicized (vs politicized) religious leaders are less likely to support religious violence, feel hostility toward Christians, and are more likely to identify with both their ethnic and national groups. These effects are mediated by identity inclusiveness. The experimental results reveal that exposure to inclusive sermon from prototypical religious leader reduces support for religious violence and hostility toward Christians but does not affect other attitudes. Finally, we find that immigrants who listen to sermons from politicized religious leaders are no more resistant to changing their attitudes in response to inclusive sermons than others.