2022/04/08 by Joseph Gerteis, Nir Rotem · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Religion and Society Interactions #Social and Intergroup Psychology
paper · doi:10.1080/00380253.2022.2045882
openalex publication_date 2022/04/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/10
Drawing from recent work on “otherness” and social boundaries in America, we investigate anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish opinion among white Americans. After outlining the logic of the comparison, we use nationally representative data to analyze these forms of othering. Although anti-Muslim opinion is more extensive, the two track together empirically and share a cultural logic as connected forms of ethno-religious boundary-making. Latent class analysis shows that anti-Semitism is nested within anti-Muslim attitudes, with political and religious identifications as consistent predictors of opinion. We conclude with a reflection on politicized boundary-making and the relationship between extreme and mainstream views of the “other.”