Perceptions of Christians and Muslims by Americans: Causes of Intergroup Attributions

This study considers whether religious and political affiliations within the U.S. influence people’s perceptions of similarity and their assignment of responsibility for an accident. Two structural equation models (SEMs) were tested. The first tested relationships between the blameworthiness of the driver who caused the accident and attitudes about whether someone who commits acts of violence in the name of religion is acting as a real Christian or Muslim. Perceived similarity with the driver was associated with assigning less blame on the driver, and higher attributional complexity led to assigning more blame to the driver. The second SEM examines age, sex, religiosity and attitudes about rights of ethnic minorities in the U.S., and media use on judgments of whether the driver was a Christian or a Muslim. None of these variables influenced whether respondents thought the driver was a Christian; they only affected whether they thought the driver was a Muslim.