HPS³ - Nan Zhang - The Upside of Prejudice: Do Muslims in Europe Enjoy a Religious Trust Premium?

This event takes place in English.

The Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series (HPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.

We welcome on 

29 January 2025,  17:15-18:45 CET in VMP9 B130

Nan Zhang (University of Mannheim)
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Title: The Upside of Prejudice: Do Muslims in Europe Enjoy a Religious Trust Premium?​
(with Joshua Hellyer, Yavar Fadavi Asghari, and Johanna Gereke)

Abstract: 

Muslim immigrants in European societies are often perceived as more religious than their Christian counterparts. Such traditional religiosity is seen as conflicting with modern, liberal values, thereby contributing to Islamophobia. However, could Muslims’ putative religiosity paradoxically increase their perceived trustworthiness? Drawing on research suggesting that religiosity signals benevolent intentions, we test whether religious Muslims indeed benefit from a “trust premium”. Combining insights from both population-based survey experiments and a lab-in-the-field experiment in Germany, we find that outwardly-religious Muslims are indeed (i) perceived as more trustworthy, and (ii) trusted more in monetary exchanges. The results indicate that perceived religiosity among Muslims in Europe may act as a social asset, thereby challenging prevailing narratives of Islam in Christian-heritage societies.

The HPS³ seminars take place in person at the UHH. Please find the seminar program on the HPS³ Website

We invite everyone interested to attend the HPS³ Seminar Series and are looking forward to seeing you.