Investigating the Psychology of Islamophobia Among Muslims
How is Perceived Islamophobia defined?
“Islamophobia”, often defined as fear and anxiety towards Muslims and Islam, has received increasing attention in social science research. While a lot of research has investigated factors explaining Islamophobia among non-Muslims, little research has investigated how Muslims themselves perceive Islamophobia in their societies and in the media. This motivated us to conduct a series of studies, in which we showed that perceptions of Islamophobia are related to Muslims’ psychological well-being and the degree to which they identify with their religious, ethnic, and national groups.
Assessing the Psychology of Islamophobia: The Perceived Islamophobia Scale
As part of this, we have developed a psychometric scale to measure perceptions of Islamophobia. This scale has been validated among Muslims living in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The scale is available in several languages (see below). Moreover, while the scale was originally developed to assess perceptions of Islamophobia among Muslims, some ongoing work has shown that it also can be used to measure such perceptions among non-Muslims. Indeed, in a very interesting research project conducted by Miriam Schwarzenthal, Ursula Moffitt, Jana Vietze and Sauro Civitillo (read about their project on their research blog here), the scale is currently used to measure perceived Islamophobia in a large range of German schools with Muslim and non-Muslim student populations. The scale is free to be used and validated translations can be found below. The scaling format is typically a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree).
Article to cite when using the scale:
Kunst, J. R., Sam, D. L., & Ulleberg, P. (2013). Perceived Islamophobia: Scale development and validation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(2), 225-237. [PDF]
Translations of the Full Scale
English
1. Many Germans avoid Muslims.
2. Germans are suspicious of Muslims.
3. In general, Germans trust Muslims.*
4. Overall, only few Germans are afraid of Islam.*
5. Most Germans feel safe among Muslims.*
6. Many Germans get nervous in the presence of Muslims.
7. A lot of Germans are afraid that Muslims are going to take over Germany.
8. Many Germans fear an “islamization” of Germany.
9. A lot of Germans consider Islam a threat to German values.
10. German media always presents Muslims as dangerous people.
11. Islam is always presented as a threat to German culture in the media.
12. German media spreads a lot of fear of Muslims and Islam.
______________________________________________________________________________
General fear: item 1–6; Fear of islamization: item 7–9; Islamophobia in the media: item 10–12.
* Reversed item.French
1. Beaucoup de Français évitent les Musulmans.
2. Les Français se méfient des Musulmans.
3. En général, les Français font confiance aux Musulmans.*
4. Globalement, seulement quelques Français ont peur des Musulmans.*
5. La plupart des Français se sentent en sécurité parmi les Musulmans.*
6. Beaucoup de Français deviennent nerveux en présence de Musulmans.
7. Beaucoup de Français ont peur que les Musulmans vont dominer la France.
8. Beaucoup de Français craignent une “islamisation” de la France.
9. Beaucoup de gens considèrent l’Islam comme une menace aux valeurs françaises.
10. Les médias français présentent toujours les Musulmans comme des gens dangereux.
11. L’Islam est toujours présenté comme une menace à la culture française dans les médias.
12. Les médias français diffusent beaucoup de peur des Musulmans et de l’Islam.German
1. Viele Deutsche gehen Muslimen aus dem Weg.
2. Die Deutschen sind misstrauisch gegenüber Muslimen.
3. Im Allgemeinen vertrauen die Deutschen den Muslimen.*
4. Insgesamt haben nur wenige Deutsche Angst vor dem Islam.*
5. Die meisten Deutschen fühlen sich sicher unter Muslimen.*
6. Viele Deutsche werden in der Nähe von Muslimen nervös.
7. Viele Deutsche haben Angst, dass Muslime Deutschland übernehmen werden.
8. Viele Deutsche fürchten eine “Islamisierung” Deutschlands.
9. Eine Menge Menschen sehen den Islam als eine Bedrohung für deutsche Werte an.
10. Die deutschen Medien stellen Muslime immer als gefährliche Menschen dar.
11. In den Medien wird der Islam immer als eine Bedrohung für die deutsche Kultur dargestellt.
12. Die deutschen Medien verbreiten eine Menge Angst vor Muslimen und dem Islam.
Translations of the Short-form Scale
English
- Many Norwegians avoid Muslims.
- Norwegians are suspicious of Muslims.
- Many Norwegians fear an “islamization” of Norway.
- A lot of Norwegians consider Islam a threat to Norwegian values.
- Norwegian media always presents Muslims as dangerous people.
- Islam is always presented as a threat to Norwegian culture in the media.
______________________________________________________________________________
General fear: item 1–2; Fear of islamization: item 3–4; Islamophobia in the media: item 5–6.Arabic
- يتجنب العديد من النرويجيين المسلمين
- النرويجيون يشككون في المسلمين
- يخشى العديد من النرويجيين “أسلمة” النرويج
- يعتبر الكثير من النرويجيين الإسلام تهديدًا للقيم النرويجية
- تقدم وسائل الإعلام النرويجية دائمًا المسلمين كأشخاص خطرين
- يتم تقديم الإسلام دائمًا على أنه تهديد للثقافة النرويجية في وسائل الإعلام
Dari
- بسیاری از نروژی ها از مسلمانان اجتناب می کنند
- نروژی ها به مسلمانان مشکوک هستند
- بسیاری از نروژی ها از “اسلام گرایی” در نروژ می ترسند
- بسیاری از نروژی ها اسلام را تهدیدی برای ارزش های نروژی می دانند
- رسانه های نروژی همیشه مسلمانان را به عنوان افراد خطرناک معرفی می کنند
- اسلام همیشه به عنوان تهدیدی برای فرهنگ نروژی در رسانه ها معرفی می شود
Tigrinya
- መባዛሕትኦም ኖርዌናውያን ካብ ኣስላማት ይርሕቁ እዮም፡፡
- ኖርዌናውያን ንኣስላማት ይጠራጠርዎም እዮም፡፡
- ብዙሓት ኖርዌናውያን ኣብ ኖርዌይ ዝረአ ኢስላማይዜሽን ይፈርሑ እዮም፡፡
- ብዙሓት ኖርዌናውያን ንእስልምና ከም ስግኣት ስርዓት ኖርዌይ ይርኢዎ፡፡
- ኩሉ ግዜ መራኸቢ ሓፋሽ ኖርዌይ ንኣስላማት ሓደገኛ ህዝቢ ከምዝኾኑ ገይሮም የቕርቡ፡፡
- እስልምና ንባህሊ ኖርዌይ ሓደጋ ከምዝኾነ ተገይሩ ኣብ መራኸቢ ሓፋሽ ይንገር፡፡
Pashto
- اکثره ناروېژیان له مسلمانانو څخه ډډه کوي.
- ډیری ناروېان د مسلمانانو په اړه شک لري.
- اکثره ناروېژیان د ناروې له «اسلامي» کېدو څخه وېره لري
- اکثره ناروېژیان اسلام ناروېژي ارزښتونو لپاره خطر ګڼي.
- د ناروې رسنۍ تل مسلمانان د خطرناکو خلکو په توګه وړاندې کوي.
- رسنیو کې اسلام تل ناورېژي کلتور ته د خطر په توګه وړاندې کېږي.
Polish
- Wielu Norwegów trzyma się z dala od muzułmanów.
- Norwegowie podchodzą nieufnie do muzułmanów.
- Wielu Norwegów obawia się „islamizacji” Norwegii.
- Wielu Norwegów uważa Islam za zagrożenie dla Norwegii.
- Norweskie media przedstawiają muzułmanów jako ludzi niebezpiecznych.
- slam jest zawsze przedstawiany przez media jako zagrożenie dla norweskiej kultury.
Russian
- Многие норвежцы избегают мусульман.
- Норвежцы с подозрением относятся к мусульманам.
- Многие норвежцы опасаются “исламизации” Норвегии.
- Многие норвежцы считают ислам угрозой норвежским ценностям.
- Норвежские СМИ всегда представляют мусульман как опасных людей.
- В СМИ ислам всегда преподносится как угроза норвежской культуре.
Norwegian
- Mange nordmenn unngår muslimer.
- Nordmenn er mistenksomme overfor muslimer.
- Mange nordmenn frykter en «islamisering» av Norge.
- Mange nordmenn anser islam som en trussel mot norske verdier.
- Norske medier fremstiller alltid muslimer som farlige.
- Islam blir i media alltid fremstilt som en trussel mot norsk kultur.
Lithuanian
- Daug norvegų vengia musulmonų.
- Norvegai įtariai vertina musulmonus.
- Daug norvegų baiminasi Norvegijos „islamizacijos“.
- Daug norvegų mano, kad islamas kelia grėsmę norvegų vertybėms.
- Norvegijos žiniasklaida musulmonus visada pristato kaip pavojingus žmones.
- Islamas žiniasklaidoje visada pateikiamas kaip grėsmė Norvegijos kultūrai.