Psychology Colloquium: Media’s Role in Exacerbating American Muslim Relations

Speaker

Muniba Saleem
Assistant Professor of Communication
University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Title 

Media’s Role in Exacerbating American Muslim Relations

Abstract

The role of media in influencing intergroup relations has often been speculated. Yet, there is limited empirical work systematically examining how media can influence the relations between majority and minority groups.  In the current research, I examine how reliance on media for information about Muslims increases non-Muslim Americans’ perceptions of Muslims as aggressive, negative emotions towards Muslims, and support for public policies harming Muslims internationally and domestically. For Muslims themselves, negative representations of Muslims in mainstream media distances young Muslim Americans from the American national identity and trust in its political institutions. At the same time, such exposure can motivate young Muslim Americans to seek collective actions to improve the status and position of Muslims in America. These relations are examined across cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal data providing evidence for short and long-term effects.

Faculty Host

Fathali Moghaddam