Explaining Public Attitudes towards the Integration of Muslims in British Society: The ‘Solidarity of the Religious’?

Abstract

There has been growing concern in recent years about the integration of Muslims and the emergence of ‘Islamophobia’ in Britain. But there has been a lack of research into the sources of public opinion towards Muslims in British society. This article contributes to emerging research in this area by using a nationally representative survey to examine public opinion towards Muslims’ efforts to integrate into British society. It examines the relative impact of social, religious, and attitudinal variables. Religious affiliation has no impact, while greater religious salience and pro-religion attitudes on religious–secular policy issues are related to positive views of Muslims’ efforts to integrate. Women and the university-educated are more positive in their assessments. A traditionalist view of Christianity, socially authoritarian beliefs, and anti-immigrant bias are related to negative views of Muslims’ efforts to integrate. Overall, the findings lend support to the ‘solidarity of the religious’ perspective and should encourage further investigation into attitudes towards religious groups in Britain.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion for their comments and suggestions regarding an earlier version of this article.

Notes

Notes

1. The small number of cases who report being ‘Islam/Muslim’ in response to the question on religious affiliation are omitted from the multivariate analysis (giving an n = 2,173).

2. Partisanship was measured as a series of dummy variables (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, other party, does not support any party). Left–right ideology was based on a composite scale scored from 1 to 5, where higher scores represent right-wing beliefs. It is a valid and reliable indicator in the BSA surveys (Evans, Heath and Lalljee). Value priorities were measured as three dummy variables (consistent post-materialist values, consistent materialist values or mixed values).