Prejudice and the Acceptance of Muslim Minority Practices: A Person-Centered Approach

Abstract. Growing Muslim minorities in Western societies has sparked debate about which Muslim practices should be accepted, with many people finding certain practices intolerable. Two competing perspectives on this intolerance argue that it represents either principled objections or prejudice. Using four large samples from the Netherlands, we apply latent profile analysis and find four groups of people: two groups that like and dislike Muslims and their practices respectively, but also two groups who are intolerant of some or most Muslim practices without necessarily displaying prejudice. A person-centered analysis of key demographic and psychological variables suggests that the two intolerant groups differ with one group’s intolerance motivated more by anti-Muslim feelings, while the second group’s intolerance is motivated more by principled objections.