Social Psychology Commons^™

Your Presence Threatens Me! Experimental Examination Of Intergroup Threat Theory To Assess Prejudice Towards Muslims, Sukhmani Pal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prejudice towards Muslims has been longstanding and is on the rise in the World. To address this prejudice, it is important to understand the associated underlying mechanism. Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT) suggests that prejudice is motivated by the perceived symbolic and/or realistic threat a group represents. To date, the relationship between threat and prejudice towards Muslims has primarily been examined correlationally rather than experimentally. This project experimentally examines ITT to understand the role of threat in prejudice towards Muslims. Across three studies, I examine how manipulating the salience of threat leads to prejudice, support for harsh policies, and violence towards …