The Effect of Affect: Friendship, Education and Prejudice in India

Intergroup relations are fundamentally based on the idea of ‘us’ and ‘them’, and this categorization has driven political loyalties and social ties in India, particularly the relations between Hindus and Muslims. Contemporary nationalist politics have often combined patriotic love for the country along with suspicion of minorities, particularly the Muslims. Given the history of tense relations between the Hindus and Muslims, the role of positive intergroup relations becomes paramount in sustaining peace among the groups. Based on Allport’s intergroup contact hypothesis, this article tests whether having a Muslim friend reduces prejudicial attitude among Hindus. Additionally, the article also tests the notion of education being a harbinger of liberal values and its role in reducing prejudice. The results indicate that having a Muslim friend is significantly correlated with a more positive outlook towards the Muslim community, but education does not reduce prejudice.

Expecting Refugees in Latvia: Negative Stereotyping

In response to a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in the European Union, in the fall of 2015 Latvia agreed to accept several hundreds of refugees on its soil. Nevertheless, Latvian society remains very sceptic about these plans, and reportedly demonstrates strong negative attitudes towards refugees. According to the survey, by the end of 2015 the factual experience of interaction with refugees did not exceed ten per cent of Latvian population. This suggests that most of the real attitudes are formed by mass media and other socialisation agents. In order to uncover the nature of these feelings, the present study has been designed to make an in-depth social psychological study on attitudes. One thousand Latvian residents evenly representing Latvia’s demography have taken part in this study. A modified Stephan’s Prejudicial Attitude Survey has been used to study prejudice. Negative stereotyping represents one of the emotional components of attitudes towards refugees. The results illustrate the palette of emotions and the level of their expression in Latvian society, and highlight the feelings, which may shape the identity of the in-group.