Islamist terrorism, out-group trust, and motivation to control prejudice

Abstract

Using Norwegian survey experiments (N ¼ 1,541), we examined the relationship between Islamist terrorist threats and trust in out-groups, focusing on how this relationship was conditioned by the ''motivation to control prejudice'' (MCP) and emotions of anxiety. After exposure to a news story describing an Islamist threat scenario, the treatment group reported higher levels of trust in out-groups than the control group. High levels of MCP were linked to higher levels of trust; anxiety played an ambiguous role. Although anxiety had a strong negative effect on trust in out-groups, the positive effect of MCP increased with rising anxiety levels, thus making the people who were most scared also more trusting. Activation of social norms may, thus, bolster distrust.