Knowledge, False Beliefs and Fact Driven Perceptions of Muslims in German Universities

Abstract

This paper examines what may constitute both positive and negative attitudes towards Muslims that we may predict from the scale of our knowledge, fashionable or well worn. In other words, are negative attitudes towards Muslim strongly correlated with false beliefs. The research was part of a larger study examining the attitudes of 424 non-Muslim German students in Freiburg and five other universities in Germany. The results show that participants who spontaneously communicated false beliefs and had low level of knowledge expressed more negative attitudes towards Muslims than those who did not. It is thus conceivable that accepting incorrect information may be shaping negative attitudes toward Muslims. On the basis of the findings we are only able to conclude there is a bi-directional relationship between prejudice and the degree of knowledge, or cultural perception of Muslims amongst tertiary educated students, however there is no evidence of causation or level of significance.