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Muslims’ emotions toward Americans predict support for Hezbollah and Al Qaeda for threat-specific reasons

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Abstract

Using a random sample of 243 Muslims in Lebanon and Syria, we examined whether support for Hezbollah or for Al Qaeda is predicted by functionally-relevant emotional responses to specific threats perceived to be posed by Americans. In line with the sociofunctional approach, perceived resource domination threat from Americans elicited anger, and perceived value contamination threat elicited disgust/contempt toward Americans. Importantly, these intergroup emotions in turn differentially predicted support for Hezbollah and Al Qaeda through desires for the organizations to accomplish different goals to address the threat perceptions. Specifically, anger toward Americans predicted support for Hezbollah through desires for the organization to restore threatened symbolic resources by bringing pride and respect to Arabs. In contrast, disgust/contempt toward Americans predicted support for Al Qaeda through desires for the organization to protect threatened ingroup values by de-contaminating Islam from Western cultural influence. Theoretical explanations and implications for addressing and mitigating hostilities between the groups are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Lebanon, but not Syria, is regularly included in Pew and other international surveys focusing on the Middle East and/or Muslim-dominated countries.

  2. The current population of Lebanon is 95 % Arab (including Muslims and Christians) and 4 % Armenian (Christians); 54 % of Lebanese are Muslim (27 % Sunni and 27 % Shia), 40 % are Christian, and 6 % are Druze. The current population of Syria is 90 % ethnic Arab and 9 % Kurdish (with enclaves in northern Syria). Most Syrians are Muslim (87 %, including 74 % Sunni and 13 % Shia, Alawi, and Ismaili), 10 % are Christian, and 3 % are Druze (The World Factbook 2013–14).

  3. In order to confirm the notion that the three separate items in the resource domination and value contamination threat indices each predict the corresponding intergroup emotion, we conducted partial correlation analyses of the three threat items in each index with anger and disgust/contempt, controlling for the three threat items in the other index and the identity variables (sect, nationality, and Arab and Muslim identification). As expected, each resource domination threat item related positively to anger (ps < .05), but not to disgust/contempt (ps > .50). Each value contamination threat item related positively to disgust/contempt (ps < .05), and only one (the perception of morally inferior values) related positively to both disgust/contempt and anger (partial rs = .50 and .23, respectively, ps < .05).

  4. For descriptive purposes, we examined two additional models, one in which the combined measure of disgust/contempt was replaced with disgust alone, and a second in which it was replaced with contempt. Both models fit the data adequately (disgust alone: χ2(11) = 15.97, p = .14, GFI = .96, AGFI = .91, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .06; contempt alone: χ2(11) = 16.28, p = .13, GFI = .96, AGFI = .91, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .06), according to Hu and Bentler’s (1999) RMSEA cutoff value of .06 for relatively good model fit.

  5. Again for descriptive purposes, we examined two additional models, one with disgust and the other with contempt replacing the combined measure of disgust/contempt. Both models fit the data well (disgust alone: χ2(9) = 7.77, p = .56, GFI = .98, AGFI = .94, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .000; contempt alone: χ2(9) = 9.83, p = .37, GFI = .98, AGFI = .93, CFI = .997, RMSEA = .028).

  6. We combined the Lebanese and Syrian subsamples in the analyses because the geopolitical agenda of Hezbollah vis-à-vis the United States is the same in both countries, as is the agenda of Al Qaeda. Regression analyses indicated that nationality did not significantly predict either support for Hezbollah or support for Al Qaeda (see Table 2). We controlled for nationality in both models, but the models may also be examined separately by country for comparison purposes. There were 43 Lebanese and 77 Syrians in the Hezbollah model, and 52 Lebanese and 69 Syrians in the Al Qaeda model. With seven variables in each model, the number of observations per variable in the Hezbollah and Al Qaeda models in Syria were 11 and 9.86, respectively, but in Lebanon they were only 6.14 and 7.43, respectively, which is below the recommended number of 10 observations per variable (Chin and Newsted 1999). Although the small sizes of the Lebanese and Syrian subsamples preclude multiple-group structural equation analyses, we tested the models for Lebanese and Syrians separately for descriptive purposes. The Hezbollah model depicted in Fig. 1 provided a strong fit to the Syrian data, χ2(11) = 9.92, p = .54, GFI = .97, AGFI = .91, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .000. However, for the Lebanese data, model fit was poor, χ2(11) = 17.00, p = .11, GFI = .90, AGFI = .75, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .11. Modification indices suggested the addition of a path from anger toward Americans to the Hezbollah goal of defending Islam from Western cultural influence. With this added path (β = .47, p = .002), the Hezbollah model fit the Lebanese data well, χ2(10) = 8.52, p = .58, GFI = .95, AGFI = .85, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .000. All the remaining paths mirrored those in the Hezbollah model of Lebanese and Syrians combined, except the path from value threat to defend Islam was no longer statistically significant (β = .03, p = .84). The Al Qaeda model depicted in Fig. 2 provided a strong fit to the Syrian data (χ2(9) = 8.22, p = .51, GFI = .97, AGFI = .90, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .000) and an adequate fit to the Lebanese data (χ2(9) = 10.35, p = .32, GFI = .95, AGFI = .85, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .05), with no additional paths suggested by modification indices.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sonia Roccas and Eran Halperin for their valuable comments on earlier presentations of the paper. Data collection for the study was funded by Harvard University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA

    Shana Levin

  2. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Nour Kteily

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Felicia Pratto

  4. Departments of Psychology and African and African American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jim Sidanius

  5. RAND Corporation, Washington, DC, USA

    Miriam Matthews

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Correspondence to Shana Levin.

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Levin, S., Kteily, N., Pratto, F. et al. Muslims’ emotions toward Americans predict support for Hezbollah and Al Qaeda for threat-specific reasons. Motiv Emot 40, 162–177 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9510-1

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