Facebook interfaith contact and social distance toward religious minorities

ABSTRACT

In line with the contact hypothesis, several studies show that digitally mediated interfaith contact on social networking sites also improves relationships between members of different faiths. Yet most theoretical and empirical scholarships are mainly conducted in societies generally free of religiously driven violent incidents, lacking insights from contexts with more serious interfaith challenges. Additionally, factors that predict digitally mediated interfaith contact and condition its effect have not gained enough attention. Relying on survey data of Facebook users in Pakistan (n = 645), this study shows that Muslims’ favorable attitude toward potential Facebook interfaith contact is positively associated with their number of Facebook interfaith contacts, which is, in turn, negatively associated with social distance toward non-Muslim religious minorities. Moreover, status legitimacy plays a moderating role, suggesting that the mediating relationship above is only significant for those who perceive a low level of status legitimacy – a perception that the social status difference between ingroup and outgroups is legitimate. It exhibits the inhibiting role of status legitimacy in hindering the effects of Facebook interfaith contact on social distance. This study discusses the potentially positive role of digitally mediated interfaith contact and concludes with limitations and recommendations.

KEYWORDS:

• Facebook interfaith contact
• contact hypothesis
• social distance
• survey
• Pakistan

Acknowledgment

The author is grateful to Dr. Marko Skoric for his generous suggestions on an earlier version of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author received partial financial support for data collection from the Department of Media and Communications, City University of Hong Kong (Research Expenses Grant).

Notes on contributors

Muhammad Masood

Muhammad Masood, PhD Department of Media and Communication City University of Hong Kong, is interested in digital media and social change. He focuses on civic and political implications of digital media technologies, including civic engagement, political communication, public opinion and minority groups.