Book Chapter

Prejudice

Borooah, Vani Kant

2021,2020

Overview

The raison d’être of this chapter is to develop measures for xenophobia, homophobia, and patriarchy and, in so doing, to provide systematic information about the degree of prejudice against certain groups (foreigners, homosexuals, women) – in particular, whether prejudice differs by the world’s regions and religions and between the groups that are the target of prejudice. Furthermore, the chapter enquires about the characteristics of persons – apart from their religion and region – that make for prejudice or a lack of it. In developing the analysis, this chapter makes several conceptual contributions. It advances the concept of a “xenophobia score” which is used to measure the amount of xenophobia in different regions of the world. It links homophobia to attitudes towards homosexuality. Finally, it examines dissonance between men and women in their views about gender equality and, in so doing, measures the amount of “gender tension” among adherents of different religions and denizens of different regions. Underpinning this analysis is a multivariate analysis of xenophobia, homophobia, and patriarchy. This allows one to answer questions that are of considerable societal importance: Are women more liberal than men in their attitude towards foreigners and homosexuals? Do women seek greater equality than men are prepared to concede? This chapter develops measures for xenophobia, homophobia, and patriarchy and provides systematic information about the degree of prejudice against certain groups, foreigners, homosexuals, women –in particular, whether prejudice differs by the world’s regions and religions and between the groups that are the target of prejudice. It enquires about the characteristics of persons – apart from their religion and region – that make for prejudice or a lack of it. The chapter advances the concept of a “xenophobia score” which is used to measure the amount of xenophobia in different regions of the world. The regional data show that an illiberal attitude towards homosexuals was most pronounced in Islamic countries and least evident in Western countries. Countries of the ex–Soviet Union and African countries had the highest intolerance rates and, except for Islamic countries, the highest illiberal rates with, respectively, 74.5% and 82.8% of respondents in these regions regarding homosexuality as unjustifiable.

• Publisher: Routledge,Taylor & Francis Group
• ISBN: 9780367564278, 0367564270, 0367441578, 9780367441579