How education shapes divergent identity responses to discrimination: Experimental and observational evidence from Muslim immigrants in Germany

Abstract

How immigrants respond to discrimination is a well‐studied topic in political psychology. However, less attention has been paid to whether the impact of discrimination on in‐group identification varies within minority groups and why. In Western Europe, Muslims experience significant discrimination and hostility based on their religious identity despite increasing educational integration and upward social mobility. Building on social identity theory and measuring both the strength and relative importance of religious identity, this paper reexamines the discrimination–in‐group identification link and investigates heterogeneity based on educational level. Drawing on an original survey of 1456 Turkish immigrants in Germany and combining a survey experiment and an observational study, this paper finds substantive heterogeneity: Higher educated immigrants strengthen their attachment to their religious group when they perceive discrimination, whereas lower educated immigrants tend to distance themselves from their in‐group. Additionally, while observational analyses support prior research showing that the average association between discrimination and in‐group identification is positive, the priming experiment does not provide evidence for a positive average causal effect. This study makes important empirical and theoretical contributions to research on in‐group religious identification and the integration paradox.