Changing Narratives and Knowledge Production: The Potential of Counter-Narratives for Reducing Anti-Muslim Hostility in Different Political Spectra

Anti-Muslim racism is pervasive in Germany, making it imperative to not only study the status quo but also explore effective countermeasures. This article focuses on discursive strategies, aiming to link the individual and structural level by investigating counter-narratives as a means to mitigate hostile behavioral intentions. Specifically, it examines the relationship between anti-Muslim hostility and two dimensions of counter-narratives: empathy and differentiation. The findings indicate that, in general, both empathy and differentiation are significantly associated with reduced anti-Muslim hostility. This association is particularly strong among those on the political left. Significant correlations pointing to the same direction are also observed in the political center. However, within the political right spectrum, only the affective component of counter-narratives, empathy, is linked to reduced hostility, while the cognitive dimension of counter-narratives, differentiation, does not show a significant relationship with anti-Muslim hostility. These findings suggest that greater emphasis should be placed and focused on counter-narratives and their potential to reduce hostility, both within the scientific community and in other knowledge production systems. Additionally, these findings have implications for effective prevention work, indicating that the affective component could be particularly effective in addressing the hostility of the highly relevant, most hostile target group of those who identify as politically right.