Tolerance of the Muslim headscarf: Perceived reasons for wearing a headscarf matter

Abstract

In many West European countries, debates about Muslim women wearing a headscarf in public positions evolve around the question whether the reason for wearing it is personal choice, religious freedom or community pressures. This study uses national samples of Dutch and German majority group members (N = 3734) and an experimental design to investigate whether their tolerance of the headscarf worn by a civil servant depends on four perceived reasons for wearing it. The findings indicated that a headscarf that is perceived to be worn out of personal choice was tolerated the most, and for reasons of normative community pressures was tolerated the least, with perceived reasons of religious and cultural identity enactment in between. Additionally, we found that higher (versus lower) authoritarian individuals were less likely to differentiate between the different reasons. In conclusion, perceived motives and authoritarianism are important to consider in understanding majority group members’ tolerance of the headscarf.