Politics or Prejudice? Explaining Individual-Level Hostilities in India’s Hindu-Muslim Conflict

The research uses an electronic survey of 1,414 urban Indian respondents to analyze what motivates hostile attitudes and the approval of violence in the Hindu-Muslim conflict. The study finds that security concerns for the future are the strongest predictors of hostility, while positive personal experiences with the out-group correlate with reduced hostility. In contrast, past experiences of violence do not systematically perpetuate hostility, and family histories of forced relocation are robustly associated with a non-adversarial outlook. Using Finite Mixture Models, the author determines that 'bottom-up' mechanisms (security concerns and prejudice) account for 82% of the sample, suggesting that individual-level dynamics are more influential than top-down elite manipulation for the majority of the population.

• Security concerns regarding future violence are the most potent predictors of a hostile stance and the approval of political violence.
• Positive personal experiences with members of the out-group are strongly correlated with a reduction in hostile sentiments.
• Past experiences of violence do not systematically lead to continued hostility or a stronger stance against the out-group.
• Inter-generational learning from past trauma, specifically family histories of forced relocation, is robustly linked to a non-adversarial outlook.
• Elite manipulation is a significant factor primarily for a minority of respondents who already support a tougher stance, suggesting a self-selection process where aggressive leaders and followers find each other.
• Entrenched 'us-versus-them' thinking, characterized by the belief that the out-group creates problems and that the in-group shares one's views, strongly predicts aggression.

APA

Schutte, S. (2019). Politics or Prejudice? Explaining Individual-Level Hostilities in India’s Hindu-Muslim Conflict. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8a640289-4a0b-447a-ab14-1bcf8b559671/Politics or prejudice Explaining individual-level hostilities in Indias Hindu-Muslim conflict.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Schutte, Sebastian. Politics or Prejudice? Explaining Individual-Level Hostilities in India’s Hindu-Muslim Conflict. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2019. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8a640289-4a0b-447a-ab14-1bcf8b559671/Politics or prejudice Explaining individual-level hostilities in Indias Hindu-Muslim conflict.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schutte |first1=Sebastian |title=Politics or Prejudice? Explaining Individual-Level Hostilities in India’s Hindu-Muslim Conflict |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=May 2019 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8a640289-4a0b-447a-ab14-1bcf8b559671/Politics or prejudice Explaining individual-level hostilities in Indias Hindu-Muslim conflict.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schutte2019politics, author = {Schutte, Sebastian}, title = {{Politics or Prejudice? Explaining Individual-Level Hostilities in India’s Hindu-Muslim Conflict}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2019}, month = may, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8a640289-4a0b-447a-ab14-1bcf8b559671/Politics or prejudice Explaining individual-level hostilities in Indias Hindu-Muslim conflict.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }