Welcoming the Religious Stranger: Social Sources of Attitudes Towards Syrian Refugees

Due to the human rights violations occurring in Syria, many Syrians fled their homeland and are now refugees. Their refugee status and potential admission to the United States is a hotly contested issue because many Americans perceive both realistic and symbolic intergroup threats from Syrian refugees. Of note is the fact that most Syrians are Muslim; the intersection between religion and refugee status plays a role in these perceived threats. In this thesis, I examine four key independent variables – political affiliation, religious tradition, educational attainment, and gender – and their effects on respondents’ approval or disapproval for potential policies increasing United States admission of Christian and Muslim Syrian refugees. I find that religious tradition and political affiliation are two demographic characteristics that significantly impact one’s approval of these potential refugee admittance policies.