Perceptions of discrimination and social contact among Alevis and Sunnis in Turkey: findings from two field studies

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003182436-3

Alevism and Sunnism are the two distinct religious sects in Islam. Although both are considered Muslims, they have different beliefs and religious practices. Alevis, as the minority group, face many problems in the religious and political areas, and both groups have different perceptions of intergroup discrimination. Using the premises of Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport, 1954), we examined whether contact between Alevis and Sunnis would predict perceived intergroup discrimination in two field studies conducted in Amasya (N_ Sunni =157, N_ Alevi = 172) and Hatay (N_ Sunni = 83, N_ Alevi = 96). Participants completed measures of quality and quantity of intergroup contact and perceived discrimination. Alevis reported lower contact quantity in Hatay, rated intergroup contact quality less satisfying, and perceived higher discrimination against their ingroup than Sunnis in Amasya and Hatay. In Hatay, Sunnis perceived higher discrimination against Alevis than their group. Finally, the contact quality was significantly associated with lower levels of perceived discrimination. The findings showed that the quality of contact positively influences intergroup relations and that the effect was considerably more substantial for Alevis. The dynamics of contact quality can be used to enhance intergroup relations between Alevis and Sunnis.