Social Cognition Study of Inter-religious Prejudices Among Sunni Students in Iran

Border settlement is the social platform for the coexistence of various ethnicities and religions in Kurdistan, Sistan & Baluchistan, and Turkmen Sahra in Iran. But this platform, like many similar social contexts, is sensitive to inter-ethnic and inter-religious prejudices and cognitive representation of self and others. These intergroup prejudices are among the cognitive associations that lead to social categorization at the macro social structures and to the direction of intergroup relations and the distribution of social privileges at micro social structures. The current study aims to answer these three questions: (1) What kind of inter-religious prejudices exist in Sunni students living in Kurdistan, Sistan & Baluchistan, and Turkmen Sahra or migrated to Tehran? (2) What is the level of inter-religious prejudices among Sunni and Shia students living in the mentioned cities? (3) What is the effect of educational migration to Tehran on the type and level of inter-religious prejudices in Sunni students?

This is a mixed-method study using qualitative and quantitative tools. The Stereotype Content Model of Suzan Fiske was used for quantitative assessment. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive representation of self and other in inter-religious relations among Sunni students, we asked the participants to describe themselves and the Shiites of their provinces using at least five traits. Then we content analyzed the ‌presented traits, qualitatively.

Based on the survey data, in kurdish and Turkman students, migration to Tehran caused a decline in representation of the aboriginal shiite others and the self (based on the views of shiite people). Among Balochi students, who had the worst image of self and aborignal shiite others compared to Turkmen and Kurdish counterparts, migration to Tehran improved the situation, including improving the indicators of warmness and competency, which could transit this inter-religious prejudice from disgust to pride.

Prejudice greatly affects the relationship of Sunni people living in Kurdistan, Sistan & Baluchistan, and Turkmen Sahra with Shia residents. Educational migration to Tehran negatively affects the image of Shiite others among Kurdish and Turkmen people, while inter-religious communication are slightly improved among Baluchies after migration.