The perception of religious groups, especially Muslims, is a significant societal issue in France, where Muslims face significant stigmatization and discrimination. This study explores how stereotypes of Muslims, compared with other religious groups, are shaped using the Stereotype Content Model. Data were collected via an online survey from two samples: students (N = 161) and the general population (N = 282). Results revealed that, for students, there were no significant differences in social judgment of Muslims versus other groups. However, in the general population, Muslims were perceived as less warm and competent, eliciting more negative emotions. A subsequent meta-analysis combining the two datasets and drawing on the Social Structure Hypothesis identified predictors of attitudes toward Muslims, including warmth, admiration, disgust, symbolic threat, intergroup contact, and social status. The findings indicate that negative stereotypes are not inherent but influenced by sample characteristics and psychosocial variables, emphasizing the importance of context in shaping social judgments.

Education, and mandatory schooling in particular, is a central mechanism for governments to improve life outcomes and prevent the accumulation of disadvantage across generations. Yet educational sociology research suggests that education can also entrench patterns of inequality, with children from immigrant backgrounds facing barriers to equal opportunity. Policy reforms to reverse such disadvantage include delaying the tracking age and offering free or subsidised daycare places to immigrant children. However, we know little about public support for such policies. In this article, we argue that one’s own experience of educational equality impacts micro-level preferences for equality-enhancing policies (EEPs). Using a survey experiment fielded in 2024 in Switzerland, our findings suggest that support for EEPs is a function of the one’s satisfaction with equal opportunities at school: Those who did not perceive their schooling to be fair and who attended school in less egalitarian cantons show the strongest support for reforming the system to become more egalitarian. We conclude that negative experience of schooling may have an, albeit indirect, effect on support for policies that reduce educational inequality. .

What does it take for a variety to be evaluated as “standard”? Focusing on Flanders, a community with a strict standard language ideology, we examined whether a regionally neutral accent suffices, or whether nonstandard lexis and grammar must also be avoided. In a speaker evaluation experiment, 614 respondents rated four manipulated versions of an official government video, varying in accent (neutral vs. regional) and the presence or absence of tussentaal, a stigmatized nonstandard variety. While unaccented standard Dutch remained the most prestigious variety, a mixed guise combining a neutral accent with tussentaal was not downgraded and was perceived as dynamically prestigious. These findings suggest that a polished accent is a key criterion for standardness, which can offset the negative evaluation of other nonstandard features.*

Workplaces are increasingly sorted by education. How does the educational composition at the workplace shape political attitudes? To address this question, I use Swedish population-wide administrative data combined with a representative election survey – an empirical approach that links respondents to their colleagues. The central finding is that the share of university educated at the workplace influences individuals’ attitudes independently of the individual’s own educational background. Further analysis indicates that the effect is partly caused during the time spent in the labor market and varies with the educational field composition of the workplace. The results shed light on how social connections at work, as opposed to personal experiences, shape political attitudes. This has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the politically relevant aspects of the work life, as well as for the formation of the education divide.

Positive attitudes toward healthy nutrition and food literacy have been associated with healthy eating habits in previous research. However, evidence regarding the relationships among food literacy, attitudes toward healthy nutrition, and BMI among school teachers remains limited. This study examined the associations among self-perceived food literacy, attitudes toward healthy nutrition, and BMI among school teachers. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 294 primary, secondary, and high school teachers. An online questionnaire including demographic characteristics, eating habits, anthropometric measurements, the Self-Perceived Food Literacy Scale (SPFLS), and the Attitude Scale for Healthy Nutrition (ASHN) was used to collect data. A total of 294 school teachers aged 20–59 years completed the study, of whom 73.5% were female. Obese participants had lower food literacy (p < 0.001) and healthy nutrition attitude scores (p < 0.05) than normal-weight participants. Food literacy and attitudes toward healthy nutrition were positively correlated with age and years of experience, and negatively correlated with BMI (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that attitudes toward healthy nutrition and BMI were associated with self-perceived food literacy (R2adj = 0.501, p < 0.001). These findings contribute to the limited evidence regarding the relationships among food literacy, attitudes toward healthy nutrition, and BMI among school teachers.

Rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and their ever-expanding use in societal contexts raises questions regarding their design, social acceptance, and regulation. We develop a randomized vignette experiment, detailing six contemporary high-stakes contexts employing algorithmic tools and uncover distinct attitudes toward the source of the AI provisioning (public vs private sector). Participants are drawn from technology and law schools in India, representing key future stakeholders in the AI policy ecosystem in the country. Our main result indicates an overall preference for public sector provisioning of AI tools, with important implications on the social acceptability of public sector expansion of AI systems. Although the Global South has witnessed widespread expansion of AI tools with limited scrutiny, the nascent scholarship on AI attitudes disproportionately emanates from the Global North. Our study fills this gap, as well as the gap in empirical evidence on private vs public provisioning of AI tools in social contexts.

Using data from Afrobarometer surveys conducted across 39 countries (n ≈ 53,000), this study examines the relationship between ethnic identification and public attitudes toward interethnic marriage in Africa. Descriptive analyses indicate that most Africans are either supportive of or indifferent toward such unions. However, multivariate regression results show that individuals who identify more strongly with their ethnicity than their nationality are significantly less likely to support interethnic marriage. This negative association is particularly strong among rural residents. These findings suggest that strong ethnic identification can act as a barrier to social integration in multiethnic societies. They also highlight the importance of policies that foster inclusive national identities and encourage intergroup engagement through education and civic initiatives.

In two studies of attitudes and beliefs of American adults (N = 482), there is a substantial positive correlation between pro-natural and pro-sustainability, a weak negative correlation between pro-technology and pro-natural, and a moderate positive or negative correlation between pro-technology and pro-sustainability, depending on the way technology is framed. Participants also believe strongly that natural policies are ‘good for’ sustainability. Liberals are substantially more pro-sustainable than conservatives, but both political groups are strongly pro-natural. Most respondents explicitly believe that organic farming is ‘good for sustainability’, and many believe that genetically engineered foods are not good for sustainability. On open-ended explanations for their beliefs about positive linkages between natural and sustainability, respondents’ reasons are frequently vague, very generic, factually incorrect, or irrelevant to sustainability (e.g., claims that genetically modified organisms are unnatural or bad for human health). Respondents are inclined to believe in a positive association, often a causal link, between natural and sustainable, both concepts they favor. Additional results from a British adult sample show that 65% agree with the statement: ‘Generally, more natural things cause more sustainable outcomes.’ This may be an example of causal inference supported by congruent valences.

This study aimed to examine factors associated with stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness among mental health professionals in Kazakhstan, the largest upper-middle-income country in Central Asia. The cross-sectional online survey was conducted among psychiatrists, narcologists (drug addiction specialists), psychotherapists, psychiatry residents and mental health nurses from all regions of Kazakhstan using the 15-item Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers (OMS-HC). The mean stigma score was 40.1 of a possible 75, with higher stigma observed among older professionals (β = 3.32; 95% CI: 1.24, 5.39) and those working in the drug addiction field (β = 1.99; 95% CI: 0.32, 3.66). Male professionals had lower stigma scores (β = −3.29; 95% CI: −5.57, −1.02). Perception of mental health work as less respectable (β = 6.43; 95% CI: 3.26, 9.60) and skepticism about the positive impact of the field (β = 2.69, 95% CI: 0.52, 4.86) were associated with higher stigma; while having relatives or friends suffering from mental health issues (β = −2.36; 95% CI: −3.95, −0.77) and prior psychotherapy exposure (β = −2.12; 95% CI: −3.98, −0.26) were associated with lower levels of stigma. These findings can inform future targeted interventions on reducing stigma within healthcare settings, and promoting a more supportive and inclusive environment for both patients and providers.

Many theorists tie social norms to attitudes, such as expectations towards others, perhaps along with conforming practices. Challenging this view, we instead ground social norms in a social norming process, an often non-verbal social communication process that ‘makes’ the norm through mutual expressions of support. We present the process-based account of social norms and social normativity, and distinguish social norms from social pressures, social practices and Lewisian conventions. The process-based view brings social norms closer to legal norms, by tying them to ‘expressive acts’, just as laws and contracts arise through acts of voting or signing, not through mere attitudes.

The study investigates the interplay between personal values and attitudes toward environmental responsibility (ER) among MBA students from two distinct cultural contexts: Australia (individualist) and India (collectivist). Drawing on survey responses from the University of Newcastle, Australia and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata, the study employs factor analysis and Multivariate Least Squares (MLS) to test whether cultural orientation moderates the predictive relationship between value priorities and ER attitudes. Findings reveal significant cross-cultural contrasts: Australian respondents prioritise security, conformity and power, whereas Indian respondents emphasise achievement, benevolence and universalism. Contrary to theoretical expectations, self-transcendence (benevolence, universalism) and self-enhancement (achievement, power) values exert a stronger influence among Indian participants. These results challenge universalist assumptions in sustainability education. The study offers actionable implications for corporate recruitment, climate policy and MBA curriculum design, highlighting how cultural value systems shape managerial attitudes toward ER.