How Does the Sense of Closeness to God Affect Attitudes toward Refugees in Turkey? Multiculturalism and Social Contact as Mediators and National Belonging as Moderator

Abstract

Turkey has been the country hosting the highest number of refugees globally with the immigration of Syrians after the civil war in Syria. There have been no major problems between Turks and Syrians in the past ten years. Although Syrians have a financial burden of 71 billion USD to the Turkish state, Turkish society has not reacted significantly due to common religious, cultural, and humanitarian values. This study was conducted with 1743 individuals of different age groups, and it tried to understand the effect of Turkish society’s spirituality in attitudes and behaviors towards Syrian refugees. This relationship was investigated with regard to whether the multiculturalism and contact frequency acted as mediators and national belonging acted as moderator. Gender, age, education, family income, marital status, and whether participants have Syrian neighbors were used as control variables. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the spirituality of the Turkish people was associated with their attitudes towards Syrian refugees, with the mediator effect being multiculturalism and social contact and the moderator effect being national belonging in this relationship.

The Effects of Religiosity and Socioeconomic Status on Social Distance towards Refugees and the Serial Mediating Role of Satisfaction with Life and Perceived Threat

“…Based on this teaching of Islam, the current government used the Ansar and Muhajir approach to make the complex process more manageable. The literature on the perception of threat towards Syrians in Turkey supports the empirical findings obtained in this study (Erdogan 2020;Gulmez 2019;Koçak 2021;Kocak et al 2021;Şahin 2016). The fact that religiosity reduces the perception of threat towards refugees in Turkey is a unique model because refugees are seen as a threat in terms of economic, political, and security reasons in the world.…”

“…It is a matter of debate how religiosity and spirituality affect people's life satisfaction, attitudes, and health with their different dimensions. Religiosity increases life satisfaction by reducing risky behaviors, increasing social support, diversifying coping mechanisms, strengthening physical and mental endurance, increasing the hope of individuals for the future, and reducing the risk of getting sick (Benda et al 2006;Cetin 2019;Green and Elliott 2010;Idler et al 2003;Koçak 2021;Meer and Mir 2014;Páez et al 2018). Those who attend places of worship regularly, such as mosques, synagogues, and churches, are more likely to marry, form friendship networks, and participate in social activities than those who do not (Hummer et al 1999).…”

“…Turkish people are predominantly a conservative society as they are mostly religious. The majority of those who define themselves as religious also have national feelings because religion, multiculturalism, and nationalism are linked notions in Turkish society for historical and cultural motives (Koçak 2021;Onar 2009). However, while socialist approaches constitute an important group, the number of liberals is increasing, albeit it is small (Konda 2010).…”

“…On the one hand, most Turkish and Syrian inhabitants have similar beliefs, generating a favorable attitude towards refugees. On the other hand, it was discovered that positive attitudes towards Armenians, Jews, and Greeks who have various religions and live in Turkey exceeded those for current Muslim refugees (Koçak 2021;Yitmen and Verkuyten 2018). Therefore, it may be wrong to attribute the positive attitude towards refugees only to religious brotherhood.…”

How Does Religious Commitment Affect Satisfaction with Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Examining Depression, Anxiety, and Stress as Mediators

“…The reaction of religious people in troubled times may vary according to societies and religions. Islam rewards the struggle with difficulties and adversity (Jacobsen 2021;Koçak 2021;Musharraf 2017). It is thought that every difficulty overcome leads the individual to a better religious and human personality and rank in Islam (Ali 2009;Hanefar et al 2016;Raduan et al 2018;Shadid 2007).…”