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Can Exposure to Celebrities Reduce Prejudice? The Effect of Mohamed Salah on Islamophobic Behaviors and Attitudes

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  • ALRABABA’H, ALA’
  • MARBLE, WILLIAM
  • MOUSA, SALMA
  • SIEGEL, ALEXANDRA A.

Abstract

Can exposure to celebrities from stigmatized groups reduce prejudice? To address this question, we study the case of Mohamed Salah, a visibly Muslim, elite soccer player. Using data on hate crime reports throughout England and 15 million tweets from British soccer fans, we find that after Salah joined Liverpool F.C., hate crimes in the Liverpool area dropped by 16% compared with a synthetic control, and Liverpool F.C. fans halved their rates of posting anti-Muslim tweets relative to fans of other top-flight clubs. An original survey experiment suggests that the salience of Salah’s Muslim identity enabled positive feelings toward Salah to generalize to Muslims more broadly. Our findings provide support for the parasocial contact hypothesis—indicating that positive exposure to out-group celebrities can spark real-world behavioral changes in prejudice.

Suggested Citation

  • Alrababa’H, Ala’ & Marble, William & Mousa, Salma & Siegel, Alexandra A., 2021. "Can Exposure to Celebrities Reduce Prejudice? The Effect of Mohamed Salah on Islamophobic Behaviors and Attitudes," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(4), pages 1111-1128, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:115:y:2021:i:4:p:1111-1128_2
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    1. Anjali Adukia & Alex Eble & Emileigh Harrison & Hakizumwami Birali Runesha & Teodora Szasz, 2023. "What We Teach About Race and Gender: Representation in Images and Text of Children’s Books," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(4), pages 2225-2285.
    2. Poojan Thakkar & Manan Shah, 2021. "An Assessment of Football Through the Lens of Data Science," Annals of Data Science, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 823-836, December.
    3. Thoenig, Mathias & Brülhart, Marius & Klinke, Gian-Paolo & Marcucci, Andrea & Rohner, Dominic, 2023. "Price and Prejudice: Housing Rents Reveal Racial Animus," CEPR Discussion Papers 18050, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Alexander Cardazzi & Joshua C. Martin & Zachary Rodriguez, 2023. "Information shocks and celebrity exposure: The effect of “Magic” Johnson on AIDS diagnoses and mortality in the U.S," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 2047-2079, September.
    5. CARR, Joel, 2022. "BLM protests and racial hate crime in the United States," Working Papers 2022008, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.

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