How a Tolerant Past Affects the Present: Historical Tolerance and the Acceptance of Muslim Expressive Rights

Three studies,conducted in the netherlands,examined the relationship between a tolerant representation of national history and the acceptance of muslim expressive rights. following self-categorization theory,it was hypothesized that historical tolerance would be associated with greater acceptance of muslim expressive rights,especially for natives who strongly identify with their national in-group. furthermore,it was predicted that the positive effect of representations of historical tolerance on higher identifiers' acceptance could be explained by reduced perceptions of identity incompatibility. the results of study 1 confirmed the first hypothesis,and the results of study 2 and study 3 supported the second hypothesis. these findings underline the importance of historical representations of the nation for understanding current reactions toward immigrants. importantly,the results show that a tolerant representation of national history can elevate acceptance of immigrants,especially among natives who feel a relatively strong sense of belonging to their nation. © 2012 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.