Beyond religious categories: Understanding differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in accepting parenting styles involving physical discipline

Abstract

Public discourse on immigrant integration often refers to cultural differences between immigrants and members of receiving societies, particularly immigrants from predominantly Islamic countries. This study employs a survey experiment in Germany that presents respondents with two different parenting styles, one involving physical discipline while the other one does not. We investigate differences in the acceptance of these parenting styles between Muslim and non-Muslim respondents. Muslim religious affiliation is conceptualized as a proxy for relevant explanatory mechanisms underlying group differences in attitudes toward corporal punishment. By incorporating socioeconomic, cultural, social, and political characteristics as mechanism-related explanations, we find that differences in traditional values, social trust, and internal political efficacy largely account for greater acceptance of corporal punishment among Muslim respondents. The results underline the critical relevance of integration processes and their potential for fostering the social cohesion of immigrant-receiving societies.