Experimental study of effects. Mass media and attitudes towards Muslisms and Islam

This paper reports on results from an experiment designed to shed light on whether disparate media framing (Islamophobic vs. integrative frames) affect opinions about Muslims and Islam accordingly. A third and neutral frame allows working with a control group. The sample is made up of 380 students of different degrees of a Spanish University. Beyond the mostly favorable predisposition to the Islamic, it is found that media frames affect opinions as expected and that the effect is mediated by variables such as sex, ideology, social relations with Muslims, and the opinion about the real media coverage of the Islamic.