Religious Identity-Based Emotions and Interreligious Social Distance in Türkiye: An Experimental Study

People experience a wide range of distinct emotions due to their group memberships, and these group-based emotions play a significant role in shaping intergroup dynamics. This study aimed to explore the emotions that emerge from Muslim identity salience and investigate how they contribute to explaining the relationship between religious identity salience and interreligious distance. The study involved self-identified Muslims from Türkiye. In a pilot test (N = 29; mean age = 24.21), participants were asked about the emotions they typically feel when thinking of themselves as Muslims. Based on this pilot test and a literature review, a list of 38 emotions was created. In the main study (N = 351; mean age = 25.59), using an experimental design, we manipulated participants’ personal or religious identity salience, then measured the intensity of their emotions from the emotion list and their social distance toward religious outgroups (i.e. Christians, Jews, and atheists). Increased Muslim identity salience led to decreased interreligious distance. This manipulation also heightened proself emotions (e.g. pride) and decreased anxious (e.g. worry) and hostile emotions (e.g. anger), while prosocial emotions (e.g. humility) showed no change. Personal religiosity moderated the effects on emotions: participants with higher religiosity experienced greater increases in both proself and prosocial emotions when their religious identity was highlighted. The increase in proself emotions explained the relationship between Muslim identity salience and social distance, particularly among highly religious individuals. These findings underscore the complex role of religious identity in shaping emotions and interreligious relations.