Social Distance Toward Syrian Refugees and Religiosity: The Moderating Roles of Intrinsic Religious Motivation and Socioeconomic Status
Abstract
Over the past decade, Türkiye has hosted the world’s largest refugee population, largely due to forced displacement following the Syrian civil war. As Syrian refugees moved from temporary arrival to long-term settlement, their interactions with host communities yielded both positive and negative outcomes. Although there is increasing research on Turkish host–Syrian refugee relations, the influence of religiosity on intergroup attitudes remains underexplored. To address this gap, the present study investigates associations among religiosity, intrinsic religious motivation, socioeconomic status, and social distance. Drawing on survey data from university students in Gaziantep and Kilis, the study tests hypotheses using a series of nested multiple linear regression models estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS). The findings indicate that (a) religiosity is negatively associated with social distance, (b) intrinsic religious motivation strengthens this negative association, and (c) this moderating effect disappears among participants with high socioeconomic status. I discuss the study findings, implications, limitations, and future research avenues in detail.