What do we know about religion and interreligious peace? A review of the quantitative literature

Julia Köbrich, Lisa Hoffmann*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Interreligious relations remain an important dimension of human coexistence and we currently observe an increase in religiously motivated violence and discrimination. Hence, we need to better understand determinants of interreligious peace. Building on a new concept of interreligious peace which includes but exceeds the absence of interreligious physical violence, we provide a systematic review of 83 quantitative empirical studies examining religious determinants of interreligious physical violence, hostile attitudes, threat perceptions, trust, and cooperation. We find that religious ideas foster or hinder interreligious peace depending on their content. Religious identities have negative effects but must be considered in context. Evidence regarding the role of religious practice is mixed and the role of religious actors and institutions remains understudied. Our results show the need for (1) more conceptual clarity, (2) replications in different contexts, (3) research on dimensions of religion beyond identities, and (4) a better integration of different strands of literature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)708 - 732
JournalPolitics and Religion
Volume16
Issue number4
Early online date29 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.

Funding

This research was conducted as part of the project “Religion for peace: identifying conditions and mechanisms of interfaith peace” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (BA-3515/5-1).

FundersFunder number
the Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftBA-3515/5-1

    Keywords

    • interreligious peace
    • literature review
    • positive peace
    • quantitative empirical evidence
    • religion

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