The challenge
Deep Christian distrust of Muslims after ISIS displaced Christians from northern Iraq in 2014.
The case
With a local Christian community organization, Salma Mousa set up amateur soccer leagues for Christian teams in Ankawa and Qaraqosh, two cities in northern Iraq. Each team was randomly given three extra players, either Muslims (also displaced by ISIS) or fellow Christians. On the field, contact worked: six months after the two-month league, about 61% of Christians from mixed teams were training with Muslims weekly, versus 17% from all-Christian teams. They were more likely to vote a Muslim player from another team for a sportsmanship prize and to sign up for a mixed team. But they were no more likely to visit a Muslim-owned restaurant in Mosul, attend a mixed social event, or hold warmer views of Muslims generally.
Why the results were mixed
Cooperative contact builds real ties among the people who meet, but those gains do not easily spread to the wider out-group without further bridges.
Sources
- Mousa, S. (2020). Building social cohesion between Christians and Muslims through soccer in post-ISIS Iraq. Science.
- Science News (2020). Interfaith soccer teams eased Muslim-Christian tensions — to a point.
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