People with low self-esteem report more fear of Muslims and Islam.

Evidence

The correlation analyses also revealed some unexpected results. First, the negative correlations found between a measure of SE and both subscales of the IS suggests that low SE is related to one’s fear toward Muslims and their religion. Although this finding is relatively weak, it is consistent with research demonstrating that low-SE individuals tend to experience more anxiety and fear than their more esteemed counterparts (Byrne, 2000). — Sherman A. Lee, Chelsea A. Reid, Stephen D. Short, Jeffrey A. Gibbons, Ruth Yeh, and Matthew L. Campbell, Fear of Muslims, 73

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader psychology literature linking low self-esteem to generalized anxiety and threat sensitivity, which also underpins authoritarianism and prejudice research.