Value Conflicts Revisited: Gender Equality and Gestures of Respect

32 Pages Posted: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Elisabeth Ivarsflaten

Elisabeth Ivarsflaten

University of Bergen

Marc Helbling

University of Mannheim

Paul M. Sniderman

Stanford University - Department of Political Science

Richard Traunmüller

University of Mannheim - School of Social Sciences

Date Written: May 16, 2022

Abstract

This note calls attention to open value conflicts in questions of Muslim minority inclusion in contemporary liberal democracies. Open value conflicts differ from closed ones in that their resolution neither demands conformity by the minority community nor that members of the majority community give up their convictions. We focus on handshaking controversies that appear to pit gender equality against religious freedom in a closed value conflict logic. Results in the control condition of experiments embedded in a representative survey in Germany are consistent with this closed logic. Support for compulsory handshaking among non-Muslims is widespread. However, introducing a substitute gesture of respect—placing the hand on the heart—elicits dramatic drops in calls for conformity. Conflicts over handshaking are thus open to resolution through cultural ingenuity. Open value conflicts are likely more common in everyday life than are closed ones.

Keywords: Value Conflicts, Muslim Integration, Gender Equality, Survey Experiment

Suggested Citation

Ivarsflaten, Elisabeth and Helbling, Marc and Sniderman, Paul M. and Traunmüller, Richard, Value Conflicts Revisited: Gender Equality and Gestures of Respect (May 16, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4111634 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4111634

Elisabeth Ivarsflaten

University of Bergen ( email )

Marc Helbling

University of Mannheim ( email )

A5, 6
Mannheim, 68159
Germany

Paul M. Sniderman

Stanford University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States
650-723-1806 (Phone)
650-723-1808 (Fax)

Richard Traunmüller (Contact Author)

University of Mannheim - School of Social Sciences ( email )

Germany

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