Americans who personally know a Muslim are more than twice as likely to have a favorable opinion toward Muslims than those who do not, according to a new report.
But researchers say that anti-Muslim attitudes is influenced by a host of factors, from personal and national politics to how much a person knows about Islam itself — but not one's own religious affiliation.
The findings are part of this year's American Muslim Poll, the fourth annual survey of U.S. faith communities conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington, D.C.
The poll found that Muslims remain the most likely group to report experiencing religious discrimination. The ISPU's annual Islamophobia Index, which measures the public's endorsement of five negative stereotypes about U.S. Muslims, inched upward from 24 in 2018 to 28 in 2019.
