118 4 I found flankers project their own ideas on homosexuality onto Muslim and nonreligious politicians to a similar extent, while moderates tend to stereotype Muslim politicians as being significantly less likely to support same-sex couples adopting children. Those most in favor of same-sex adoption, pro-flankers, also feel the most similar to Muslims, whereas those least in favor of same-sex adoption, anti-flankers, feel the least similar to Muslims. Furthermore, the more a pro-flanker feels similar to Muslims, the more they project their views towards same-sex adoption onto Muslim politicians. These findings have implications for party gatekeepers and civic leaders struggling with dilemmas of inclusion. I question the assumption that especially voters with egalitarian worldviews welcome diversity while simultaneously being put off by the illiberalism of Muslim politicians and suggest that the exact opposite is what is really going on: especially voters who are the most in favor of homosexuality also perceive themselves as most similar to Muslims and do not harbor entrenched negative expectations about Muslim politicians. Meanwhile, voters who are only moderately egalitarian with regard to their views towards homosexuality and their perceived similarities towards Muslims, are the ones who most often stereotype Muslim politicians. Although stereotyping certainly happens, overall, the majority of voters are more prone to projection. Based on this research, it seems to make more electoral sense for parties attracting voters with egalitarian worldviews to include Muslim politicians on candidate lists and to fight off Islamophobic backlash without hesitation or apology.
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