Variations of Public Opinion Towards Face Veiling: Arguments in the Swiss Debate

This study focuses on public opinion towards the face veiling of Muslim women and investigates the possibility of identifying different groups of citizens supporting distinct combinations of arguments regarding face veiling criticisms. Two groups are expected to argue for or against face veiling. Also, two other groups are expected to vary depending on their idea of liberalism inherent in face-veiling arguments: a specific way of life versus respect for different ways of life. Using latent class (regression) analysis, the findings show that different groups emerged and that the political leftists were more diverse regarding argument patterns than the political rightists. Following the debate of why many political leftists have negative attitudes towards religious practices, this study does not find empirical support that anti-Muslim and anti-Islam attitudes systematically differ between the observed groups.