This thesis is a multilevel analysis of relationships between religion, intolerance towards ethnic out-groups and homophobia across 47 European countries based on European Values Study data (EVS 2010, wave 4). The analysis accounts for associations between the religiosity of individuals and their likelihood of being disinclined to accept people of a different race, immigrants and homosexuals as neighbours, or to accept homosexual behaviour as justifiable. Secondly, relationships between religious and socio-economic national contexts on the two forms of intolerance are studied. Religion is conceptualised as a three-dimensional phenomenon, thus a distinction is made between believing, belonging and religious practice. The main research question motivating the individual-level analysis is: To what extent is religion in Europe associated with intolerance towards ethnic out-groups and homosexuals? The research question of the contextual analysis is: How do the national religious, socio-economic and political contexts citizens live in matter for their tolerance towards out-groups? The key results of the analyses can be summarised as follows: religion is significantly related to both ethnic intolerance and homophobia. Believing in a Higher Power was found to be strongly negatively and fundamentalism strongly positively related to ethnic intolerance in most countries. Religious devoutness and observance, on the other hand, are positively related to ethnic intolerance only in a minority of mostly South-Eastern European countries. All of them have legacies of ethno-religious conflict, poverty and political instability. High religiosity, alongside poverty, nationalism and right-wing authoritarianism are strong predictors of ethnic prejudice in these contexts. In most of Europe, however, neither religious belonging nor religious practice is statistically significantly related to ethnic intolerance. Regarding homophobia, strong positive relationships with all three dimensions of religiosity were found. Contrary to the author’s expectation, religion matters most for the citizens’ dislike of homosexuals in Western European countries where the overall levels of homophobia are comparatively low. In large parts of post-communist Eastern Europe homophobia appears to have a secular face. The finding surprises, given the frequent utilisations of Orthodox and Catholic Christian symbolism that could be observed at public protests against eastern European gay pride parades of the last couple of years. Plausible explanations are explored alongside modernisation- and identity theory: religion has less impact on homophobic attitudes in societies where homophobia is generally more socially acceptable, while in highly modernised Western societies, where liberal values and a general acceptance of homosexuality are prevalent, religious fundamentalism appears to be strongly associated with anti-modern and traditionalistic identities that are exclusive towards out-groups.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe apibrėžiama etninio nepakantumo samprata, identifikuojamos etninio nepakantumo kaip reiškinio formavimosi priežastys ir analizuojama politika etninių mažumų atžvilgiu. Antroje darbo dalyje nagrinėjama ir lyginama romų etninės mažumos padėtis Lietuvoje ir Europos Sąjungos šalyse, analizuojami Lietuvos Respublikos ir Europos Sąjungos dokumentai dėl romų bendruomenės socialinės įtraukties bei vertinamas visuomenės požiūris ir publikuojamų straipsnių įtaka, formuojant nusistatymą prieš romų tautybės asmenis. / The thesis defines the concept of ethnic hatred, identifies the causes of the of the formation of the ethnic intolerance and analyzes the policy of the ethnic minoritys. The second part of the paper examines and compares the Roma ethnic minority in Lithuania and the European Union.

The aim of this research is to analyze ethnic topics of Lithuanian press. The objective of the research is to examine in what forms and how ethnic intolerance is constructed in printed and Internet media texts through representation of topics, problems, named causers of the problems and their causality (i.e. by introducing/presenting explanations of causes of the problems). Therefore, the main problem of this study is the assessment of the concept of ethnic intolerance and measurement of ethnic intolerance in media discourse. The main body of empirical data was collected during the qualitative research of printed and Internet media, which consisted of two parts: (1) media content analysis and (2) structured interviews with experts (politicians, officials, representatives of ethnic minorities, and journalists). The findings of the research of ethnic intolerance content in Lithuanian media reveals that topics (problems) of interethnic relations in Lithuanian press are mostly interrelated with economical and political issues and less with cultural and psychological causality aspects. Each ethnic or religious group – Roma, Jews, Polish, Russians, Muslims and immigrants – is associated with specific problems in the Lithuanian press. No aggressive forms of ethnic intolerance (incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence) were found in the content of Lithuanian press. The most common manifestations of ethnic intolerance in Lithuanian press were hate speech, harassment, subtle... [to full text] / Šis darbas skirtas Lietuvos spaudos turinio etnine tematika analizei. Atliekamo Lietuvos spaudos turinio tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti, kokiomis problemomis, temomis, problemų įvardijamais sukėlėjais, bei jų priežastingumu ir kokiomis apraiškų formomis Lietuvos spaudos turinyje yra konstruojamas etninis nepakantumas. Darbo problema - etninio nepakantumo sąvokos įvertinimas ir etninio nepakantumo matavimas spaudos tekstuose. Pagrindinį darbo empirinių duomenų masyvą sudaro spaudos kokybinio tyrimo (spaudos ir interneto dienraščių tekstų turinio ir kokybinio ekspertų tyrimo) duomenys. Etninio nepakantumo Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje tyrimo duomenų analizė leidžia teigti, kad: Lietuvos spaudoje tarpetninių santykių problematika dažniausiai siejama su ekonominiais ir politiniais, mažiau – su kultūriniais ir psichologiniais priežastingumo aspektais. Kiekviena etninė, religinė grupė - romai, žydai, lenkai, rusai, musulmonai ir imigrantai - Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje siejama su specifine problematika. Lietuvos spaudos turinyje nėra vartojamos agresyvios etninio nepakantumo formos – kurstymas diskriminuoti, smurtauti ir fiziškai susidoroti. Dažniausiai sutinkamos etninio nepakantumo formos: etninės neapykantos kurstymas; Įžeidinėjimas (užgauliojimai, tyčiojimasis, niekinimas); Subtilios (paslėptos) nuostatos ir stereotipai; ,,Tylos diskursas“. Etninių grupių problematikos suvokimas visuomenėje ir jos pateikimas Lietuvos spaudoje sudaro uždarą cirkuliacinį ratą: ekspertų įvardijamos problemos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Šis darbas skirtas Lietuvos spaudos turinio etnine tematika analizei. Atliekamo Lietuvos spaudos turinio tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti, kokiomis problemomis, temomis, problemų įvardijamais sukėlėjais, bei jų priežastingumu ir kokiomis apraiškų formomis Lietuvos spaudos turinyje yra konstruojamas etninis nepakantumas. Darbo problema - etninio nepakantumo sąvokos įvertinimas ir etninio nepakantumo matavimas spaudos tekstuose. Pagrindinį darbo empirinių duomenų masyvą sudaro spaudos kokybinio tyrimo (spaudos ir interneto dienraščių tekstų turinio ir kokybinio ekspertų tyrimo) duomenys. Etninio nepakantumo Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje tyrimo duomenų analizė leidžia teigti, kad: Lietuvos spaudoje tarpetninių santykių problematika dažniausiai siejama su ekonominiais ir politiniais, mažiau – su kultūriniais ir psichologiniais priežastingumo aspektais. Kiekviena etninė, religinė grupė - romai, žydai, lenkai, rusai, musulmonai ir imigrantai - Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje siejama su specifine problematika. Lietuvos spaudos turinyje nėra vartojamos agresyvios etninio nepakantumo formos – kurstymas diskriminuoti, smurtauti ir fiziškai susidoroti. Dažniausiai sutinkamos etninio nepakantumo formos: etninės neapykantos kurstymas; Įžeidinėjimas (užgauliojimai, tyčiojimasis, niekinimas); Subtilios (paslėptos) nuostatos ir stereotipai; ,,Tylos diskursas“. Etninių grupių problematikos suvokimas visuomenėje ir jos pateikimas Lietuvos spaudoje sudaro uždarą cirkuliacinį ratą: ekspertų įvardijamos problemos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this research is to analyze ethnic topics of Lithuanian press. The objective of the research is to examine in what forms and how ethnic intolerance is constructed in printed and Internet media texts through representation of topics, problems, named causers of the problems and their causality (i.e. by introducing/presenting explanations of causes of the problems). Therefore, the main problem of this study is the assessment of the concept of ethnic intolerance and measurement of ethnic intolerance in media discourse. The main body of empirical data was collected during the qualitative research of printed and Internet media, which consisted of two parts: (1) media content analysis and (2) structured interviews with experts (politicians, officials, representatives of ethnic minorities, and journalists). The findings of the research of ethnic intolerance content in Lithuanian media reveals that topics (problems) of interethnic relations in Lithuanian press are mostly interrelated with economical and political issues and less with cultural and psychological causality aspects. Each ethnic or religious group – Roma, Jews, Polish, Russians, Muslims and immigrants – is associated with specific problems in the Lithuanian press. No aggressive forms of ethnic intolerance (incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence) were found in the content of Lithuanian press. The most common manifestations of ethnic intolerance in Lithuanian press were hate speech, harassment, subtle... [to full text]