This article uses an interactionist perspective to understand the role of media framings of critical events in catalyzing Western citizens' support for radical responses to Muslim immigration (e.g., armed self-defense). A multi-method series of three studies tested this perspective in the context of the 2015/2016 Cologne New Year's Eve sexual assaults on women. Study 1, a content analysis of 163 online newspaper articles, revealed that mass media attributed the assaults to the suspects' Muslim culture. Study 2, a correlational study ( N = 487) conducted at the peak of the media coverage, confirmed that the degree to which participants accepted the veracity of the culture-focused media representation strengthened the relation between their feelings of symbolic threat as a result of Muslim immigration and their approval of radical responses. Study 3, an experiment with pre-registered hypotheses ( N = 91), replicated and extended these interaction effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: critical events; media representations; radical attitudes; symbolic threat.