Survey Data to measure the Relative Deprivation in Hindu and Muslims
Description
The dataset used in the present study was collected to examine the role of emotion and attribution in people's responses to emotionally relevant and potentially threatening intergroup events in the context of Hindu–Muslim relations in India. The study focused on two major religious groups in India: Hindus, representing the majority religious group, and Muslims, representing a minority religious group. The dataset therefore provides information about participants from both sides of the intergroup relationship and enables comparative analysis of their perceptions, emotional responses, and attributional processes. The data were collected during a period of considerable political and social sensitivity in India. At the time of data collection, the country was experiencing heightened public attention to communal violence, terrorist attacks and bomb blasts associated in public discourse with extremist groups, and the approaching general elections. Political developments during this period also brought questions concerning Hindu–Muslim relations prominently into public discussion. Consequently, issues of intergroup identity, communal relations, responsibility, threat, emotion, and attribution were particularly salient in the social and political environment in which the respondents participated. This contextual background is important for understanding the dataset because participants' responses to intergroup events cannot be considered independently of the broader social environment. Exposure to information about communal violence, terrorism, political competition, and intergroup conflict may influence how individuals interpret an event, experience emotions toward members of another group, and assign responsibility or blame for the event. Study Population The target population consisted of adult members of the Hindu and Muslim communities in India. The study included respondents from both urban and rural backgrounds, thereby providing some degree of socioeconomic and geographical variation within the sample. A total of 300 respondents participated in the study. Of these: 154 respondents were Muslims 146 respondents were Hindus Thus, the two religious groups were relatively balanced in terms of overall sample size. The Muslim group consisted of 81 males and 73 females, while the Hindu group consisted of 84 males and 62 females. Overall, therefore, the dataset contained 165 male participants and 135 female participants. The age of respondents ranged from 18 to 68 years, ensuring representation of participants from young adulthood through older adulthood. Educational qualifications ranged from 10th standard to postgraduate level, indicating variation in participants' educational backgrounds. Gender distribution Among the Muslim respondents, 81 (52.6%) were male and 73 (47.4%) were female. Among Hindu respondents, 84 (57.5%) were male and 62 (42.5%) were female.