Ethnic Discrimination and the Effect of Salient Middle Eastern Clothing - A Field Study in the Stockholm Subway

Abstract: The current migration crisis and terror trends have affected millions of lives across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. In light of these events, we investigated how perceived ethnicity affects people's everyday choices, in particular, seating in the Stockholm subway, to gain an understanding of discrimination in Sweden going forward. A field study was conducted to establish which groups in society prefer to sit beside a male of perceived Swedish ethnicity and which beside a male of perceived Middle Eastern ethnicity, and, in addition, what effect salient Middle Eastern clothing has on their choices. Our results indicate no discrimination with regard to who chooses to sit beside the Middle Eastern male wearing casual clothing. However, when the Middle Eastern male wears salient Middle Eastern clothing, we find significant evidence that the propensity of the perceived Swedish passengers to sit next to the Middle Eastern male decreases. The results point to statistical discrimination, however more data is required to verify.