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What is it about?

Did the Utøya massacre on July 22, 2011, affect Norwegians’ implicit attitudes on issues related to Islam or Islamic people? Experiments carried out on student cohorts before and after the incident show that the U.S. President’s middle name, “Hussein,” was negatively associated with the students’ perceptions of Obama’s ability to fight terror in 2010, but in 2011 the effect was significantly more positive. The difference in attitudes between the cohorts was prevalent for politically decisive students only, and the effect may be attributed to the Utøya incident. The “Hussein” word did not affect the perceptions of Obama’s abilities as President on other items listed.

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Why is it important?

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