The Paradox of the Moderate Muslim Discourse: Subtyping Promotes Support for Anti-muslim Policies.

Tolerant discourse in the United States has responded to heightened stereotyping of Muslims as violent by countering that "not all Muslims are terrorists." This subtyping of Muslims-as some radical terrorists among mostly peaceful "moderates"-is meant to protect a image of the group but leaves the original negative stereotype unchanged. We predicted that such discourse may paradoxically increase people's support of anti-Muslim policies because the subtyping and its associated negative stereotypes justify hostile actions toward Muslims.