Intersect anxiety and sectarian intolerance among Muslim adults in Pakistan: The buffering role of intellectual humility

Abstract Pakistan, an Islamic Republic with a Muslim-majority population, exhibits religious diversity on sectarian lines. The two major sects, Sunni, and Shia differ in beliefs and interpretations of primary sources, with additional factions within each sect. This diversity can be enjoyed with the practice of high sectarian tolerance and minimum intersect anxiety. The research is based on the hypothesis that intersect anxiety will be a positive predictor of sectarian intolerance, and this relationship is moderated by intellectual humility meaning the higher the intellectual humility, the lower sectarian intolerance will be observed. For this research, a quantitative cross-sectional design was used. The data was collected from 240 Muslim adults with the age range from 18 to 35 years using convenient sampling from Madrassa and university students using standardized scales; General Intergroup Anxiety, Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale, and Religious Sectarian Intolerance Scale. The results of moderation analysis indicated that Intersect anxiety positively predicts sectarian intolerance at low independence of intellect and ego among madrassa students, while Intersect anxiety negatively predicts sectarian intolerance at high openness to revising one’s viewpoint among university students. These findings could facilitate the stakeholders to flourish the trend of sectarian tolerance in Muslim sectarian communities to avoid sectarian violence and hatred, leading society towards a more accepting and peaceful direction.