Chapter 3. Do birds of a feather play football together? 57 being part of the ethnic outgroup, while for others, particularly Dutch citizens with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds, not being a Muslim signifies ethnic outgroup members. Consequently, ethnic identity and religious identity have become increasingly intertwined (Maliepaard, Lubbers, & Gijsberts, 2010) Additionally, negative experiences and prejudice based on religion can further strengthen the boundary between Muslims and non-Muslims. During the last 15 years, anti-Muslim sentiments have grown in strength and become more overtly negative in the Netherlands. Several studies in recent years have indicated that a substantial share of the Muslim population in the Netherlands, most notably citizens with a Turkish and Moroccan background, currently do not feel at home in the Netherlands, do not trust Dutch citizens or the government, and experience a high degree of discrimination (Maliepaard & Gijsberts, 2012; Andriessen, Fernee & Wittebrood, 2014; Huijnk & Andriessen, 2016; Huink, 2018). Others have echoed this by noting that there exist strong boundaries and a high degree of social distance between the autochthonous population and people with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds (Sniderman & Hagendoorn 2007; Entzinger & Dourleijn 2008). The fact that the distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims can have very real implications for tie-formation through homophily is exemplified by a recent study from Leszczensky and Pink (2017). They found that opposed to Christian and non-religious youth, Muslim youth preferred to befriend Muslim peers, and this increased with religiosity. Moreover, both Christian and nonreligious youth were less likely to befriend Muslim youth, irrespective of their religiosity. Consequently, I expect that the Muslim / non-Muslim distinction acts as an important boundary between members with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds on the one hand, and members with other backgrounds on the other hand: E4: Members with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds show lower degrees of mutual inbreeding compared to degrees of inbreeding between these groups and groups with other backgrounds.
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