“Muslims are very varied, but in the media, Islamists are practically equated with terrorists,” a sociologist at the Levada Center, Karina Pipiya, was quoted as saying by Moscow Times.
“Perhaps if there were more historical broadcasts, showing Muslims from a different side, the [poll] numbers would be different.”
A recent poll by Levada independent research center revealed that three out of four Russians are against allowing Muslim students to wear hijab head coverings in schools and universities.
The poll found higher opposition in Moscow, where 91 percent opposed the Islamic attire.
Across Russia, only 18 percent believed that Muslim women should have the right to wear religious headscarves to schools, while 74 percent opposed it.
Pipiya noted that Russians' dislike of hijabs was basically motivated by turbulent two Russian wars in Chechnya.The rise of ISIS (ISIL) terrorist militants in the Middle East has added to Russian concerns.
Though the focus of Russians' dislike has shifted to perceived foreign foes amid the country's standoff with the West following Moscow's annexation of Crimea, media bias kept the status quo of anti-Muslim sentiments.
“In 2014, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, the focus of internal dislikes and fears linked to Muslims shifted to external political enemies,” Pipiya was quoted as saying.
She added, however, that the shift had “not significantly affected” the results of the latest poll, which was conducted among 800 adults around the country and had a margin of error not exceeding 4.1 percent.
Islam is Russia's second-largest religion representing roughly 15 percent of its 145 million predominantly Orthodox population.
Debates surrounding the Islamic headscarf revived earlier this year after Russia's Supreme Court upheld a ban on religious headwear in schools in the republic of Moldova.
The region's top Muslim leader, grand mufti Fagim Shafiyev, criticized the ban, saying it violated the Russian Constitution and infringed on freedom of religion, according to media reports.
Russian Education Minister Dmitry Livanov also argued earlier this year that students should wear “secular” clothes to school, Izvestia reported.