An anti-Muslim "bias" is apparent in attitudes towards asylum seekers among Europeans, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that people were more likely to "accept" Christian asylum seekers, while those with higher employability and severe vulnerabilities were also said to be favoured.

The findings emerged after 18,000 citizens across 15 countries, including the UK, were asked to evaluate 180,000 hypothetical profiles of asylum seekers that randomly varied on attributes such as gender, age, occupational skills, religion and country of origin.

Preferences appeared to be structured by three main factors - economic concerns, humanitarian concerns and an anti-Muslim bias, the report found.

Muslim asylum seekers were around 11 percentage points less likely to be accepted when compared with Christians who were otherwise similar in background and history, according to the research.

Christians are only slightly preferred over people who are agnostic- which the paper said suggests that the "penalty" mostly reflects a strong anti-Muslim bias, rather than a pro-Christian bias.

The anti-Muslim bias was said to exist among both left and right-wing voters, but it was about twice as large in the latter group.

The study also found those with higher-skilled occupations such as doctors, teachers and accountants were more likely to be accepted when compared to those who had previously been unemployed.

People who apply for asylum because of fear of political, religious, or ethnic persecution were about 15 percentage points more likely to be accepted compared to those who migrate to seek better economic opportunities, according to the study carried out by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University and the University of Zurich.

Those who have been the victims of torture were more likely to be accepted than are those with no special vulnerabilities.

Respondents also attached high importance to language skills, with asylum seekers about 12 percentage points less likely to be accepted when they do not speak the host country language than when they speak it fluently.

Meanwhile, country of origin was found to play only a minor role in generating support.

Dr Dominik Hangartner, associate professor at LSE's department of government, said: "The public's strong anti-Muslim bias and preference for highly skilled asylum seekers who can speak the language of the host country points to a mounting challenge for policymakers, given that most asylum seekers currently originate from Muslim-majority countries and may lack the desired professional and language skills.

"The fact that we found a shared humanitarian concern amongst the European public, however, suggests that a clear narrative would increase support for accepting refugees.

"Policymakers whose goal is to alleviate the social tensions of the current crisis and generate more public acceptance of asylum seekers should highlight refugees' deservingness and vulnerability as well as their economic contributions to their host societies."

The paper is published in the journal Science. The countries included in the study were: Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.