Six rats were rewarded with food pellets for repeating a particular sequence of four responses on two levers, namely left-left-right-right. Ethanol (0.75 g/kg and 2.0 g/kg injected IP) increased the variability of sequences under these "repeat" contingencies, resulting in fewer rewarded trials. Six other rats were rewarded only if their sequence of left and right responses in the current trial differed from each of the previous five trials. Ethanol had little effect on sequence variability and no effect on reward probability under these "vary" contingencies. The relative difficulties of the repeat and vary tasks were manipulated to show that task difficulty did not account for the results. Thus alcohol increased or maintained behavioral variability, thereby impairing reinforced repetitions but not reinforced variations. When previously reported results from rats in radial arm mazes were compared with a simulated random model, alcohol was found to increase behavioral variability under that procedure as well.

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Discussions of biblical interpretation often proceed under one of two assumptions. Readers’ interpretations are primarily formed (1) inductively, according to the Bible's objective content, or (2) through the lens of preformed ideologies and biases. We assessed the influence of these two factors using two survey experiments with undergraduates. In study 1 (N = 214), participants were randomly assigned one of two nearly identical translations of Ephesians 5:22‐28 (a famous passage describing gendered marital submission), with the only difference being that one translation included verse 21 in which Christians are told to “submit to one another.” Participants did not perceive a different message about gendered submission between translations, nor were they more likely to interpret either as misogynistic. However, gender ideology and religious importance did predict interpretation. Study 2 (N = 217) essentially replicated study 1 (using different translations of Ephesians 5:21‐28), but one version replaced all “subjection” language with “commitment” language. Participants were significantly more likely to perceive a complementarian message from the translation that referenced “subjection” and they were also more likely to perceive it as misogynistic. Again, gender ideology and religious characteristics predicted interpretation. Findings suggest bias shapes interpretation, but more extreme content modifications (e.g., removing/changing key terms) can also influence interpretation.

What fuels both enthusiasm for increasing “American” birth rates and fears about their decline? Citing the prevalence of fertility campaigns in authoritarian regimes characterized by ethno-nationalist Christianity, we theorize that, in addition to patriarchal attitudes, perceived ethno-cultural threat and desire for ethno-cultural dominance substantially drive “nationalist pronatalism” (promoting fertility to strengthen “the nation” and avoid national decline). We expect pronatalist ideology focused on American births is associated with (1) belief that dominant cultural group members (Whites, Christians, men) are threatened and (2) White Christian nationalism—an ideology that looks to conform American identity and values to those of a traditionalist, ethnicized Christianity. Recent, nationally-representative data reveal Christian nationalist ideology is the second strongest predictor of support for nationalist pronatalism, second only behind patriarchal attitudes. This association is stronger for men and virtually non-existent among Blacks. The belief that Whites or Christians face “the most discrimination” as opposed to various minorities also predicts nationalist pronatalism. Contemporary support for pronatalist ideology focused on American births is thus undergirded not only by attitudes that subordinate women but (1) an ethno-racially contingent ideology that insists the United States should reflect and institutionalize traditionalist Christian culture and (2) perceptions that Christians and Whites are persecuted.

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