Recent studies have found that activating religious concepts via priming techniques can increase individuals' anti-Black attitudes. To date, however, no research has examined whether priming religious images rather than words leads to similar effects, or whether activation of different components of religiosity produces comparable patterns of anti-Black prejudice. In the current study, we examined these questions by subliminally exposing participants to images that represented religious (e.g., church) or supernatural concepts (e.g., Jesus) before their racial attitudes were assessed. We also examined whether such effects depend on the racial depiction of a supernatural agent. In Experiment 1, exposure to an image of White Jesus increased White individuals' anti-Black attitudes relative to exposure to images of Black Jesus, a concrete religious object, and a nonreligious object. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, as well as provided evidence that the increase in White individuals' anti-Black attitudes was because of exposure to White portrayals of Jesus and not simply an effect of being primed with White male figures generally. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Although there are many contributing factors to explain why Black adults and children may internalize anti-Black attitudes, the potential role religion may play in such processes-specifically the exposure to White religious iconography-cannot be ignored. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective: Anecdotal narratives and recent qualitative research with Black atheists document experiences of racial identity denial from the target's perspective. However, no research to date has examined whether Black perceivers perceive Black atheists as being weakly identified with their race. Because belief in God is often inextricably linked with Black racial identity in the Black community, we hypothesized that Black atheists would be perceived as less Black than nonatheists. Method: Black/African American adults (n = 343) were randomly assigned to view one of three Black individual's social networking profiles (i.e., a Christian, an atheist, and religion not explicitly mentioned). After, they reported their perceptions of the targets' perceived racial identity and trustworthiness. Results: Black participants, regardless of how strongly they identified racially, perceived a Black Atheist as less racially identified than a Black Christian or someone whose religious affiliation was unknown. Additionally, a Black atheist was perceived as less trustworthy than a Black Christian. Conclusions: Black atheists experience general anti-atheist bias (e.g., perceived as untrustworthy), as well as unique antiatheist bias in the form of racial identity denial. These findings extend previous research on identity denial and intragroup dynamics and advance our understanding of the relationship between religious identification and racial identity denial within the Black community. Public Significance StatementAnecdotal narratives suggest that atheism in the Black community is something that authentically Black people do not do. The results from this study support that notion by finding that Black people perceive Black atheists as being less racially identified compared to Black people who do not identify as atheists. Black atheists in the United States, who are a minority within a minority, face unique anti-atheist bias due to the intersections of their racial and religious identities.

This review explores social psychological perspectives on the complex relationship between religion and anti-Black prejudice in the United States. We examine the different ways in which religiosity has been conceptualized by behavioral scientists. We consider the methodological limitations of previous research, as well as how the advent of priming research introduces new empirical questions regarding religiosity and anti-Black prejudice, such as whether activation of different religious conceptions (e.g., God versus religion) or priming via different types of stimuli (e.g., words versus images) produces different outcomes. Finally, we discuss the lack of diverse samples in the present literature and highlight the need for additional research with Black American respondents. Conclusions consider the real world implications of links between religion and anti-Blackness for both White individuals (e.g., intergroup relations) and Black individuals (e.g., psychological functioning).

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