Associations among religiousness, social attitudes, and prejudice in a national random sample of American adults.

Abstract

Psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to the scientific study of social attitudes and prejudice. Most of these studies were conducted with relatively small, nonrepresentative samples of college students. In this study, the authors analyzed self-report data from a random probability sample with over 1500 American adults. Participants answered questions about their religiousness, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), political ideology, demographic characteristics, and attitudes toward persons in historically disadvantaged social groups (i.e., ethnic minorities and homosexual individuals). In support of the selective intolerance hypothesis, general religiousness was associated with less accepting attitudes toward homosexuals and negligibly with general racial prejudice. These associations remained when controlling for some other known individual differences in prejudice. The authors tentatively conclude that general religiousness is not associated with universal acceptance of others. Rather, general religiousness appears to be linked with selective self-reported intolerance toward persons perceived to behave in a manner inconsistent with some traditional religious teachings.

Examining the Nuance in Public Opinion of Pro-LGB Policies in a “Red State”

“…Consistently, scholarship indicates that women, higher educated people, non-religious individuals, younger generations, and political liberals are more likely to support pro-LGB policies than men, lower educated people, religious individuals, older generations, and political conservatives (Brumbaugh et al 2008;Haider-Markel and Joslyn 2008;Lewis 2011;Lewis and Gossett 2008;Olson et al 2006;Pearl and Galupo 2007;Pew Research 2013a, 2013b, 2014aRowatt et al 2009;Sherkat et al 2010;Whitehead 2010;Swank et al 2013;Woodford et al 2012). Particularly relevant to the current analyses, scholars have also pointed to regional differences to explain variation in support of pro-LGB policies.…”

“…Yet such support and acceptance is higher among certain segments of the population than others (Hopkins et al 2013;Moore and Stambolis-Ruhstorfer 2013;Seidman 2002). Studies show that younger people, women, non-religious, and those who know an LGB person support pro-LGB policies at higher levels than other groups (Brumbaugh et al 2008;Haider-Markel and Joslyn 2008;Lewis 2011;Lewis and Gossett 2008;Olson et al 2006;Pearl and Galupo 2007;Rowatt et al 2009;Sherkat et al 2010;Swank et al 2013;Whitehead 2010;Woodford et al 2012).…”

The “Persuadable Middle” on Same-Sex Marriage: Formative Research to Build Support among Heterosexual College Students

“…Among college studies, only the etiology of same-sex sexuality has been explored (Raiz 2006;Swank and Raiz 2010). Results suggest that those with liberal political views tend to support same-sex marriage more so than their conservative counterparts Haider-Markel and Joslyn 2008;Olson et al 2006;Rowatt et al 2009;Sherkat et al 2010;Whitehead 2010). …”

“…Studies conducted with members of the general public have also found religion to be influential. For example, studies have found that Christian respondents, specifically evangelical and conservative Protestant Christians tend to have significantly lower levels of support for same-sex marriage than non-Christians (HaiderMarkel and Joslyn 2008;Olson et al 2006;Rowatt et al 2009;Sherkat et al 2010;Whitehead 2010). Similarly, those who consider religion to be important in their lives tend to hold less affirming opinions of same-sex marriage (HaiderMarkel and Joslyn 2005;Pearl and Galupo 2007).…”

Evaluating Implicit Sentiments for Sinners and Sins: A Cross-cultural Investigation

“…Over the past 20 years, several studies have addressed the adage "love the sinner and hate the sin" (e.g., Bassett et al, 2002;Batson, Floyd, Meyer & Winner, 1999;Fulton, Maynard & Gorsuch, 1999;Mak & Tsang, 2008;Rowatt, LaBouff, Johnson, Froese & Tsang, 2009;Veenvliet, 2008). Most of the research has evaluated the degree to which certain religious people, Christians in particular, might be able to do it -maintain positive sentiment for someone who is associated with a behavior that is considered negative, inappropriate, and morally wrong.…”