Love thine enemy? Evidence that (ir)religious identification can promote outgroup tolerance under threat

Abstract

The divide between religious traditionalists and secular humanists has been widening for decades; yet, little is known about factors that attenuate hostility between these groups. Two studies examined whether (ir)religious identification could mitigate negative feelings toward (ir)religious outgroups. Following priming to make salient religious groups in daily life or group-based threat, Atheists and Christians in Britain (Study 1, n = 113), and Atheists, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and Protestants in Canada (Study 2, n = 181) reported intergroup feelings, ingroup evaluations, and perceptions of their group as viewed by others. Atheists reported the lowest ingroup identification and felt equally negative toward all religious groups. Likewise, religious group members generally felt most negative toward Atheists. However, identification with the (ir)religious ingroup was associated with less hostility toward the outgroup(s). This was particularly marked for Atheists who perceived that religious followers felt positively toward them. These results challenge suggestions that (ir)religious identification and threat necessarily promote intergroup hostility.