Much research demonstrates that people high in religiosity tend to be prejudiced against value-threatening groups. Therefore, some researchers have suggested that people who are not religious may be less prejudiced. Are nonreligious people characterized by general tolerance? If not, what are the bases of their prejudices? This research investigated prejudice toward Christians and atheists among people who identify as nonreligious (atheist, agnostic, and spiritual-but-not-religious), documented this prejudice in the form of exclusion behaviors (Study 1) and self-report of affect and social distance (Studies 2–3), and explored potential mechanisms of nonreligious prejudice toward Christians: individual differences in belief style and biases against Christians (Studies 2–3). Results showed the nonreligious are not generally tolerant and that differences among these groups in belief superiority, feelings of distrust, and fear of contamination by unpalatable ideas all explained differences in prejudice toward Christians. These findings help provide a more comprehensive picture of religious intergroup prejudice.
AltemeyerB. (2002). Dogmatic behavior among students: Testing a new measure of dogmatism. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 713–721. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603931
2.
AltemeyerB.HunsbergerB. E. (1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2, 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5
3.
BakerJ. O. B.SmithB. (2009). None too simple: Examining issues of religious nonbelief and nonbelonging in the United States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48, 719–733. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01475.x
4.
BatsonC. D.SchoenradeP. A.VentisW. L. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social-psychological perspective. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
5.
BlogowskaJ.LambertC.SaroglouV. (2013). Religious prosociality and aggression: It’s real. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52, 524–536. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12048
6.
BlogowskaJ.SaroglouV. (2011). Religious fundamentalism and limited prosociality as a function of the target. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50, 44–60. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01551.x
7.
BrandtM. J.Van TongerenD. R. (2017). People both high and low on religious fundamentalism are prejudiced toward dissimilar groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112, 76–97. http://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000076
8.
ChomaB. L.HajiR.HodsonG.HoffarthM. (2016). Avoiding cultural contamination: Intergroup disgust sensitivity and religious identification as predictors of interfaith threat, faith-based policies, and Islamophobia. Personality and Individual Differences, 95, 50–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.013
9.
ClobertM.SaroglouV.HwangK.-K. (2015). East Asian religious tolerance versus Western monotheist prejudice: The role of (in)tolerance of contradiction. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430215603458
10.
CohrsJ. C.Kampfe-HargraveN.RiemannR. (2012). Individual differences in ideological attitudes and prejudice: Evidence from peer-report data. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 343–361. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028706
11.
CookC. A.CottrellC.WebsterG. (2015). No good without God: Antiatheist prejudice as a function of threats to morals and values. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 7, 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000013
12.
CottrellC. A.NeubergS. L. (2005). Different emotional reactions to different groups: A sociofunctional threat-based approach to “prejudice.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 770–789. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.5.770
13.
CowgillC. M.RiosK.SimpsonA. (2017). Generous heathens? Reputational concerns and atheists’ behavior toward Christians in economic games. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 73, 169–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.06.015
14.
DegnerJ.WenturaD.GniewoszB.NoackP. (2007). Hostility-related prejudice against Turks in adolescents: Masked affective priming allows for a differentiation of automatic prejudice. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973530701503150
15.
DuckittJ. (2001). A dual-process cognitive-motivational theory of ideology and prejudice. In ZannaM. P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 33, pp. 41–113). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
16.
FiedlerK.HarrisC.SchottM. (2018). Unwarranted inferences from statistical mediation tests – An analysis of articles published in 2015. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 75, 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.11.008
17.
FullerR. C. (2001). Spiritual, but not religious: Understanding unchurched America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
18.
GalenL. W. (2012). Does religious belief promote prosociality? A critical examination. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 876–906. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028251
19.
GervaisW. M. (2013). In godlessness we distrust: Using social psychology to solve the puzzle of anti-atheist prejudice. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 366–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12035
GervaisW. M.ShariffA. F.NorenzayanA. (2011). Do you believe in atheists? Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 1189–1206. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025882
22.
GiddingsL.DunnT. J. (2016). The robustness of anti-atheist prejudice as measured by way of cognitive errors. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 26, 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2015.1006487
23.
HarperM. (2007). The stereotyping of nonreligious people by religious students: Contents and subtypes. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 539–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00376.x
24.
HayesA. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
25.
HillE. D.CohenA. B.TerrellH. K.NagoshiC. T. (2010). The role of social cognition in the religious fundamentalism–prejudice relationship. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49, 724–739. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01542.x
26.
HodsonG.DhontK. (2015). The person-based nature of prejudice: Individual difference predictors of intergroup negativity. European Review of Social Psychology, 26, 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2015.1070018
27.
HopkinC. R.HoyleR. H.TonerK. (2014). Intellectual humility and reactions to opinions about religious beliefs. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 42, 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164711404200106
JacksonL. M.HunsbergerB. (1999). An intergroup perspective on religion and prejudice. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 38, 509–523. http://doi.org/10.2307/1387609
30.
JohnsonK. A.SharpC. A.OkunM. A.ShariffA. F.CohenA. B. (2018). SBNR identity: The role of impersonal God representations, individualistic spirituality, and dissimilarity with religious groups. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 28, 121–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2018.1445893
31.
JohnsonM. K.RowattW. C.Barnard-BrakL. M.Patock-PeckhamJ. A.LaBouffJ. P.CarlisleR. D. (2011). A mediational analysis of the role of right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism in the religiosity–prejudice link. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 851–856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.01.010
32.
JohnsonM. K.RowattW. C.LaBouffJ. P. (2012). Religiosity and prejudice revisited: In-group favoritism, out-group derogation, or both?Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 4, 154–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025107
33.
KossowskaM.Czernatowicz-KukuczkaA.SekerdejM. (2017). Many faces of dogmatism: Prejudice as a way of protecting certainty against value violators among dogmatic believers and atheists. British Journal of Psychology, 108, 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12186
34.
KossowskaM.SekerdejM. (2015). Searching for certainty: Religious beliefs and intolerance toward value-violating groups. Personality and Individual Differences, 83, 72–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.053
35.
LaBouffJ. P.LedouxA. M. (2016). Imagining atheists: Reducing fundamental distrust in atheist intergroup attitudes. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 8, 330–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000066
36.
LearyM. R.DiebelsK. J.DavissonE. K.Jongman-SerenoK. P.IsherwoodJ. C.RaimiK. T.. . .HoyleR. H. (2017). Cognitive and interpersonal features of intellectual humility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43, 793–813. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217697695
37.
LewisA. R.DjupeP. A.MockabeeS. T.Su-Ya WuJ. (2015). The (non) religion of Mechanical Turk workers. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54, 419–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12184
38.
NielsenM. E.HattonA. T.DonahueM. J. (2013). Religiousness, social psychology, and behavior. In PaloutzianR. F.ParkC. L. (Eds.), Handbook for the psychology of religion and spirituality (2nd ed., pp. 312–329). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
39.
PennycookG.RossR. M.KoehlerD. J.FugelsangJ. A. (2016). Atheists and agnostics are more reflective than religious believers: Four empirical studies and a meta-analysis. PLoS One, 11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153039
RamsayJ. E.PangJ. S.Johnson ShenM.RowattW. C. (2014). Rethinking value violation: Priming religion increases prejudice in Singaporean Christians and Buddhists. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 24, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2012.761525
44.
RowattW. C.CarpenterT.HaggardM. C. (2014). Religion, prejudice, and intergroup relations. In SaroglouV. (Ed.), Religion, personality, and social behavior (pp. 170–192). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
45.
RowattW. C.FranklinL. M.CottonM. (2005). Patterns and personality correlates of implicit and explicit attitudes toward Christians and Muslims. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44, 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00263.x
ShenM. J.YeldermanL. A.HaggardM. C.RowattW. C. (2013). Disentangling the belief in God and cognitive rigidity/flexibility components of religiosity to predict racial and value-violating prejudice: A Post-Critical Belief Scale analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 389–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.10.008
48.
SilverC. F.ColemanT. J.HoodR. W.HolcombeJ. M. (2014). The six types of nonbelief: A qualitative and quantitative study of type and narrative. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 17, 990–1001. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2014.987743
49.
SwanL.HeesackerM. (2012). Anti-atheist bias in the United States: Testing two critical assumptions. Secularism and Nonreligion, 1, 31–42. https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.ac
50.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. (1979). An integrative theory of inter-group conflict. In AustinW. G.WorchelS. (Eds.), The social psychology of inter-group relations (pp. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
51.
TonerK.LearyM. R.AsherM. W.Jongman-SerenoK. P. (2013). Feeling superior is a bipartisan issue: Extremity (not direction) of political views predicts perceived belief superiority. Psychological Science, 24, 2454–2462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613494848
UzarevicF.SaroglouV.Muñoz-GarcíaA. (2019). Are atheists unprejudiced? Forms of nonbelief and prejudice toward antiliberal and mainstream religious groups. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000247
54.
VailK. E.ArndtJ.AbdollahiA. (2012). Exploring the existential function of religion and supernatural agent beliefs among Christians, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1288–1300. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212449361
55.
VainioO. P.VisalaA. (2015). Varieties of unbelief: A taxonomy of atheistic positions. Neue Zeitschrift Fur Systematische Theologie Und Religionsphilosophie, 57, 483–500. https://doi.org/10.1515/nzsth-2015-0024
56.
Van CappellenP.FredricksonB. L.SaroglouV.CorneilleO. (2017). Religiosity and the motivation for social affiliation. Personality and Individual Differences, 113, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.065
57.
Van PachterbekeM.KellerJ.SaroglouV. (2012). Flexibility in existential beliefs and worldviews. Journal of Individual Differences, 33, 2–16. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000056
58.
VerkuytenM. (2007). Religious group identification and inter-religious relations: A study among Turkish-Dutch Muslims. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10, 341–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430207078695
59.
WetherellG. A.BrandtM. J.ReynaC. (2013). Discrimination across the ideological divide: The role of value violations and abstract values in discrimination by liberals and conservatives. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 658–667. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613476096
60.
WhitleyB. E.Jr. (2009). Religiosity and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A meta-analysis. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 19, 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508610802471104
61.
WillardA.NorenzayanA. (2017). “Spiritual but not religious”: Cognition, schizotypy, and conversion in alternative beliefs. Cognition, 165, 137–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.018
YsseldykR.HaslamS. A.MathesonK.AnismanH. (2011). Love thine enemy? Evidence that (ir)religious identification can promote outgroup tolerance under threat. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15, 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211410996
64.
ZinnbauerB. J.PargamentK. I. (2005). Religiousness and spirituality. In PaloutzianR. F.ParkC. L. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 21–42). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
