Religion, Prejudice, & Group Characteristics Mark J. Brandt tbslaboratory.com @mjpsp

Prejudice A negative evaluation of a group or of an individual on the basis of group membership. Brown, 2010; Crandall et al., 2002, 2013; Graziano et al., 2007 Lots of groups! (At Least) Two Advantages Identify consistent and inconsistent predictors Identify characteristics of target groups

Traditional Perspective Low/No Religiosity Religiosity/ Fundamentalism Dispositions Open to Experience Cognitive Complexity Intolerant of Ambiguity Preference for Order Binding Moral Foundations

Traditional Perspective

Worldview Conflict Perspective Evolutionary Models e.g., Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005 Similarity-Liking e.g., Byrne, 1971 Meaning Systems e.g., Heine et al., 2006 People are motivated to defend values and worldviews Prejudice/intolerance towards people with conflicting attitudes/worldviews is one strategy

Two Hypotheses Traditional Hypothesis Worldview Conflict Hypothesis

Study 1 - Methods 2012 American National Election Study (N = 5225) Fundamentalism: 2-items, ad-hoc Mechanical Turk (N = 241) Fundamentalism Altemeyer & Hunsberger’s scale Feeling thermometers for fundamentalist and non- fundamentalist groups

Similar to Fundamentalists Dissimilar to Fundamentalists Study 1 - Methods Similar to Fundamentalists Dissimilar to Fundamentalists Catholics Atheists Christians Feminists Tea Party Gay men and Lesbians Conservatives Liberals

Study 1 - Results

Study 2 - Methods Mechanical Turk (N = 282) Fundamentalism Altemeyer & Hunsberger’s scale Feeling thermometers… Social closeness… Humanness… Four types of perceived threat… …for fundamentalist and non-fundamentalist groups

Study 2 - Results

Study 3 - Methods Mechanical Turk (N = 299) Post-Critical Belief Scale (Duriez et al., 2005) Religious Symbolic Literal Disbelief

Study 3

Group Characteristics

Group Characteristics

Study 4 - Methods Sample 1: Mechanical Turk (N = 299) Post-Critical Belief Scale (Duriez et al., 2005) Feelings thermometers: 23 groups (same data as prior study) Sample 2: Mechanical Turk (N = 146) Ideology Status Choice (data from Brandt & Crawford, 2016, SPPS) Samples means

Study 4 - Methods Asian American Gay Men and Lesbians People on Welfare Atheists Hispanics Poor People Big Business Illegal Immigrants Rich People Blacks Labor Unions Tea Party Catholics Liberals The Military Christians Middle Class People Whites Conservatives Mormons Working Class People Feminists Muslims

Target groups nested in Participants Study 4 Multilevel models Target groups nested in Participants

Study 4 t = 14.3, p < .001

Study 4 t = 14.3, p < .001 t = -3.9, p < .001

Study 4 t = 14.3, p < .001 t = -3.9, p < .001 t = 0.9, p = .39

Take Homes Both believers & non-believers express prejudice Both believers & non-believers find dissimilar groups threatening Ideology is the primary group characteristic that matters

Thanks! collaborator studies 1-3 @mjpsp Daryl van Tongeren collaborator studies 1-3 @mjpsp m.j.brandt@tilburguniversity.edu tbslaboratory.com