A sociofunctional approach to prejudice at the polls: are atheists more politically disadvantaged than gays and Blacks?
Abstract
Prejudice against atheists is pervasive in the United States. Atheists lag behind virtually all other minority groups on measures of social acceptance. The sociofunctional approach suggests that distrust is at the core of anti‐atheist prejudice, thus making it qualitatively different than prejudice against other disadvantaged groups. Accordingly, this research examined political bias against atheists, gays, and Blacks and the affective content accompanying such biases. Results indicated that atheists suffered the largest deficit in voting intentions from Christian participants, and this deficit was accompanied by distrust, disgust, and fear, thereby suggesting that the affective content of anti‐atheist prejudice is both broader and more extreme than prejudice against other historically disadvantaged groups. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.
Number of times cited: 9
- Brittany Bishop, Advocating for Atheist Clients in the Counseling Profession, Counseling and Values, 63, 1, (17-30), (2018).
- Ain Simpson and Kimberly Rios, The moral contents of anti‐atheist prejudice (and why atheists should care about it), European Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 4, (501-508), (2017).
- Isabella Kasselstrand, Tiana Couse and Shanell Sanchez, Institutional Confidence in the United States: Attitudes of Secular Americans, Secularism and Nonreligion, 6, (2017).
- Kyle C. Scherr, Christopher J. Normile and Maria Camila Sarmiento, Reluctant to embrace innocence: an experimental test of persevering culpability judgments on people’s willingness to support reintegration services for exonerees, Journal of Experimental Criminology, (2017).
- Donald Haider-Markel, Patrick Miller, Andrew Flores, Daniel C. Lewis, Barry Tadlock and Jami Taylor, Bringing “T” to the table: understanding individual support of transgender candidates for public office, Politics, Groups, and Identities, 5, 3, (399), (2017).
- Andrew S. Franks and Kyle C. Scherr, Analytic Thinking Reduces Anti-Atheist Bias in Voting Intentions, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 27, 3, (129), (2017).
- Colleen M. Cowgill, Kimberly Rios and Ain Simpson, Generous heathens? Reputational concerns and atheists' behavior toward Christians in economic games, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.06.015, 73, (169-179), (2017).
- Ain Simpson and Kimberly Rios, How Do U.S. Christians and Atheists Stereotype One Another’s Moral Values?, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 26, 4, (320), (2016).
- Penny Edgell, Douglas Hartmann, Evan Stewart and Joseph Gerteis, Atheists and Other Cultural Outsiders: Moral Boundaries and the Non-Religious in the United States, Social Forces, 95, 2, (607), (2016).
