Senior Project Advisor
Kristi Lemm
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Spring 2022
Keywords
desire to affiliate, Christians, Catholics, atheists, agnostics, social dominance orientation, agreeableness, openness to experience, conservatism, religious commitment, fundamentalism
Abstract
With the tremendous rise in the prevalence of atheism and agnosticism in the U.S. in the past several years, it becomes more important than ever to assess intergroup relations between the Christian majority and the rapidly increasing atheist and agnostic minority. This study assesses personal factors that correlate with various levels of participant desire to affiliate with Christians (Progressive Protestants, Conservative Protestants, and Catholics) and the unaffiliated (atheists and agnostics) within a convenience sample. Participant factors studied included political conservatism, agreeableness, openness, social dominance orientation, and religious commitment. While low desire to affiliate is a poor representative of all forms of discrimination, conservative Protestants were found to be the target group the sample was least likely to affiliate with, affirming a type of discrimination that exists against Conservative protestants in the sample. Future research may investigate more religious groups and more participant factors so as to uncover more relevant predictors of discrimination on the basis of affiliation.
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Wall, Lucas, "Christians and the Irreligious: What is Associated with Religious Bias Between Groups?" (2022). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 565.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/565
Subjects - Topical (LCSH)
Commitment (Psychology)--Religious aspects; Intergroup relations--Religious aspects; Christianity and atheism; Agnosticism
Genre/Form
demographics; essays
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf