Authors

Lucas Wall

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

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

Included in

Psychology Commons

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