Implicit Effects of Religious Priming on Prejudice and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

Previous research from our lab and others’ has provided evidence that Christian believers express higher levels of prejudice than nonbelievers toward various groups (i.e., Blacks, Muslims, lesbian and gay individuals and women who have had an abortion). However, believers and nonbelievers in our samples have not differed in self-reported propensity to help different groups, with the exception of an abortion rights group. In the present study, we aim to extend our consideration of the relationship between religion, prejudice and prosocial behavior, by tapping into unconscious or uncontrolled processes. Religious primes may increase prosociality for both believers and non-believers. However, the prosocial option we employed in the present study involves supporting a group (LGBT) that believers tend to evince higher prejudice toward than nonbelievers do. We predict that priming with religious concepts, compared to control concepts, will result in lower rates of support among believers, while non-believers’ support will be unaffected by religious primes. Regardless of priming, we also anticipate non-believers to support the LGBT group more than believers.