How Academics View Conservative Protestants
A sizable body of research has demonstrated an anti-conservative Christian perspective among academics. Our research explores academics' negative attitudes toward conservative Protestants. We asked academics to rate Protestant Christian groups, and then explain their ratings, how they define ma...
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| Contributors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2015]
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| In: |
Sociology of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 76, Issue: 3, Pages: 315-336 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | A sizable body of research has demonstrated an anti-conservative Christian perspective among academics. Our research explores academics' negative attitudes toward conservative Protestants. We asked academics to rate Protestant Christian groups, and then explain their ratings, how they define mainline, evangelicals, and fundamentalist Protestants, and articulate the differences between various Protestant groups. Identifying as conservative Protestant and intergroup contact with conservative Protestants best predict less antipathy toward conservative Protestants. Analysis of open-ended questions indicates three groups of academics: Conservative Protestant Critics, Theological Definers, and Low Information. Conservative Protestant Critics envision conservative Protestants as intolerant, unscientific enemies to be openly opposed. Theological Definers are fairly supportive of evangelicals and project an image of objective assessment toward them. Low Information respondents do not have much knowledge of or interest in conservative Protestants. Ultimately, symbolic boundaries and lack of intergroup contact reinforce an academic identity that dismisses conservative Protestants for their perceived traits. |
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| ISSN: | 1759-8818 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociology of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srv027 |