How do U.S. Christians and atheists stereotype one another's moral values?

Moral conflict between Christians and atheists is becoming increasingly heated amidst the U.S. “culture wars,” yet research has been mostly silent regarding how these groups stereotype one another’s moral values and beliefs. We used moral foundations theory to better understand the nature of such st...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Simpson, Ain (Author) ; Rios, Kimberly (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group [2016]
In: The international journal for the psychology of religion
Year: 2016, Volume: 26, Issue: 4, Pages: 320-336
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B USA / Christianity / Atheism / Stereotyping / Value / Morals
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AE Psychology of religion
CA Christianity
KBQ North America
NCC Social ethics
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Moral conflict between Christians and atheists is becoming increasingly heated amidst the U.S. “culture wars,” yet research has been mostly silent regarding how these groups stereotype one another’s moral values and beliefs. We used moral foundations theory to better understand the nature of such stereotypes. In Study 1, U.S. Christian and atheist participants completed measures of moral values from their own perspective as well as the perspectives of typical atheists and typical Christians. Whereas atheists believed their ingroup endorsed fairness/justice values more than Christians, Christians believed their ingroup endorsed all moral values more than atheists. Moreover, both groups held (often extremely) inaccurate stereotypes about the outgroup’s values. In Study 2, participants wrote explicitly about outgroup morality. Atheists typically described Christians more negatively than Christians described atheists, regardless of the moral foundation of concern. Also, Christians’ negative impressions drew primarily from the Authority foundation, and both groups drew heavily from the Care foundation in both their positive and negative depictions. Implications for addressing the growing conflict between Christians and atheists in the United States are discussed.
Item Description:"Volume 26, Numbers 1-4 2016" sind in einem Heft erschienen
ISSN:1050-8619
Contains:Enthalten in: The international journal for the psychology of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/10508619.2016.1167419