Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Religious and moral identities have been confounded as being the same, such that one cannot be moral without being religious and vice-versa. Based on evidence from atheists and agnostics, living a moral life doesn’t require belief in religion since their morals are based on secular principles. This study investigated the distinctions between the individual/social dimensions of religious/moral identities and their consequences on the evaluation of religious ingroup/outgroup targets. Sixty-eight female Christian undergraduates’ individual/social identity and religious/moral identity were manipulated by viewing word primes. Participants examined a religious ingroup/outgroup target’s job application and evaluated likeability. The 2 (individual/social dimension) x 2 (moral/religious identity) x 2 (religious ingroup/outgroup) ANOVA revealed a main effect of moral/religious identity, which was moderated by the target’s perceived attitude towards Christians, b = .40, t(64) = 2.62, p < .05. When primed with religious identity, participants rated the target, regardless of group membership, as significantly less likeable, especially when they perceived that the target held negative views of Christians (which was the religious affiliation of all the participants). Those with a moral identity salient rated ingroup and outgroup members as more likeable, regardless of the views they held of Christians. The overall evaluation of the target is conditional in the religious identity condition, depending on the target’s perceived attitude towards Christians, while it is unconditional in the moral identity condition. This is consistent with theories that moral awareness widens acceptance of others, while increasing religious outgroup awareness increases perceived distance and rejection, particularly when hostility is anticipated.