Abstract

Christians in the US report increasing perceptions of anti-Christian bias, but little research has examined the consequences of these perceptions. Three Experiments provide evidence that for White, heterosexual, cisgender Christians, perceiving anti-Christian bias causes prejudice against gay and lesbian people – particularly when the latter are perceived as influential. Participants primed with anti-Christian bias reported lower warmth toward gay and lesbian and transgender people (relative to those who read about bias toward an outgroup) (E1 and E2). This effect was stronger for Christians who see gay people and transgender people, respectively, as having a significant cultural influence in U.S. society (E2). Experiment 3 examined the causal role of influence. Christian participants rated the qualifications of a gay applicant for an editor position that either had influence over article content or was simply a copy editor. Participants in the anti-Christian bias condition (but not in the control) rated the gay applicant as less hirable for the influential editor position than the non-influential position.

Committee Chair

Clara Wilkins

Committee Members

Pat Hill, Calvin Lai

Degree

Master of Arts (AM/MA)

Author's Department

Psychology

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Summer 8-2021

Language

English (en)

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Psychology Commons

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