Showing papers by "Wade C. Rowatt published in 2010"
TL;DR: The authors found that participants subliminally primed with Christian words displayed more covert racial prejudice against African-Americans (Study 1) and more general negative affect toward African- Americans (Study 2) than did persons primed with neutral words.
Abstract: Positive correlations have been found between several self-report measures of religiousness and racial prejudice; however, no experiment has yet examined the direct effect of religion on racial attitudes. In the current studies, persons were subliminally primed with Christian or neutral words. Then covert racial prejudice (Study 1) and general negative affect toward African-Americans (Study 2) were assessed. Participants subliminally primed with Christian words displayed more covert racial prejudice against African-Americans (Study 1) and more general negative affect toward African-Americans (Study 2) than did persons primed with neutral words. The effects of priming on racial prejudice remained even when statistically controlling for pre-existing levels of religiousness and spirituality. Possible mechanisms for the observed effect of Christian religion on racial prejudice are discussed.
208 citations
TL;DR: An implicit measure of religiousness-spirituality (RS) was constructed and used in two studies as discussed by the authors, where participants completed a Religiousness-Spirituality Implicit Association Test (RS-IAT) and several self-report measures of RS and related constructs.
Abstract: An implicit measure of religiousness-spirituality (RS) was constructed and used in two studies. In Study 1, undergraduates completed a Religiousness-Spirituality Implicit Association Test (RS-IAT) and several self-report measures of RS and related constructs (e.g., religious fundamentalism, authoritarianism). Informants rated the participants’ RS. The RS-IAT was internally consistent. Implicit RS correlated positively with self-reported RS, spiritual transcendence, spiritual experiences, religious fundamentalism, and intrinsic religiousness. Informant ratings correlated positively with participants’ self-reported religiousness but not implicit RS. In Study 2, implicit RS accounted for unique variability in self-reported attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women when controlling for self-reported religiousness and right-wing authoritarianism. These findings demonstrate that an implicit measure of trait RS explains some variability in attitudes that self-report measures do not. An implicit measure of RS could advance the scientific study of religion beyond what is known from self-report measures.
28 citations