Psychologists have long known that people tend to prioritize their own group over others, a social phenomenon known as group bias. But new research suggests that atheists are motivated to justify this trend by trying to redefine the stereotype that they are immoral.
Psychology researchers at Ohio University found that Christians displayed intragroup bias towards other Christians in the economic game, but atheists did not differ in their attitude towards other atheists. The study was published online July 10 in the journal Experimental Social Psychology.
“We know from previous research that the general population of America is prone to stereotyping atheists as immoral and untrustworthy - a reputation that many atheists understandably worry about. My main interest was in how atheists themselves respond to these negative stereotypes,”said Colleen Kaugil, lead author of the study.
“Psychological research has repeatedly demonstrated that people who face negative stereotypes are not passive observers of this social landscape, but rather are influenced and respond in a dynamic way to negative assessments that are important to their identity,” said Kaugil. “One example of this is the phenomenon in which negative stereotypes about the performance of a group on a particular task can lead to decreased performance for individuals belonging to that group, regardless of their actual ability.”
The economic game consisted in the fact that one person is asked to share a monetary reward with another person who can passively accept what is offered.
A pilot study with 205 participants found that people believed that atheists would treat Christians unfairly. But three experiments, involving about 1,200 US residents, found the opposite was true.
“I believe that the average person needs to understand how the stereotypes that saturate our society can create many connotations during interactions between people, often prompting people to support different goals as they communicate and collaborate,” Kaugil said.
When everyone's religious affiliation was revealed in the game, the Christian participants offered more money to other Christians than atheists. However, this group heterogeneity was not observed among the atheist participants, who were equally atheists and Christians.
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However, when their own religious identity was hidden from other members, atheists gave more money to their atheists than to Christians. Presumably, they were less motivated to resist the stereotype that they were immoral. The behavior of Christians has not changed.
Yai Evgeniya