Are you believing what I'm believing?

[MonDie]

This is a combination of ethics and social science.

Why do people discriminate on the basis of religious beliefs? Why does relative religious affiliation have an affect on social evaluation?

Do you think it's ever okay to discriminate on this basis? If you would discriminate in some instances, then you obviously think it's okay to discriminate in some instances.

 

The following is my summary of part of a Social Psychology textbook. It describes some evidence for Terror Management Theory and relates it to self-esteem.

The authors explain that, to cope with threats to self-esteem, "we may compare ourselves with others less fortunate, derogate those who give us negative feedback, and so forth (e.g., Dunning, Leuenberger, & Sherman, 1995; Kernis et al., 1993; Wood, Giordano-Beech, & Ducharme, 1999)." Explained later, research has shown that thoughts about death can be a cause of the self serving bias, and this is consistent with the hypothesis that death presents a threat to the self-image. Some researchers "further propose that, because it's frightening to own up to the fact that we are mortal and will eventually die, we adopt spiritual and cultural views that provide additional meaning to our lives (and sometimes even suggest the possibility of a heavenly immortality)." The authors cite a study in which Christian students were separated into experimental and control groups. Participants were given almost identical questionnaires, but the members of the experimental group "were asked to write about what will happen to them as they die and how they feel about thinking about their own death. [...] Later, all [participants] provided their impressions of a previously unknown person presented as either Christian or Jewish. Consistent with the hypothesis, this person was evaluated more favorably when Christian than when Jewish [...] but only by those subjects made aware of their own mortality (Greenberg et al., 1990)." (Kenrick et al. 91-2)

Kenrick, Douglas T., Steven L. Neuberg, and Robert B. Cialdini. Social Psychology: Goals in Interaction. 5th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 2010. Print.

 

I at least have prejudice against religious people and in favor of agnostic atheists. Too uncritically, I assume that agnostic atheists are generally more realistic and reasonable (because they are in agreement with my own "realistic and reasonable" beliefs. That's potential confirmation bias!)

However, I don't think my bias is strong because I'm not immune to the seducing charm of the people who have come to our door intending to convert me.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die