University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2011 Apr;37(4):543-56. doi: 10.1177/0146167211399583. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Although prejudice is typically positively related to relative outgroup size, four studies found converging evidence that perceived atheist prevalence reduces anti-atheist prejudice. Study 1 demonstrated that anti-atheist prejudice among religious believers is reduced in countries in which atheists are especially prevalent. Study 2 demonstrated that perceived atheist prevalence is negatively associated with anti-atheist prejudice. Study 3 demonstrated a causal relationship: Reminders of atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists. These results appeared distinct from intergroup contact effects. Study 4 demonstrated that prevalence information decreased implicit atheist distrust. The latter two experiments provide the first evidence that mere prevalence information can reduce prejudice against any outgroup. These findings offer insights about anti-atheist prejudice, a poorly understood phenomenon. Furthermore, they suggest both novel directions for future prejudice research and potential interventions that could reduce a variety of prejudices.
虽然偏见通常与相对外群体的规模呈正相关，但四项研究提供了一致的证据，表明感知到的无神论者的普遍程度降低了反无神论者的偏见。研究 1 表明，在无神论者特别普遍的国家，宗教信仰者对无神论者的偏见会减少。研究 2 表明，无神论者的感知普遍性与反无神论者的偏见呈负相关。研究 3 证明了一种因果关系：对无神论者普遍程度的提醒减少了对无神论者的明确不信任。这些结果似乎与群体间接触的影响不同。研究 4 表明，流行信息减少了对无神论者的隐性不信任。后两项实验提供了第一个证据，证明仅仅是流行信息就可以减少对任何外群体的偏见。这些发现为反无神论者偏见这一尚未被充分了解的现象提供了一些见解。此外，它们还为未来的偏见研究提供了新的方向，以及可能减少各种偏见的潜在干预措施。
