University of Helsinki, Finland.
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2022 Apr;61(2):550-568. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12496. Epub 2021 Aug 29.
It is often assumed that, in Western societies, Christian values are embedded in national identities, yet, the association between religious identities and prejudice has seldom been studied in parallel to national identity. According to both the social identity theory approach and integrated threat theory, group identification is important for perceiving threats and expressing corresponding attitudes. Nevertheless, their independent roles on intergroup outcomes have often been ignored, although they are two of the most salient and important identities when considering support for religious minority rights. We address this gap in research by looking at the associations of religious identity with support for religious minority rights in general and Muslims in particular in parallel to national identity through diversity threat. This study was conducted among the members of majority groups in four Western countries: Australia, Finland, Germany, and Norway (N = 1,532), all of which are characterised as traditionally Christian. We found that a higher religious identification was associated with greater support for religious minority rights in general and for those of Muslims in particular, while national identification had no direct association with support for either groups' religious rights. However, both group identifications were also associated with heightened perceived diversity threat, which in turn, predicted reluctance to support religious minority rights. This demonstrates the dual role that religious identities may play in intergroup relations.
人们通常认为，在西方社会，基督教价值观深植于民族认同之中，但宗教认同与偏见之间的关联很少与民族认同并行研究。根据社会认同理论和综合威胁理论，群体认同对于感知威胁和表达相应的态度很重要。然而，尽管在考虑支持宗教少数群体权利时，宗教认同和民族认同是两个最突出和最重要的认同，但它们对群体间结果的独立作用却经常被忽视。我们通过关注宗教认同与支持宗教少数群体权利的关系，以及与多样性威胁相关的对穆斯林的支持，来解决这一研究空白。这项研究在四个西方国家的多数群体成员中进行：澳大利亚、芬兰、德国和挪威（N=1532），这些国家都以传统基督教为特征。我们发现，较高的宗教认同与普遍支持宗教少数群体权利以及特别支持穆斯林的权利有关，而民族认同与支持这两个群体的宗教权利没有直接关联。然而，这两个群体认同都与感知到的多样性威胁有关，而这种威胁反过来又预示着不愿意支持宗教少数群体的权利。这表明宗教认同在群体关系中可能扮演着双重角色。
