Conference Program - Abstract

A Study of Religion and Right-Wing Authoritarian in Relation to Prosociality
	Kory Langley		Henderson State University
Problem This study investigated prosocial attitudes in relation to religion and right wing authoritarianism (RWA). Batson, Schoenrade, and Ventis (1993) found a relationship between religiosity and prosocial tendencies, although only to proximal targets. Hall, Matz, and Wood (2010) found a link between RWA and prejudicial attitudes. Concerned with both these issues, Blogowska and Saraglou (2011) investigated predominately European Catholic samples to determine how religiosity, religious fundamentalism (RF), and RWA might predict prosociality under conditions that manipulated whether a needy target was proximal or distal: in experiment 1, a non-feminist (proximal) versus a feminist (distal); in experiment 2, a friend (proximal) versus a stranger (distal). They generally found that, due to religiosity and unlike RWA, RF predicted prosociality toward proximal but not distal targets in both experiments. In reviewing these two experiments, however, this investigator observed a procedural problem in which independent variables were administered post-experimentally, which would seem to make findings somewhat questionable. Thus, the present study replicated these experiments with a modified procedure and an American sample to examine any differences in findings. Method The investigator obtained original materials from Blogowska and Saraglou (2011) and administered them using a modified procedure, which included two phases, to an American sample that included 120 university students, who were predominately Protestant. In phase 1, participants completed original instruments to assess religiosity (Saroglou, Pichon, Trompette, Verschueren, & Dernelle, 2005), RF (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2005), and RWA (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2005). Participants also completed the Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale (IFS; Williamson, Hood, Ahmad, Sadiq, & Hill, 2010), based on a different concept of RF, and a distracter. Two weeks later, in phase 2, participants completed original experimental materials that offered opportunities for acting prosocially toward proximal or distal targets: a non-feminist or a feminist (experiment 1), and a friend or a stranger (experiment 2). All participants completed a distracter. Correlations were calculated and both moderated and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to analyze data. Results In general, the findings of Blogowska and Saraglou (2011) were not replicated in this study. In experiment 1: Religiosity, RF, IFS, and RWA were unrelated with prosociality toward proximal targets, although RF and (more strongly) IFS but not RWA were positively related to prosociality toward distal targets. From regression analyses, IFS, but not religiosity or RWA, was most commonly a unique predictor of prosociality. In experiment 2: Religiosity, RF, IFS, and RWA were unrelated to prosociality directed toward proximal and distal targets. None of the regression analyses found religiosity, IFS, and RWA to be predictors of prosociality. Conclusion At least three factors may account for this study’s failure to replicate the findings of Blogowska and Saroglou (2011). First, the studies investigated different cultural samples. Second, the original study included predominately Catholics; the present study included predominately Protestants. Third, the two studies followed different procedures: The original study administered independent variables post-experimentally, whereas the present study administered them two weeks prior to experimental manipulations. Further study is warranted.