Personal religious orientation and prejudice.

Abstract

3 generalizations seem well established concerning the relationship between subjective religion and ethnic prejudice: (a) On the average churchgoers are more prejudiced than nonchurchgoers; (b) the relationship is curvilinear; (c) people with an extrinsic religious orientation are significantly more preju-diced than people with an intrinsic religious orientation. With the aid of a scale to measure extrinsic and intrinsic orientation this research confirmed previous findings and added a 4th: people who are indiscriminately pro-religious are the most prejudiced of all. The interpretations offered are in terms of cognitive style. Previous psychological and survey research has established three important facts regard-ing the relationship between prejudiced atti-tudes and the personal practice of religion. 1. On the average, church attenders are more prejudiced than nonattenders.