An Investigation of Religious Orientations and Associated Prejudices
Growing up in a home that has a long history of religious participation, I have experienced my fair share of the traditions and ideology that are associated with the western Christian religion. I have always held my religious beliefs to be very important, and still do; in a way, it is very much a part of who I am. Most of what I encounter is filtered through the philosophies of the Christian Bible, which, in my opinion, makes me a better person.
Because of my personal beliefs, I have an interest in studying the relationship between religion and prejudice and discrimination. In this investigation, I will expound on what I have found while studying the topic of religion and prejudice. I will discuss the three most common religious orientations: intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest. I will elaborate on these positions and how they correlate with prejudice and discrimination. Other topics, such as the relationship between religious orientation and religious fundamentalism, will also be included in this investigation. Finally, I will discuss my plan to help reduce prejudice in a religious atmosphere with what I have learned from this study.
I will begin with an explanation of the extrinsic religious orientation. Allport & Ross (1967) write that:
A person with an extrinsic religious orientation is using his religious views to provide security, comfort, status, or social support for himself – religion is not a value in its own right, it serves other needs, and it is a purely utilitarian formation (p. 441
The idea that church or religion can do something for the subscriber is echoed by others. Whitley & Kite (2010) write that “people with an extrinsic religious orientation use religion as a way to achieve nonreligious goals” (p. 257). Herek (1987) comments that, “some people have a religious orientation that is primarily extrinsic, a self-serving, instrumental approach conforming to social conventions” (p. 34).
It is easy to find those who use religion as a tool or instrument to accomplish their goals. A person might use religion as a means to socialize with others or something more sinister such a dictator or president using it to back his policies. Regardless of how it is used, extrinsically religious people often hold their religious views lightly, or will mold and shape religion to fit whatever need they choose (Allport & Ross 1967, p. 434).
Extrinsic religiousness was measured by Allport and Ross by using a Religious Orientation Scale (or ROS). Participants were given a questionnaire and asked to rate their responses to each question by how much they agree, 1 meaning they strongly disagreed and each number after meaning they agreed a little more, ending with 5, which indicated they strongly agreed (Allport & Ross 1967, p. 436). Allport and Ross (1967) include a sample question from the extrinsic scale, “What religion offers me most is comfort when sorrows and misfortune strike” (p. 466). Higher scores on the extrinsic subscale of the ROS were correlated with extrinsic religiousness.
On the other hand, intrinsic religiousness is defined differently. Allport and Ross (1967) write that:
The intrinsic religious orientation is not an instrumental device. It is not a mere mode of conformity, nor a crutch, nor a tranquilizer, nor a bid for status. All needs are subordinated to an overarching religious commitment. In internalizing the total creed of his religion the individual necessarily internalizes its values of humility, compassion, and love of neighbor (p. 441).
Those with intrinsic religiousness are not after some kind of gain with their beliefs or practices. The beliefs and the traditions held by people with intrinsic religiousness are used not as tools, but as a way of living. Allport and Ross (1967) write that, “It is in this sense that he [a person with intrinsic religious orientation] lives his religion” (p. 434).
Being a part of the religion I am, I know that there are wonderful and beautiful teachings that can be internalized. I personally have learned many things that I try to apply to how I live. Things like love, compassion, forgiveness, hope, ethics, and a belief that we can always do and be better than what we were the day before are all things I have learned from my participation in the Christian religion.
An intrinsic religious orientation is defined by low scores on the ROS; a 1 would indicate that a person agrees and a 5 would indicate that a person disagreed. Allport and Ross (1967) write, “A sample item from the intrinsic subscale: My religious beliefs are what really lie behind my whole approach to life” (p. 436).
Apart from the intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientations, there is a third orientation that was made popular by Baston in 1976. Whitley and Kite (2010) write:
Quest reflects a view of religiosity as a search, or quest, for answers to questions about the meaning of life. An individual who approaches religion in this way recognizes that he or she does not know, and probably never will know, the final truth about such matters. Still, the questions are deemed important and, however tentative and subject to change, answers are sought (Baston & Burris, 1994, p. 157) (p. 259).
While I believe I have found many answers through my religious beliefs, I find that there are many things I don’t know. I still have a desire to know those things, but at the same time, I am well aware, as it is mentioned above, that I may never know the answers to my questions. I have a peace about that conclusion but still enjoy the quest of searching for enlightenment.
A sample question for the quest orientation subscale is stated by Whitley and Kite (2010), “As I grow and change, I expect my religion also to grow and change” (p. 258). High scores on this test are correlated with the quest orientation.
Now that each of the orientations has been described in some detail, let’s look at the relationship these ideologies have to certain prejudices. I will first look at the findings between extrinsic/intrinsic religiousness and ethnic prejudice.
Allport and Ross (1967) found in their studies that, “the intrinsically motivated churchgoers are significantly less prejudiced than the extrinsically motivated” (p. 441). Others have found that high scores in extrinsic prejudices are correlated with ethnic prejudices as well. This is thought to be true because those who are extrinsically religious do not hold their religious teachings to be very important, and in place of those teachings, they will internalize the prejudices of their culture or society (Whitley & Kite, 2010, p. 257).
While many tests do confirm the accuracy of the prejudice of externally religious individuals towards ethnic minorities, there is not as much consensus concerning intrinsic religiousness. Fisher et al (1994) write that:
First, Baston, Naifeh, and Pate (1978) point out that both scores on the intrinsic orientation measure and on most self-report measures of prejudice are correlated with measures of socially desirable responding. Thus, the low levels of prejudice expressed by intrinsics could simply be a reflection of their tendency to perceive themselves or present themselves in socially desirable ways (p. 616).
This issue is addressed by Whitley and Kite when they describe an experiment to judge the prejudice of intrinsically religious people under both overt and covert situations. Participants were given a choice to sit by either a white or black student in a movie. In one condition the movie was the same for both the white and the black student, this was the overt condition. When both movies are the same, one might be inclined to look unprejudiced by sitting by the black student. In another condition the movie was different for both students, this was the covert condition. When the movies were different, a white, intrinsically religious participant could sit by the white student and justify that he was not prejudice because he was simply more interested in the movie that just happened to have a white student inside. The results show that in the overt condition 75 percent of participants chose to sit with the black student, indicating perhaps a certain amount of social desirability to not seem prejudiced. In the covert condition, participants sat with the black student just as often as they sat with the white student. This study indicates that intrinsically religious people seem to be unprejudiced (Whitley & Kite, 2010, p. 259).
The quest orientation has been thought to be negatively correlated with prejudice because of its unrigged and flexible nature. In the study described above, those with quest orientations were found to be unprejudiced in both the overt and covert conditions, choosing to sit with a black student just as often as a white student. This indicates that there seems to be a lack of social desirability related to the quest orientation (Whitley & Kite, 2010, p. 260).
Included in other studies are the correlations of religious fundamentalism and prejudice. Whitley and Kite (2010) write that:
Religious fundamentalism is the belief that there is one set of religious teachings that clearly contain the fundamental, basic intrinsic, essential, inerrant truth about humanity and deity; that this essential truth is fundamentally opposed by forces of evil which must be vigorously fought; [and] that this truth must be followed today according to the fundamental, unchangeable practices of the past (p. 261-262).
This ideology stands in contrast to the quest orientation; where quest seeks to find answers through questioning, religious fundamentalism believes all questions have already been answered, or if questions still remain, people were not meant to know the answers. Whitley & Kite (2010) provide a sample question on the religious fundamentalism scale, “Whenever science and sacred scripture conflict, science must be wrong” (p. 258).
There is a positive correlation between religious fundamentalism and prejudice. When intrinsic religiousness is studied, there is found, as mentioned above, either no ethnic prejudice or even a negative correlation with ethnic prejudice. Religious fundamentalism, however, shows a small positive correlation with ethnic prejudice (Whitley & Kite, 2010, p. 262).
Because most religions do not advocate for ethnic prejudices or discrimination, and actually take a stance against it, those with intrinsic religiousness might internalize this and then live that out day to day. Those using religion as a tool, or those who ignore teachings of tolerance, choosing to take a hard line stance from selected theological principals, will not have much success in treating others as equals or diminishing their own prejudices. Herek (1987) writes that “When religious teachings encourage tolerance, intrinsic persons report less prejudice than do extrinsic” (p. 39).
These studies all report on the relationship between religious orientations and ethnic prejudices; the attention will now be turned to the relationship concerning prejudice towards homosexuals. Studies in this area show different results, especially in concerns with intrinsic religiousness.
Studies done have shown that those with an intrinsic religious orientation are not less prejudiced in general, but are less prejudiced to those with whom they have no ethical problems. Whitley & Kite (2010) write that “although some religions proscribe (that is, forbid) some forms of prejudice, such as racism, they may at the same time permit prejudice against people, such as lesbians and gay men, who are perceived to violate the religions’ values” (p. 260).
An experiment presented by Whitley & Kite presents some evidence for these permitted prejudices. Participants who were high in intrinsic religiousness were put into three conditions. In one condition, the participant would have the opportunity to help someone who was portrayed as a heterosexual and needed to raise money to go see his grandparents. In the other two conditions the participant was given the opportunity to help someone who was portrayed as a homosexual and needed to raise money either to see his grandparents, or to attend a gay rights rally. The results showed that while help was high in each condition, the participants were more likely to help the portrayed heterosexual than the portrayed homosexual, regardless of the reason they needed the money (Whitley & Kite, 2010, p. 260-261).
While it seems it would have been a positive experience for people to internalize the teachings of tolerance towards ethnic minorities; the internalizing of other religious teachings may actually lead to greater prejudice towards homosexuals. There are big questions that many Christians or those of other religions have to ask when it comes to their teachings and their actions. For instance, how does a Christian balance the teaching of Leviticus 20:13, “And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (American Standard Version), and the teaching of Mathew 12:31, “The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (American Standard Version).
If a person is taught that homosexuality is evil, then it is very easy to say that a person who is lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgendered (LGBT) are themselves evil. I believe it is here in this logic that many people of an intrinsic or fundamentalist orientation begin to develop prejudices against LGBT people and groups. While many religions teach that we must love all people, it seems that some people, those who do not oppose traditional religious principles, are more worthy of love than others. Former member of the Moral Majority, Pastor and author Ed Dobson was quoted in William Martin’s (1996) book:
Christians have not been very good about loving gay people. Oh, they'll tell you they hate the sin but love the sinner, but I don't see much love for the sinner. I cringe at some of the language and rhetoric [I hear] regarding the gay community (p. 247).
One case where prejudice and discrimination are easy to see in the religious community is from Fred Phelps and his followers at Westborough Baptist Church. Phelps has taken the stance that God hates the LGBT community and is judging them and America for tolerating their existence. Phelps engages in verbal discrimination by using derogatory language and offensive rhetoric towards homosexuals and runs a website with the url of www.godhatesfags.com.
While many Christians would not dare associate with Phelps or his teachings, his church and philosophies exemplify what religious fundamentalism can lead to. I believe Fred Phelps has missed the entire point of what Christianity is and has used his prejudiced views to harm many undeserving individuals. The danger for most is that the same teachings that may drive a person to be overtly prejudice, may also contribute to a person being subconsciously prejudice. Many Christians or participants in other religions do not wish to harm or discriminate against anyone; however they may unintentionally be holding prejudiced ideologies against LGBT people depending on the teachings they have internalized.
Studies show different results for the quest orientation compared to intrinsic or extrinsic religious orientations. Fisher et al (1994) writes that there are:
Modest correlations between quest scores and lower levels of prejudice toward gays and lesbians… The negative relationship between quest scores and prejudice stand in sharp contrast to the positive correlations between prejudice and other the other measures of religiousness and intrinsic orientation (p. 628).
I, as a part of this investigation, took the opportunity to try and reduce prejudice against LGBT people. I sat down to speak with James Bell, Pastor of Hosanna Church in Houston Texas for a little over an hour. Hosanna is a non-denominational church which holds to the born again, evangelical doctrines of the Christian faith. The main topic of discussion was reducing prejudices associated with the extrinsic, intrinsic, and if it was found to be applicable, the quest religious orientation. The prejudices I discussed with Pastor James were ethnic prejudice and discrimination associated with extrinsic religiousness, and prejudice and discrimination against sexual orientation among those with extrinsic and intrinsic religiousness. An outline of the discussion I had with Pastor James Bell can be found at the end of this paper. I want to thank Pastor Bell for taking the time to speak with me about this issue. I hope that the conversation was a mutually beneficial experience.
After we discussed the parameters of the topic at hand, I wanted to know how Hosanna would go about reducing prejudice in extrinsically and intrinsically religious people. Pastor James said that he not only teaches from the pulpit that we are to love and accept those who are different from us, but that he also wishes to show and demonstrate that ideal by actually doing it. Pastor Bell was familiar with and supported the contact hypothesis of reducing prejudice; he is the father of an adopted child of a mixed ethnicity; he also has a cousin whom he loves and has stood by over the years who is a lesbian and a minister of a Unitarian church.
Hosanna Church, as a motto, states that it is “A Church for all People”. Yet Pastor Bell understands the problem LGBT people might experience in his congregation. While he says his church doors are open to anyone of any ideology, many people would have very subtle problems with an openly lesbian or gay couple. He said that the congregation as a whole would be nice, but that the majority of them would consider that person to be living in sin, and that wouldn’t make for the most inviting atmosphere. He stated that the church, as in religious bodies everywhere, was going to have big questions to answer very soon, and there would be many congregations broken and formed over this issue.
For my part, I encouraged Pastor Bell to promote acceptance and tolerance of both ethnic minorities and LGBT groups. I shared with him, as mentioned above, that those who hear a message of tolerance from their religious leaders showed less prejudice in their dealing with different out groups. Pastor Bell agreed that both speaking about and demonstrating that people should be treated equally regardless of their personal choices was important.
In conclusion, I found in my investigation that different religious orientations are associated with different types and amounts of prejudice. Extrinsically religious people hold religious teaching lightly, and therefore are more likely to adopt the prejudices of their culture. It has been observed that intrinsically religious people show a zero or even negative correlation to prejudice with ethnic minorities; however, they show a positive correlation with prejudice against LGBT people. Because many religions today proscribe against ethnic prejudice, religiously intrinsic people will internalize this teaching and try to live it out. Likewise, many religions permit prejudiced attitudes towards LGBT people and so again this ideology may be internalized and produced by the individual.
Those with a fundamentalist approach to religion have been observed to be positively correlated with prejudice against both ethnic minorities and LGBT people. An interesting study would be to see if those high in religious fundamentalism would prefer doctrines of law and consequence or doctrines of love, grace and forgiveness.
Quest orientation was found to be negatively correlated with prejudice of both ethnic minorities and LGBT people. The concept associated with Quest orientation that there is room to question and grow beyond black and white rigid interpretations of traditional teachings is what is thought to account for these correlations.
I believe I hold both intrinsic and quest orientations. I want to internalize many of the wonderful and ethical teachings of my religion; however, I have come to see that current teachings of my religion leave gaps that with only question marks to be found. I am not only open to, but promote, questions that are not answered by common religious teachings. For those who hold any religious orientation, it is absolutely essential that prejudice and discrimination of other out groups comes to an end. Religion should not promote division among any group, but should show us how to live peacefully with others and how to treat everyone equally.
My Action to Reduce Prejudice
I sat down to speak with James Bell, Pastor of Hosanna Church in Houston, Texas for a little over an hour. Hosanna Church is a non-denominational church which holds to the born again, evangelical doctrines of the Christian faith. The main topic of discussion was reducing prejudices associated with the extrinsic, intrinsic, and if it is found to be applicable, quest religious orientations. The prejudices I discussed with Pastor James were ethnic prejudice and discrimination associated with extrinsic religiousness, and prejudice and discrimination against sexual orientation among those with extrinsic and intrinsic religiousness. Below is an outline of the discussion I had with Pastor James Bell.
1. An overview of the different religious orientations
a. Extrinsic
b. Intrinsic
c. Quest
2. A discussion of which orientations are related to which prejudices
a. Extrinsic religiousness with ethnic prejudices
b. Extrinsic and Intrinsic religiousness with prejudices against LGBT people
3. A discussion of the church’s stance on Ethnic diversity
4. A discussion of the church’s stance on sexual orientation
a. Heterosexuals
b. Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered people
5. A discussion on the church’s stance towards prejudice
a. Towards ethnic minorities
b. Towards LGBT couples or groups
6. A discussion of how active the church is in reducing prejudice
a. Towards ethnic minorities
b. Towards LGBT couples or groups
7. A discussion of future actions that could be taken to reduce prejudice
Reference Page
Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 4, 432-443.
Altemeyer, B. (1996). The Authoritarian Spector. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Baston, C. D., & Burris, C. T. (1994). Personal Religion: Depressant or Stimulant of Prejudice and Discrimination? In M. P. Zanna & J. M. Olson (Eds.), The Psychology of Prejudice (pp. 149-169). Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baston, C. D., Naifeh, S. J,m & Pate, S. (1978). Social Desirability, Religious Orientation, and Prejudice. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 17, 31-41.
Baston, C. D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W. L. (1993). Religion and the Individual: A Social-psychological Perspective. New York, Oxford University Press.
Fisher, R. D., Derison, D., Polley, C. F. III, Cadman, J., & Johnston, D. (1994). Religiousness, Religious Orientation, and Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 7, 614-630.
Herek, G. M. (1987). Religious Orientation and Prejudice: A Comparison of Racial and Sexual Attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 1, 34-44.
Martin, W. (1996). With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. New York, NY: Broadway Books.
Whitley, B. E. Jr., & Kite, M. E. (2010). The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination Second Edition. Wadsworth CA: Cengage Learning.
Seth Hock - Fall 2011
