A mediational analysis of the role of right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism in the religiosity-prejudice link

Most religions teach tolerance: however, dimensions of religiousness and prejudice are often positively related. This study examined whether rigid ideological beliefs associated with religion, such as right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and religious fundamentalism (RF), mediate relationships between general religiosity and certain prejudices. Participants completed self-report measures of RWA. RF, homosexual prejudice, and racial prejudice. State-of-the-art mediation path analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the mediational effects of RWA and RF on the religiosity-prejudice relationship. Components of RWA and RF fully mediated the relationship between religiosity and prejudice. RF was the strongest mediator of value-violating prejudice, and RWA aggression solely mediated the relationship between religiosity and subtle racism. Cognitively rigid ideologies may be responsible for the appearance of a religiosity-prejudice relationship. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.