Religious Fundamentalism as Schema: Influences on Memory for Religious Information

Those with differing levels of religious fundamentalism (RF) may be selective in their memory for religious information. In Study 1, participants read a text about money or sex, with a judgmental or not-judgmental message. Higher RF was associated with more accurate recall and fewer intrusions. In Study 2, participants high or low in RF read texts about sex. High-RF participants had more accurate recall and fewer intrusions. However, high-RF participants had more recognition false alarms to sentences that were not presented. High RF may aid memory for religious information, but also increase familiarity of related but not presented information. Exposure to not-judgmental messages decreased RF scores, suggesting that textual messages can impact responses to fundamentalism scales.