Faith development, religious fundamentalism, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, Christian orthodoxy, and proscribed prejudice as predictors of prejudice.

Abstract

The association between religiosity and prejudice is well documented. Several constructs including religious fundamentalism, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and Christian orthodoxy are related to prejudice. A search of current literature highlights the lack of research on the relationship between faith development and prejudice. The present study fills this void, by examining this relationship utilizing a quantitative measure, the Faith Development Scale (FDS). The study further assesses the validity of FDS by correlating it with other measures that are well known in the field of religiosity and prejudice. This study explores prejudice within one conservative religious group, Southern Baptists, and examines proscribed prejudice within that religious group. Results of this study indicate faith development does not account for a significant amount of variance in prejudice towards ethnic minorities, homosexuals, or women. The study found, however, that religious fundamentalism, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and proscribed prejudice are predictors of prejudice. Right-wing authoritarianism appears to be the strongest predictor of prejudice towards ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and women. Faith development was found to be negatively and moderately associated with right-wing authoritarianism.