Email this article 
Post a Comment Forms, Frequency, and Correlates of Perceived Anti-Atheist Discrimination
Full Text: PDF
Abstract
The nationally representative 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found that 41% of self-identified atheists reported experiencing discrimination in the last 5 years due to their lack of religious identification. This mixed-method study explored the forms and frequency of discrimination reported by 796 self-identified atheists living in the United States. Participants reported experiencing different types of discrimination to varying degrees, including slander; coercion; social ostracism; denial of opportunities, goods, and services; and hate crime. Similar to other minority groups with concealable stigmatized identities, atheists who more strongly identified with their atheism, who were “out” about their atheism to more people, and who grew up with stricter familial religious expectations reported experiencing more frequent discrimination. Implications for future research tied to the ongoing religion/spirituality-health debate are discussed.
Keywords
References
Allen, C., & Nielsen, J. S. (2002). Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001. Vienna, Austria: European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
Allport, G. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Altemeyer, B. (2010). Non-belief and secularity in North America. In P. Zuckerman (ed.), Atheism and Secularity. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1997). Amazing conversions: Why some turn to faith and others abandon religion. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
American Psychological Association Council of Representatives. (2007). Resolution on religious, religion-based and/or religion-derived prejudice. August, 2007.
Awad, G. H. (2010). The impact of acculturation and religious identification on perceived discrimination for Arab/Middle Eastern Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16, 59-67.
Bainbridge, W. S. (2005). Atheism. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 1, 1-26.
Baker, J. O., & Smith, B. G. (2009). None too simple: Examining issues of religious nonbelief and nonbelonging in the United States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48, 719-733.
Barna Research Group (2007, June 11). Atheists and agnostics take aim at Christians. Retrieved from http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
Benjamins, M. (2007). Predictors of preventive health care use among middle-aged and older adults in Mexico: The role of religion. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 22, 221-234.
Bennett, D. A. (2001). How can I deal with missing data in my study? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25, 464-469.
Berg, A. O., Melle, I., Rossberg, J. I., Romm, K. L., Larsson, S., Lagerberg, T. V., …Hauff, E. (2011). Perceived discrimination is associated with severity of positive and depression/anxiety symptoms in immigrants with psychosis: A cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 11, 77.
Birnbaum, M. H. (2004). Human research and data collection via the internet. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 803-832.
Booth-Kewley, S., Larson, G. E., & Miyoshi, D. K. (2007). Social desirability effects on computerized and paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Computers in Human Behavior, 23, 463-477.
Braam, A. W., Schrier, A. C., Tuinebreijer, W. C., Beekman, A. T. F., Dekker, J. J. M., & de Wit, M. A. S. (2010). Religious coping and depression in multicultural Amsterdam: A comparison between native Dutch citizens and Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese/Antillean migrants. Journal of Affective Disorders, 125, 269-278.
Branscombe, N., Schmitt, M., & Harvey, R. (1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 135-149.
Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M., Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R. (1996). Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 141-156.
Cederblad, M., Dahlin, L., Hagnell, O., & Hansson, K. (1995). Coping with life span crises in a group at risk of mental and behavioral disorders: from the Lundby study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 91, 322-330.
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, 7, 309-319.
Clark, R., & Adams, J. H. (2004). Moderating effects of perceived racism on John Henryism and blood pressure reactivity in black female college students. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 126-131.
Cliteur, P. (2009). The definition of atheism. Journal of Religion and Society, 11. Retrieved from http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2009/2009-4.html
Corrigan, P. W. & Watson, A. C. (2002). The paradox of self-stigma and mental illness. Clinical Psychology-Science & Practice, 9, 35-53.
Cragun, R. T., Kosmin, B. A., Keysar, A., Hammer, J. H., & Nielsen, M. (2012). On the receiving end: Discrimination toward the non-religious. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 27, 105-127.
Da Ponte, G., Neves, T., & Lobo, M. (2011). Is religion really important? European Psychiatry, 26, Supplement 1, 451.
Day, N. E. & Schoenrade, P. (1997). Staying in the closet versus coming out: Relationships between communication about sexual orientation and work attitudes. Personnel Psychology, 50, 147-163.
Deaux, K., & Perkins, T. S. (2001). The kaleidoscopic self. In C. Sedikides & M. B. Brewer (Eds.), Individual self, relational self, collective self (pp. 299-313). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Dion, K. L. (2003). Prejudice, racism, and discrimination. In T. Millon and M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Personality and social psychology. Vol. 5 of the Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology. New York: John Wiley and Sons, pp. 507-536.
Downey, M. (2004). Discrimination against atheists: The facts. Free Inquiry, 24, 4.
Driedger, L., & Mezoff, R. A. (1981). Ethnic prejudice and discrimination in Winnipeg high schools. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 6, 1-17.
Dunn, K. M., Klocker, N., & Salabay, T. (2007). Contemporary racism and Islamaphobia in Australia: Racialising religion. Ethnicities, 7, 564 – 589.
Edgell, P., Gerteis, J., & Hartmann, D. (2006). Atheists as “other:” Moral boundaries and cultural membership in American society. American Sociological Review, 71, 211-234.
Emerson, R. M. (2001). Contemporary field research: Perspectives and formulations (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland.
Emmons, R. A. (1999). The psychology of ultimate concerns: Motivation and spirituality in personality. New York: Guilford Press.
Essed, Ph. (1990). Everyday racism: Reports from women in two cultures. Claremont, CA: Hunter House.
Essed, Ph. (1991). Understanding everyday racism: An interdisciplinary theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Exline, J. J., Park, C. L., Smyth, J. M., & Carey, M. P. (2011). Anger toward God: Five foundational studies emphasizing predictors, doubts about God’s existence, and adjustment to bereavement and cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 129-148.
Feagin, J. R., & Eckberg, D. L. (1980). Discriminaiton: Motivation, action, effects, and context. Annual Review of Sociology, 6, 1-20.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). “Hate Crime Statistics, 2010.” Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/index
Fingerhut, A. W., Peplau, L. A., & Gable, S. L. (2010). Identity, minority stress and psychological well-being among gay men and lesbians. Psychology & Sexuality, 1, 101-114.
Furnham, A., Nicholas M., & McClelland, A. (1998). Factors affecting nonmedical participants’ allocation of scarce medical resources. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 12, 735-746.
Galen, L. W., & Kloet, J. D. (2011a). Mental well-being in the religious and non-religious: Evidence for a curvilinear relationship. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 14, 673-689.
Galen, L. W., & Kloet, J. D. (2011b). Personality and social integration factors distinguishing nonreligious from religious groups: The importance of controlling for attendance and demographics. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 33, 1-24.
Gallup (2011, June 20). Americans still hold certain biases in choosing president. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/video/148106/Americans-Hold-Certain-Biases-Choosing-President.aspx
Garnets, L., Herek, G. M., & Levy, B. (1990). Violence and victimization of lesbians and gay men: Mental health consequences. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5, 366-383.
Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. American Psychologist, 59, 93-104.
Griffith, K. H., & Hebl, M. R. (2002). The disclosure dilemma for gay men and lesbians: “Coming out” at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1191-1199.
Gubrium, J. F, & Holstein, J. A. (1997). The new language of qualitative method. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hall, D. E., Koenig, H. G., & Meador, K. G. (2008). Hitting the target: why existing measures of “religiousness” are really reverse-scored measures of “secularism.” Explore, 4, 368-73.
Hank, K., & Schaan, B. (2008). Cross-national variations in the correlation between frequency of prayer and health among older Europeans. Research on Aging, 30, 36-54.
Harlow, R. (2010). Developing a spirituality strategy - why, how, and so what? Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 13, 615-624.
Harper, M. (2007). The stereotyping of nonreligious people by religious students: Contents and subtypes. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 539-552.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Erickson, S. J. (2008). Minority stress predictors of HIV risk behavior, substance use, and depressive symptoms: Results from a prospective study of bereaved gay men. Health Psychology, 27, 455-462.
Heiner, R. (1992). Evangelical heathens: The deviant status of freethinkers in Southland. Deviant Behav, 13, 1-20.
Herek, G. M., & Garnets, L. D. (2007). Sexual orientation and mental health. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 3, 353-375.
Herek, G. M., & Berrill, K. (eds.) (1992). Hate Crimes: Confronting Violence against Lesbians and Gay Men. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Herek, G. M., Gillis, J. R., & Cogan, J. C. (1999). Psychological sequelae of hate crime victimization among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 945-951.
Hetrick, E. S., & Martin, A. D. (1987). Developmental issues and their resolution for gay and lesbian adolescents. Journal of Homosexuality, 14, 25-43.
Highlen, P. S., Bean, M. C., & Sampson, M. G. (2000, August). Preliminary development of the Gay and Lesbian Oppressive Situations Inventory- Frequency (GALOSI-F). Paper presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2008). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: Implications for physical and mental health research. American Psychologist, 58, 64-74.
Hout, M., & Fischer, C. (2002). Why more Americans have no religious preference: Politics and generations. American Sociological Review, 67, 165-190.
Hudelson, P., Kolly, V., & Perneger, T. (2010). Patients’ perceptions of discrimination during hospitalization. Health Expectations, 13, 24-32.
Hunsberger, B., & Altemeyer, B. (2006). Atheists: A groundbreaking study of America’s nonbelievers. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
Hwang, K. (2008). Experiences of atheists with spinal cord injury: Results of an internet-based exploratory survey. SCI Psychosocial Process, 20, 4-17.
Hwang, K., Hammer, J. H., & Cragun, R. T. (2011). Extending religion-health research to nontheistic minorities: Issues and concerns. Journal of Religion and Health, 50, 608-622.
Jasperse, M., Ward, C., & Jose, P. (2011). Identity, perceived religious discrimination and psychological well-being in Muslim immigrant women. Applied Psychology: An International Review. Advance online publication.
Jones, E. E., Farina, A., Hestrof, A. H., Markus, H., Miller, D. T., & Scott, R. A. (1984). Social stigma: The psychology of marked relationships. New York: Freeman.
Jordan, K.M., & Deluty, R.H. (1998). Coming out for lesbian women: Its relation to anxiety, positive affectivity, self-esteem, and social support. Journal of Homosexuality, 35, 41-63.
Kaiser, C. P. & Pratt-Hyatt, J. S. (2009). Distributing prejudice unequally: Do whites direct their prejudice toward strongly identified minorities? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 432-445.
Karlsen, S., & Nazroo, J. Y. (2010). Religious and ethnic differences in health: Evidence from the Health Surveys for England 1999 and 2004. Ethnicity & Health, 15, 549-568.
Kaye, R. (2008, July 8) Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination. CNN.com. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/08/atheist.soldier/
Kessler, R. C., Mickelson, K. D., and Williams, D. R. (1999). The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40, 208-230.
Koenig, H. G. (2009). Research on religion, spirituality, and mental health: A review. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 283-291.
Kosmin, B. A., & Keysar, A. (2006). Religion in a free market: Religious and non-religious Americans. Paramount Market Publishing, Inc.
Kosmin, B. A., & Keysar, A. (2008). American Religious Identification Survey 2008 (p. 26). Hartford, CT: Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture. Retrieved from http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf
Kosmin, B. A., Keysar, A., Cragun, R. T., & Navarro-Rivera, J. (2009). American nones: The profile of the no religion population. A report based on the American Religious Identification Survey 2008 (p. 29). Hartford, CT: Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture.
Krämer, G. (2006). Anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. Die Welt des Islams, 46, 243-246.
Kraut, R., Olson, J., Banaji, M., Bruckman, A., Cohen, J., & Couper, M. (2004). Psychological research online: Report of board of scientific affairs’ advisory group on the conduct of research on the Internet. American Psychologist, 59, 105-117.
Krieger, N. (2001). A glossary for social epidemiology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 55, 693-700.
la Cour, P., Avlund, K., & Schultz-Larsen, K. (2006). Religion and survival in a secular region. A twenty year follow-up of 734 Danish adults born in 1914. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 62(1), 157–164.
Lahelma, E., Lundberg, O., Manderbacka, K., & Roos, E. (2001). Changing health inequalities in the Nordic countries? Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 29, 1-5.
Lewis, R. J., Derlega, V. J., Berndt, A., Morris, L. M., & Rose, S. (2001). An empirical analysis of stressors for gay men and lesbians. Journal of Homosexuality, 42, 63-88.
Lofland, J., Snow, D., Anderson, L., & Lofland, L. H. (2006). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Lucas, R. E., & Baird, B. M. (2006). Global self-assessment. In M. Eid and E. Diener (eds.), Handbook of multimethod measurement in psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 29-42.
Major, B., Quinton, W. J., & Schmader, T. (2003). Attributions to discrimination and self-esteem: Impact of group identification and situational ambiguity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 220-231.
Malik, N. (2001). Religious discrimination: Historical and current developments in the English legal system. Encounters, 7, 57-78.
Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mays, V. M., & Cochran, S. D. (2001). Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 1869-1876.
McBurney D. H., (1994) Research Methods. Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA.
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 674-697.
Miller, C. T., & Major, B. (2000). Coping with stigma and prejudice. In: T. F. Heatherton, R. E. Kleck, M. R. Hebl, and J. G. Hull (eds.), The social psychology of stigma. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 243-272.
Mills, D. (2006). Atheist universe: The thinking person’s answer to Christian fundamentalism. Ulysses Press.
Mohr, J. J. & Fassinger, R. E. (2000). Measuring dimensions of lesbian and gay male experience. Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling, 33, 66-90.
MSNBC (2007, September 22). Military probes atheist GI’s harassment claims. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20922106/%29
Nadal, K. L. (2008). Preventing racial, ethnic, gender, sexual minority, disability, and religious microaggressions: Recommendations for promoting positive mental health. Prevention in Counseling Psychology: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training, 2, 22-27.
Nadal, K. L., Issa, M-A., Griffin, K., Hamit, S., & Lyons, O. (2010). Religious microaggressions in the United States: Mental health implications for religious minority groups. In D. W. Sue (Ed.), Microaggressions and marginality: Manifestation, dynamics, and impact (pp. 287-310). New York: Wiley & Sons.
Newman, B. S., & Muzzonigro, P. G. (1993). The effects of traditional family values on the coming out process of gay male adolescents. Adolescence, 28, 213-226.
Nussbaum. (1999, October). Faith no more: The campus crusade for secular humanism. Lingua Franca. Retrieved from http://linguafranca.mirror.theinfo.org/9910/faith.html.
Pager, D., & Shepherd, H. (2008). The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. Annual review of sociology, 34, 181–209.
Pasquale, F. (2007). Unbelief and irreligion, empirical study and neglect of. In T. Flynn (Ed.). The new encyclopedia of unbelief. (pp. 760-766). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Peters, G. (2009, May 14). ‘Coming out’ can be a trial for atheists and agnostics. The National. Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090514/FOREIGN/705139850/1014.
Pincus, F. L. (1996). Discrimination comes in many forms. American Behavioral Scientist, 40, 186-194.
Purdam, K., Afkhami, R., Crockett, A., & Olsen, W. (2007). Religion in the UK: An overview of equality statistics and evidence gaps. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 22, 147-168.
Reed, K. (1991). Strength of religious affiliation and life satisfaction. Sociological Analysis, 52, 205-210.
Reips, U. D. (2000). The web experiment method: Advantages, disadvantages, and solutions. In M. H. Birnbaum (ed.), Psychological experiments on the internet. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 89-117.
Rippy, A. E., & Newman, E. (2006). Perceived religious discrimination and its relationship to anxiety and paranoia among Muslim Americans. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 1, 5-20.
Rosario, M., Hunter, J., Maguen, S., Gwadz, M. & Smith, R. (2001). The coming-out process and its adaptational and health-related associations among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths: Stipulation and exploration of a model. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 113-160.
Saeed, S., & Grant, R. (2004). Atheists and Agnostics. In A. M. Josephson and J. R. Peteet (eds.), Handbook of spirituality and worldview in clinical practice, Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing, pp. 139-153.
Schumaker, J. F. (ed.). (1992). Religion and mental health. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sellers, R. M., & Shelton, J. N. (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1079-1092.
Sellers, R. M., Rowley, S. J., Chavous, T. M., Shelton, J. N., & Smith, M. (1997). Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity: Preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 805-815.
Sheridan L. (2006). Islamophobia pre and post September 11th 2001. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 317-336.
Sherman, R. I. (1988). Bush on atheism. Free Inquiry 8, 16.
Sloan, R. (2006). Blind faith. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Smith-Stoner, M. (2007). End-of-life preferences for atheists. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 10, 923-928.
Smith, J. M. (2011). Becoming an atheist in America: Constructing identity and meaning from the rejection of theism. Sociology of Religion, 72, 215-237.
Smits, J., & Monden, C. (2009). Length of life inequality around the globe. Social Science & Medicine, 68, 1114-1123.
Stangor, C. & Schaller, M. (1996). Stereotypes as individual and collective representations. In C. Macrae, C. Stangor, and M. Hewstone (eds.). Stereotypes and stereotyping. New York: Guilford, pp. 3-40.
Steinitz, L. Y. (1980). Religiosity, well-being, and weltanschauug among the elderly. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 19, 60-67.
Stokes, C. E., & Regnerus, M. D. (2009). When faith divides family: Religious discord and adolescent reports of parent-child relations. Social Science Research, 28, 155-167.
Stuber, J. (2008). Stigma, prejudice, discrimination and health. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 351-357.
Sue, D. W., Nadal, K. L., Capodilupo, C. M., Lin, A. I., Rivera, D. P., & Torino, G. C. (2008). Racial Microaggressions against Black Americans: Implications for counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 86, 330-338.
Sue, D., & Sue, D. (2008). Counseling the culturally diverse. New York: Wiley.
Tabachnick, B. D., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. In S. Worchel & L. W. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
Thornton, P. (2007, April 18). Disliked, not oppressed I may be a reviled atheist, but that doesn’t mean I can claim equal victimhood with truly repressed minorities. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/la-oew-thornton18apr18,0,5841004.story.
Tropp, L. R. & Wright, S. C. (2001). Ingroup identification as inclusion of ingroup in the self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 585-600.
Turner, R. J., & Wheaton, B. (1995). Checklist measurement of stressful life events. In S. Cohen, R. C. Kessler, and L. U. Gordon (eds.), Measuring stress. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 29-53.
Vernon, G. M. (1968). The religious “nones”: A neglected category. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 7, 219-229.
Volokh, E. (2006). Parent-child speech and child custody speed restrictions. New York University Law Review, 81, 631-733.
Weinrach, S. G. (2002). The counseling profession’s relationship to Jews and the issues that concern them: More than a case of selective awareness. Journal of Counseling and Development, 80, 300-314.
Zuckerman, P. (2009). Atheism, secularity, and well-being. Sociology Compass, 3, 949-971.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.