Abstract

The present set of studies investigated the role of being religious in the prediction of various forms of prejudice. Following the threat-constraint model, we predicted that contexts characterized by high threat attenuate-or constrain-the relationship between individual differences in being religious on the one hand and antigay prejudice and sexism on the other. A worldwide investigation of these regional constraints was conducted in the Americas Barometer (125,984 individuals nested in 20 countries; Study 1), the World Values Survey (69,798 individuals nested in 45 countries; Study 2), and the European Social Survey (44,386 individuals nested in 274 Nomenclature des Unites Territoriales Statistiques regions; Study 3). Results identify a key moderating role of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, revealing strong associations between religion and prejudice in regions low in power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and collectivism, whereas the religion-prejudice association is constrained (i.e., weaker and often absent) in regions high on those cultural dimensions.