Using Religious Affiliation to Spontaneously Categorize Others

Abstract

The informativeness of a social category strongly influences the degree to which a target will be categorized along that dimension; given the social significance of religion, categorizing on the basis of religious affiliation seems likely. We used a statement recognition paradigm across 3 studies to assess this hypothesis. In Study 1, participants categorized targets along a religious dimension but not a visually salient alternative dimension. In Study 2, two replications revealed religious categorization took place in addition to categorization by another prominent and visually salient alternative social category (race). In Study 3, targets were categorized along the religious dimension even though target religiosity had to be extrapolated from a variety of social group memberships. The results are discussed in terms of the prominence of categorization along a religious dimension relative to alternative social categories that have received more attention in the social psychology literature.