Religion and Interpersonal Trust: An Individual Differences Analysis
Location
Atrium
Session Format
Poster Presentation
Research Area Topic:
Humanities & Social Sciences - Psychology, Sociology & Political Science
Abstract
Religion and Interpersonal Trust: An Individual Differences Analysis
Kaitlyn Sawyer
Trust is an important aspect of our everyday lives, facilitating interpersonal interaction. Nevertheless, some people find it difficult to trust others, particularly people who are unfamiliar or unknown. The role that religion plays in trust was examined in this project. Religion is an important part of life for many individuals, and can act to indicate group boundaries. Many different religious groups exist, however, and are not all viewed with the same degree of trust. The purpose of the current research is to examine religion as a possible factor in an individual’s trust behaviors. Based on the role of religion in other prosocial behaviors I predicted that (1) individuals who identify themselves as being religious will trust strangers more easily than those who do not identify with a religion, and (2) that individuals will more easily trust strangers if the strangers are presented as being religious. Participants in this study were presented with three vignettes involving three separate situations with hypothetical individuals (strangers) that were represented as being either religious or nonreligious (randomly assigned). In addition, participants were asked to respond to a series of scales measuring general trust, religiosity, social competency, social distance, and demographics. Data collection is complete and the analysis of the data is ongoing. It is predicted that ratings of trust will increase as participants’ religiosity increases, and that participants will indicate greater levels of trust directed toward religious individuals.
Keywords
Religiosity, Trust, Strangers
Presentation Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Start Date
4-24-2015 10:45 AM
End Date
4-24-2015 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Sawyer, Kaitlyn, "Religion and Interpersonal Trust: An Individual Differences Analysis" (2015). GS4 Georgia Southern Student Scholars Symposium. 56.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2015/2015/56
Religion and Interpersonal Trust: An Individual Differences Analysis
Atrium
Religion and Interpersonal Trust: An Individual Differences Analysis
Kaitlyn Sawyer
Trust is an important aspect of our everyday lives, facilitating interpersonal interaction. Nevertheless, some people find it difficult to trust others, particularly people who are unfamiliar or unknown. The role that religion plays in trust was examined in this project. Religion is an important part of life for many individuals, and can act to indicate group boundaries. Many different religious groups exist, however, and are not all viewed with the same degree of trust. The purpose of the current research is to examine religion as a possible factor in an individual’s trust behaviors. Based on the role of religion in other prosocial behaviors I predicted that (1) individuals who identify themselves as being religious will trust strangers more easily than those who do not identify with a religion, and (2) that individuals will more easily trust strangers if the strangers are presented as being religious. Participants in this study were presented with three vignettes involving three separate situations with hypothetical individuals (strangers) that were represented as being either religious or nonreligious (randomly assigned). In addition, participants were asked to respond to a series of scales measuring general trust, religiosity, social competency, social distance, and demographics. Data collection is complete and the analysis of the data is ongoing. It is predicted that ratings of trust will increase as participants’ religiosity increases, and that participants will indicate greater levels of trust directed toward religious individuals.
