In psychological research, religiosity is often conceptualized in a more nuanced way than nonreligiosity, which is frequently treated as a homogeneous reference category. At the same time, prior studies suggest a paradox: although nonbelievers are often described as more cognitively open and less prejudiced, evidence indicates that both religious and nonreligious individuals may exhibit intergroup hostility.
In the present research (Study 1: N = 402; Study 2: N = 904), we adopt a symmetrical approach to examine prejudice between Catholics and atheists and its psychological correlates. We focus on collective narcissism and dogmatic forms of belief, operationalized as religious fundamentalism among Catholics and dogmatic nonbelief among atheists. We also distinguish these from more open orientations (quest religiosity and intellectual nonbelief).
Across both studies, prejudice toward the outgroup – measured via social distance, feeling thermometer, and dehumanization – was consistently associated with collective narcissism and dogmatic belief in both groups. In contrast, more reflective forms of belief and nonbelief were linked to lower prejudice or showed no significant relationships. Importantly, secure (non-defensive) ingroup identification did not reliably predict hostility.
These findings challenge the view that prejudice is primarily a function of religiosity. Instead, they suggest that intergroup bias is related to similar psychological patterns across belief systems, highlighting the importance of examining both religiosity and nonbelief within a common framework.