Religious Group Affect and Support for First Amendment Liberties

Abstract

Abstract The First Amendment guarantees protection for religious exercise in the United States. But for some, the question of who should benefit from these protections seems to hinge on the identity of the religious group seeking these protections. In this article, we explore the extent to which people’s attitudes toward different religious groups affects their support for First Amendment protections as applied to these groups. We also examine whether it is possible to mitigate these effects, asking whether respondents can be primed to consider tolerance when evaluating rights claims, and if so, whether this increases support for rights in general. Our results have important implications for tolerance and rights in a diverse, pluralistic society, and shed light on what the future might hold for public opinion on constitutional rights and liberties.