The ABC’s of Christians’ Anti-Muslim Attitudes: An Application of Eagly and Chaiken’s Attitude Theory

Abstract

To date, research on Christians’ attitudes toward Muslims has generally focused on the cognitive components of these attitudes. Based on Eagly and Chaiken’s conceptualization of the ABC Model of Attitudes, this study extended that research by considering multiple evaluative aspects of attitudes. Relevant questionnaires from a larger study of 209 self-identified Christians were used to predict attitudes toward American Muslims. It was hypothesized that adding a behavioral component beyond the cognitive would significantly increase prediction of attitudes toward Muslims in the United States. Drawing on research on related prejudices, it was also predicted that the often-neglected affect of disgust would significantly increase the prediction of attitudes toward Muslims beyond only combining behavioral and cognitive factors. In this study, behavioral factors included engagement with people of different faiths, while cognitive factors included dogmatism and endorsement of Christian nationalism. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that combining behavioral with cognitive components significantly increased the prediction of American Christians’ attitudes toward American Muslims. Yet, further adding the affective component of physical disgust beyond the cognitive and behavioral components did not significantly increase predictive power. Implications of these findings for the Christian church and American society at large are addressed in the light of the important social implications of understanding attitudes toward Muslims. The need for future research to emphasize the multifaceted nature of anti-Muslim attitudes is also discussed.