Christopher H Seto
Biographic Data
| ID | 211003 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher H Seto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher H |
| FAMILY NAME | Seto |
| SIGNATURE | SETO C H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Purdue University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6020-4684 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 46 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Belonging and blame
Violence and discrimination targeting Asian Americans increased substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and perpetrators have frequently used scapegoating language (e.g., “China virus”) or otherwise expressed blame for the pandemic as motivation. However, little empirical research has explored these pandemic scapegoating beliefs—or the preexisting beliefs, values, and narratives that support them—which is likely an important s…
Electoral governance as a political determinant of health
Background: Electoral governance is a critical political determinant of health, yet the institutional mechanisms shaping population risk remain understudied. During the 2020 U.S. general election, local officials were responsible for administering voting amid COVID 19 threats and within uneven state electoral structures. Understanding how these political institutions influence officials' perceptions of voter safety and related actions is essentia…
Community-Level Analysis of Anti-Asian Hate Crime
Motivated by the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines the community characteristics associated with the likelihood of their occurrence from 2020 to 2023 through interracial conflict and social disorganization perspectives. Analyzing data from the New York City Police Department and the American Community Survey across 2,198 census tracts, we find that communities with higher levels of Asian population,…
Fright by Byte
Digital technology has provided new opportunities for fraud perpetration—and led to widespread concern about digital fraud. This study explores fear of digital fraud in the US using national survey samples collected from 2015 to 2022. We began with an exploratory factor analysis to show that fears of digital fraud are distinct from fears about other crimes, and that the US public consistently reports being the most afraid of digital fraud. We nex…
God and Group
In the United States, hate crimes that are motivated by religious bias disproportionately impact minoritized religious groups. This study investigates religious ecological predictors of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims in the US, drawing on theories of religion and intergroup offending. Measures of areal religious composition and change are drawn from two waves of the US Religion Census. Multilevel logistic regression models predict incidence…
Selling Sex in the States
The extent to which commercial sex, particularly sex work, should be regulated is an important and controversial policy conversation in the United States. Despite the salience of religion to informing attitudes about morality and bodily ethics, little is known about how some key dimensions of U.S. religion (e.g., religious fundamentalism and Christian nationalism) influence the public’s moral acceptance of prostitution. We investigate this gap us…
Risk of adolescent cigarette use in three UK birth cohorts before and after e-cigarettes
Adolescents who use e-cigarettes have a similar smoking prevalence to earlier generations. Policy and prevention should seek to prevent adolescent nicotine exposure via both electronic and combustible cigarettes
Deciding for Her
The Faces of God's Country
Understanding the recent surge of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans requires careful inquiry into the beliefs underlying perceived Asian 'foreignness' in the United States (USA). This study draws on over 88,000 geographically linked implicit association test (IAT) results to investigate the links between Christian nationalism and the implicit perception of Asian faces as foreign. Christian nationalism is strongly associated with…
A Bulwark against Tyranny? Fear of the Government and Fear-based Gun Purchasing in Recent Years
Guns are a central aspect of violence in the United States. A growing body of research seeks to understand social and psychological factors motivating gun ownership, with the concept of fear occupying an important place in this literature. Relying on multiple waves of recent, nationally representative survey data (2015-2021; N=4,767), I argue that fear of the government (e.g., fear of government corruption, overreach, and surveillance) is a prima…
Lay down your sword? Christian nationalism, race, and opposition to requiring gun permits
Christian nationalism and race are both important predictors of firearm policy preferences in the United States, and a growing body of research argues that ideas about gun control tend to be racially coded. Building on these findings, we use data from the 2021 General Social Survey to examine how race and ethnicity moderate the association between Christian nationalism and firearm policy preferences - specifically requiring a police permit to pur…
Congregations in Context
A growing body of research has focused on religious characteristics of places and how those attributes may shape area-level crime rates. This scholarship on the religious ecology of crime is of theoretical importance to the fields of sociology of religion and criminology alike. In this study, we seek to clarify (a) the mechanisms through which a religious environment may matter to rates of offending, with a particular focus on organizational mech…
Colorblind Cops in Christian America
Growing research finds that Americans’ views on race, policing, and punishment are shaped by a desire to restore America’s traditional religio-political hierarchies (what scholars call Christian nationalism), but these associations often vary by race and party. Extending this literature, we theorize Christian nationalism will influence Americans’ views on police treatment of Black and Hispanic Americans relative to White Americans, but that these…
Under God and Under Threat
Conservative political orientation is a strong predictor of gun ownership in the United States. We explore the extent to which this relationship is mediated by two related belief systems: Christian nationalism and Right-Wing conspiratorial thinking. Drawing on nationally representative data from the sixth wave of the Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,248), we use logistic regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method to analyze gun ownership, disaggre…
Religion and Policy Preferences in Context
How COVID-19 economic aid should be distributed continues to be an important societal question, with relevance to current and future public health policy. We argue that religious identities condition the influence of broader political context on COVID-19 policy preferences, serving as social conduits through which political attitudes are transmitted. We analyze original U.S. survey data (N = 989), to examine support for inclusive (i.e., including…
Connected in health
Religious Identity and Delinquency
The relationship between religion and delinquency is shaped by sociocultural context, but little research has explored the relationship for non-Christian religions outside of the United States. This study advances existing scholarship by comparing the crime and illicit substance use of 9,772 Muslim, Christian and non-religious adolescents in the United Kingdom. The Karlson, Holm, Breen (KHB) method is used to explore underlying mechanisms. Result…
Perceived risk, political polarization, and the willingness to follow Covid-19 mitigation guidelines
Saving Grace? Religious ecology and deaths of despair
Understanding Delinquency among the Spiritual but Not Religious
This study investigates the association between 'spiritual but not religious' (SBNR) identity and delinquency using a representative sample aged 16-20 years (N = 2,530) in the United States. The analyses extend prior research by examining SBNR effects across a broad range of delinquent behaviors (theft, fighting, marijuana use, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes) and by testing several theoretically salient mechanisms (religious attendance,…
Religious perceptions of crime and implications for punitiveness
This study tests the role of crime perceptions in mediating the relationship between religiosity and punitive attitudes about criminal justice. Specifically, we estimate the effects of (a) religious affiliation and (b) fundamentalism on punitiveness and assess mediation by dispositional attribution of crime, perceived rising crime rates, perceived immigrant crime, and fear of violent victimization. Data are from the 2014 wave of the Chapman Surve…
Lay down your sword? Christian nationalism, race, and opposition to requiring gun permits
Christian nationalism and race are both important predictors of firearm policy preferences in the United States, and a growing body of research argues that ideas about gun control tend to be racially coded. Building on these findings, we use data from the 2021 General Social Survey to examine how race and ethnicity moderate the association between Christian nationalism and firearm policy preferences - specifically requiring a police permit to pur…
Perceived risk, political polarization, and the willingness to follow Covid-19 mitigation guidelines
Colorblind Cops in Christian America
Growing research finds that Americans’ views on race, policing, and punishment are shaped by a desire to restore America’s traditional religio-political hierarchies (what scholars call Christian nationalism), but these associations often vary by race and party. Extending this literature, we theorize Christian nationalism will influence Americans’ views on police treatment of Black and Hispanic Americans relative to White Americans, but that these…
Religious perceptions of crime and implications for punitiveness
This study tests the role of crime perceptions in mediating the relationship between religiosity and punitive attitudes about criminal justice. Specifically, we estimate the effects of (a) religious affiliation and (b) fundamentalism on punitiveness and assess mediation by dispositional attribution of crime, perceived rising crime rates, perceived immigrant crime, and fear of violent victimization. Data are from the 2014 wave of the Chapman Surve…
Understanding Delinquency among the Spiritual but Not Religious
This study investigates the association between 'spiritual but not religious' (SBNR) identity and delinquency using a representative sample aged 16-20 years (N = 2,530) in the United States. The analyses extend prior research by examining SBNR effects across a broad range of delinquent behaviors (theft, fighting, marijuana use, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes) and by testing several theoretically salient mechanisms (religious attendance,…
Saving Grace? Religious ecology and deaths of despair
Connected in health
Religion and Policy Preferences in Context
How COVID-19 economic aid should be distributed continues to be an important societal question, with relevance to current and future public health policy. We argue that religious identities condition the influence of broader political context on COVID-19 policy preferences, serving as social conduits through which political attitudes are transmitted. We analyze original U.S. survey data (N = 989), to examine support for inclusive (i.e., including…
Religious Identity and Delinquency
The relationship between religion and delinquency is shaped by sociocultural context, but little research has explored the relationship for non-Christian religions outside of the United States. This study advances existing scholarship by comparing the crime and illicit substance use of 9,772 Muslim, Christian and non-religious adolescents in the United Kingdom. The Karlson, Holm, Breen (KHB) method is used to explore underlying mechanisms. Result…
Religious perceptions of crime and implications for punitiveness
This study tests the role of crime perceptions in mediating the relationship between religiosity and punitive attitudes about criminal justice. Specifically, we estimate the effects of (a) religious affiliation and (b) fundamentalism on punitiveness and assess mediation by dispositional attribution of crime, perceived rising crime rates, perceived immigrant crime, and fear of violent victimization. Data are from the 2014 wave of the Chapman Surve…
Understanding Delinquency among the Spiritual but Not Religious
This study investigates the association between 'spiritual but not religious' (SBNR) identity and delinquency using a representative sample aged 16-20 years (N = 2,530) in the United States. The analyses extend prior research by examining SBNR effects across a broad range of delinquent behaviors (theft, fighting, marijuana use, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes) and by testing several theoretically salient mechanisms (religious attendance,…
Connected in health
Religious Identity and Delinquency
The relationship between religion and delinquency is shaped by sociocultural context, but little research has explored the relationship for non-Christian religions outside of the United States. This study advances existing scholarship by comparing the crime and illicit substance use of 9,772 Muslim, Christian and non-religious adolescents in the United Kingdom. The Karlson, Holm, Breen (KHB) method is used to explore underlying mechanisms. Result…
Perceived risk, political polarization, and the willingness to follow Covid-19 mitigation guidelines
Saving Grace? Religious ecology and deaths of despair
Under God and Under Threat
Conservative political orientation is a strong predictor of gun ownership in the United States. We explore the extent to which this relationship is mediated by two related belief systems: Christian nationalism and Right-Wing conspiratorial thinking. Drawing on nationally representative data from the sixth wave of the Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,248), we use logistic regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method to analyze gun ownership, disaggre…
Religion and Policy Preferences in Context
How COVID-19 economic aid should be distributed continues to be an important societal question, with relevance to current and future public health policy. We argue that religious identities condition the influence of broader political context on COVID-19 policy preferences, serving as social conduits through which political attitudes are transmitted. We analyze original U.S. survey data (N = 989), to examine support for inclusive (i.e., including…
God and Group
In the United States, hate crimes that are motivated by religious bias disproportionately impact minoritized religious groups. This study investigates religious ecological predictors of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims in the US, drawing on theories of religion and intergroup offending. Measures of areal religious composition and change are drawn from two waves of the US Religion Census. Multilevel logistic regression models predict incidence…
Selling Sex in the States
The extent to which commercial sex, particularly sex work, should be regulated is an important and controversial policy conversation in the United States. Despite the salience of religion to informing attitudes about morality and bodily ethics, little is known about how some key dimensions of U.S. religion (e.g., religious fundamentalism and Christian nationalism) influence the public’s moral acceptance of prostitution. We investigate this gap us…
Risk of adolescent cigarette use in three UK birth cohorts before and after e-cigarettes
Adolescents who use e-cigarettes have a similar smoking prevalence to earlier generations. Policy and prevention should seek to prevent adolescent nicotine exposure via both electronic and combustible cigarettes
Deciding for Her
The Faces of God's Country
Understanding the recent surge of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans requires careful inquiry into the beliefs underlying perceived Asian 'foreignness' in the United States (USA). This study draws on over 88,000 geographically linked implicit association test (IAT) results to investigate the links between Christian nationalism and the implicit perception of Asian faces as foreign. Christian nationalism is strongly associated with…
A Bulwark against Tyranny? Fear of the Government and Fear-based Gun Purchasing in Recent Years
Guns are a central aspect of violence in the United States. A growing body of research seeks to understand social and psychological factors motivating gun ownership, with the concept of fear occupying an important place in this literature. Relying on multiple waves of recent, nationally representative survey data (2015-2021; N=4,767), I argue that fear of the government (e.g., fear of government corruption, overreach, and surveillance) is a prima…
Lay down your sword? Christian nationalism, race, and opposition to requiring gun permits
Christian nationalism and race are both important predictors of firearm policy preferences in the United States, and a growing body of research argues that ideas about gun control tend to be racially coded. Building on these findings, we use data from the 2021 General Social Survey to examine how race and ethnicity moderate the association between Christian nationalism and firearm policy preferences - specifically requiring a police permit to pur…
Congregations in Context
A growing body of research has focused on religious characteristics of places and how those attributes may shape area-level crime rates. This scholarship on the religious ecology of crime is of theoretical importance to the fields of sociology of religion and criminology alike. In this study, we seek to clarify (a) the mechanisms through which a religious environment may matter to rates of offending, with a particular focus on organizational mech…
Colorblind Cops in Christian America
Growing research finds that Americans’ views on race, policing, and punishment are shaped by a desire to restore America’s traditional religio-political hierarchies (what scholars call Christian nationalism), but these associations often vary by race and party. Extending this literature, we theorize Christian nationalism will influence Americans’ views on police treatment of Black and Hispanic Americans relative to White Americans, but that these…
Belonging and blame
Violence and discrimination targeting Asian Americans increased substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and perpetrators have frequently used scapegoating language (e.g., “China virus”) or otherwise expressed blame for the pandemic as motivation. However, little empirical research has explored these pandemic scapegoating beliefs—or the preexisting beliefs, values, and narratives that support them—which is likely an important s…
Electoral governance as a political determinant of health
Background: Electoral governance is a critical political determinant of health, yet the institutional mechanisms shaping population risk remain understudied. During the 2020 U.S. general election, local officials were responsible for administering voting amid COVID 19 threats and within uneven state electoral structures. Understanding how these political institutions influence officials' perceptions of voter safety and related actions is essentia…
Community-Level Analysis of Anti-Asian Hate Crime
Motivated by the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines the community characteristics associated with the likelihood of their occurrence from 2020 to 2023 through interracial conflict and social disorganization perspectives. Analyzing data from the New York City Police Department and the American Community Survey across 2,198 census tracts, we find that communities with higher levels of Asian population,…
Fright by Byte
Digital technology has provided new opportunities for fraud perpetration—and led to widespread concern about digital fraud. This study explores fear of digital fraud in the US using national survey samples collected from 2015 to 2022. We began with an exploratory factor analysis to show that fears of digital fraud are distinct from fears about other crimes, and that the US public consistently reports being the most afraid of digital fraud. We nex…
Political science (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Politics (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Criminology (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (7 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (6 works) · Nationalism (5 works)