Kimberly Rios
Biographic Data
| ID | 5448181 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kimberly Rios |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kimberly |
| FAMILY NAME | Rios |
| SIGNATURE | RIOS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ohio University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4844-8405 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 123 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 50 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Holiday greeting inclusivity in organizations: The more the merrier
Do Demographic Increases in LGBT and Nonreligious Americans Increase Threat
Building on previous research demonstrating that demographic growth of racial minorities increases realistic threat and prejudice among majority group members, we examined whether demographic increases of groups associated with symbolic threat (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] and nonreligious groups) increased realistic threat, symbolic threat, and/or prejudice. In a single-paper meta-analysis across four studies, participants who …
Fallout of faith in Iran: How religious leaders’ hypocrisy undermines beliefs while parents’ devotion sustains it
Affordances of costly religious practices for mating
Live in Harmony With One Another? Implications of Incorporating Religion Into Diversity‐Related Policy Decisions
With the 2025 US Presidential inauguration came many changes to and elimination of policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Yet at the same time, the Trump administration established a task force to eradicate anti‐Christian bias. These decisions raise several questions about which groups are and are not included in DEI initiatives, as well as what both politicians and the public perceive DEI to be. In the present commentary, we…
Faithless Found: Replication and Extension of Gervais (2011)
Perceptions of Religious and non-Religious Doubters
Science on the mind: Examining question ordering effects when asking about science on large-scale surveys
Previous research has examined people's attitudes toward science and scientists, highlighting how religious identities, beliefs, or behavior shapes these attitudes. However, survey design choices have been previously shown to influence individuals' attitudes toward religion and science. We investigated the extent to which question ordering (i.e. presenting questions about science before questions about religion or the paranormal) in a large-scale…
The social pain of religious deidentification: Religious dones conceal their identity and feel less belonging in religious cultures
Harnessing the many facets of White identity to reduce feelings of threat and improve intergroup relations
Whiteness in the US is often conceptualized largely as the absence of a meaningful cultural identity. Research from my own lab suggests that overlooking the nuances inherent in White identity (e.g., differences between ethnic groups) can induce feelings of threat and backlash against multiculturalism among dominant group members. Based on this research, I argue that conceptualizing Whiteness as multifaceted—for example, by acknowledging not only …
Exploring the Effects of Promoting Feminine Leaders on Women’s Interest in STEM
In two pre-registered studies ( N = 1,202), female college students expressed greater feelings of belonging and trust in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) company whose leaders exhibited stereotypically feminine (vs. masculine) characteristics. The positive impact of feminine leaders was found for both female and male leaders and was mediated by participants’ felt similarity to the leaders. This mediation model held even after c…
Christianity-science compatibility beliefs increase nonreligious individuals’ perceptions of Christians’ intelligence and scientific ability
Nonreligious individuals stereotype Christians as unscientific and see Christianity and science as conflicting. The present studies examined how perceptions of incompatibility between Christianity and science influence nonreligious individuals’ stereotypes of Christians in science in the US context. We measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2) participants’ beliefs about the compatibility or incompatibility of Christianity and science. In Stud…
Perceiving others as responsive lessens prejudice: The mediating roles of intellectual humility and attitude ambivalence
How prosocial actors use power hierarchies to build moral reputation
Power hierarchies are ubiquitous, emerging formally and informally, in both personal and professional contexts. When prosocial acts are offered within power hierarchies, there is a widespread belief that people who choose lower-power beneficiaries are altruistically motivated, and that those who choose higher-power beneficiaries hold a self-interested motive to ingratiate. In contrast, the current research empirically demonstrates that people can…
White People Problems? White Privilege Beliefs Predict Attitudes Toward Confederate Symbols
Building upon Intergroup Threat Theory and research on group-level empathy, we tested the relationship between White privilege beliefs and White Americans’ attitudes toward Confederate symbols. In three experiments, participants induced to think about White privilege exhibited more opposition to Confederate symbols, perceived less realistic threat to their group’s power/resources and symbolic threat to their group’s values/identity from the prosp…
“White” Self-Identification: A Source of Uniqueness Threat
The present research introduces the possibility that Whiteness can threaten majority group members’ sense of uniqueness and reduce their support for multiculturalism, an ideology that emphasizes recognition of distinctive cultural identities and is seen as primarily relevant to racial/ethnic minorities. Across three studies, being induced to self-identify as “White” (vs. “European American”) led majority group members high, but not low, in need f…
Explaining anti-atheist discrimination in the workplace: The role of intergroup threat
Taking a “multiple forms” approach to diversity: An introduction, policy implications, and legal recommendations
However, both diversity ideologies have potential drawbacks, and their implications for intergroup contexts beyond race and ethnicity are not well understood. Given that the United States is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation as well as race and ethnicity, we propose a “multiple forms” approach to diversity ideologies, particularly multiculturalism. We suggest that explicitly emphasizing th…
Identity Centrality, Social Identity Threat, and Differences in Concealment between Religious Minorities and Nonreligious Individuals
Research has examined how Jews, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics react to feelings of social identity threat (i.e., the perception that one’s group is devalued or stigmatized). However, no research so far has compared reactions between religious minorities (RMs; Jews and Muslims) and nonreligious individuals (NRs; atheists and agnostics) in general. Concealment of identity appears to be lower among RMs than among NRs, although this possibility ha…
Examining Christians’ Reactions to Reminders of Religion–Science Conflict: Stereotype Threat versus Disengagement
Stereotypes of religion (particularly Christianity) as incompatible with science are widespread, and prior findings show that Christians perform worse than non-Christians on scientific reasoning tasks following reminders of such stereotypes. The present studies ( N = 1,456) examine whether these reminders elicit stereotype threat (i.e., fear of confirming negative societal stereotypes about one’s group), disengagement (i.e., distancing oneself fr…
Religious diversity in science: Stereotypical and counter-stereotypical social identities
Research shows that scientists tend to be less religious than the general population, and scientists’ religious affiliation and participation have declined over time (Ecklund & Park, 2009; Ecklund et al., 2008). Given the demographic differences between scientists and the general population, it was predicted that scientists who are religious would be regarded as having a counter-stereotypical combination of social identities. However, across five…
Understanding Perceptions of Radical and Liberal Feminists: The Nuanced Roles of Warmth and Competence
Shared disadvantage as a determinant of the relationship between White Americans’ socioeconomic status and racial/ethnic prejudice
The present studies examined the conditions under which low subjective socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with greater racial/ethnic prejudice among White Americans. Using theories of intergroup threat and inclusive victim consciousness, we predicted that describing racial/ethnic minorities as disadvantaged (vs. as competitive or in neutral terms) would increase empathy and reduce prejudice among White Americans who consider themselves low …
Secularism in science: The role of religious affiliation in assessments of scientists’ trustworthiness
With controversies surrounding numerous science topics, including vaccinations and climate change, science skepticism in the United States is of growing concern. Some skepticism of science may stem from the perceived association between science and atheism, as well as stereotypes of religious individuals as prosocial. Three studies examine how scientists’ religious affiliation (or lack thereof) influences perceptions of their warmth and trustwort…
Concealment of nonreligious identity: Exploring social identity threat among atheists and other nonreligious individuals
Negative attitudes toward the nonreligious persist in America. This may compel some nonreligious individuals to conceal their identity to manage feelings of social identity threat. In one correlational study and one experiment, we found evidence of social identity threat and concealment behavior among nonreligious Americans. Our first study showed that Southern nonreligious individuals reported higher levels of stigma consciousness and self-repor…
Right-wing authoritarianism predicts prejudice against “homosexuals” but not “gay men and lesbians”
Perceiving demographic diversity as a threat: Divergent effects of multiculturalism and polyculturalism
The growing racial/ethnic diversity in the United States can be perceived as threatening to White Americans. The present work examines how interethnic ideologies—different ways of framing ethnic diversity—moderate perceptions of threat and political conservatism among White Americans exposed to a passage about the US becoming a “majority-minority” nation. Across 3 studies, we found divergent effects of multiculturalism and polyculturalism within …
The moral contents of anti‐atheist prejudice (and why atheists should care about it)
Anti‐atheist prejudice is pervasive worldwide. Past research indicates that this is driven by perceptions of atheist immorality, yet such perceptions have not been explored in detail. Using Moral Foundations Theory and samples of U.S. Christians, we investigated whether anti‐atheist prejudice is explained by atheists' perceived adherence to certain foundational moral values more than others. Study 1 participants completed measures of moral value …
How Do U.S. Christians and Atheists Stereotype One Another’s Moral Values
Moral conflict between Christians and atheists is becoming increasingly heated amidst the U.S. “culture wars,” yet research has been mostly silent regarding how these groups stereotype one another’s moral values and beliefs. We used moral foundations theory to better understand the nature of such stereotypes. In Study 1, U.S. Christian and atheist participants completed measures of moral values from their own perspective as well as the perspectiv…
Generous heathens? Reputational concerns and atheists' behavior toward Christians in economic games
Feeling Powerful but Incompetent: Fear of Negative Evaluation Predicts Men’s Sexual Harassment of Subordinates
Understanding the relationship between self-esteem and self-clarity: The role of desired self-esteem
Compensatory nonconformity: Self-uncertainty and low implicit self-esteem increase adoption and expression of minority opinions
Order of actions mitigates hypocrisy judgments for ingroup more than outgroup members
Compared to the conventional order of hypocritical actions—saying one thing and then doing another—merely reversing the order of these actions can mitigate whether an individual is judged to be a hypocrite (Barden, Rucker, & Petty, 2005). The present research examines how factors extraneous to a target’s own actions—specifically, group membership—influence hypocrisy judgments. Three experiments provided consistent evidence that reversing the orde…
Engaging with diversity: Framing multiculturalism as a learning opportunity reduces prejudice among high White American identifiers
Building upon findings that multiculturalism lowers White Americans' prejudice when presented as an abstract relative to concrete concept, we tested whether and when even concrete forms of multiculturalism can improve intergroup attitudes. Across two experiments, highly identified White Americans exhibited less racial prejudice when induced to view multiculturalism as a concrete learning opportunity than as a concrete set of policies (Study 1) or…
Fighting for independence: Significant others' goals for oneself incite reactance among the powerful
Understanding Perceptions of Radical and Liberal Feminists: The Nuanced Roles of Warmth and Competence
Perceived Morality and Antiatheist Prejudice: A Replication and Extension
Recent evidence suggests that, although moral distrust drives antiatheist prejudice, certain types of morality are central: Perceived atheist moral capacity for caring and compassion appears to be central, whereas perceived atheist moral capacity for fairness, in-group loyalty, deferential respect, or purity/decency is not (Simpson & Rios, 2017). Here, we extend this research. First, we conceptually replicated experimental effects: Manipulating t…
Judging the actions of “whistle-blowers” versus “leakers”: Labels influence perceptions of dissenters who expose group misconduct
Although moral and collective concerns have been found to predict expressions of dissent, little research has examined conditions under which dissenters are perceived as acting out of such concerns. Three studies tested whether judgments of dissenters who expose group misconduct can depend on subtle labeling differences. In Study 1, participants rated their actions as more morally based, and themselves as more likely to express dissent, after rea…
Objects of desire: Subordinate ingratiation triggers self-objectification among powerful
Harnessing the many facets of White identity to reduce feelings of threat and improve intergroup relations
Whiteness in the US is often conceptualized largely as the absence of a meaningful cultural identity. Research from my own lab suggests that overlooking the nuances inherent in White identity (e.g., differences between ethnic groups) can induce feelings of threat and backlash against multiculturalism among dominant group members. Based on this research, I argue that conceptualizing Whiteness as multifaceted—for example, by acknowledging not only …
Perceiving others as responsive lessens prejudice: The mediating roles of intellectual humility and attitude ambivalence
Concealment of nonreligious identity: Exploring social identity threat among atheists and other nonreligious individuals
Negative attitudes toward the nonreligious persist in America. This may compel some nonreligious individuals to conceal their identity to manage feelings of social identity threat. In one correlational study and one experiment, we found evidence of social identity threat and concealment behavior among nonreligious Americans. Our first study showed that Southern nonreligious individuals reported higher levels of stigma consciousness and self-repor…
Why So Few?”: Differential Effects of Framing the Gender Gap in STEM Recruitment Interventions
Interventions designed to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines sometimes emphasize the STEM gender gap. Drawing upon optimal distinctiveness theory, we hypothesized that interventions overtly emphasizing women’s minority status in STEM might lead to less interest in STEM relative to interventions with subtler references to women’s minority status. In Study 1, women who viewed a STE…
The utilitarian scientist: The humanization of scientists in moral dilemmas
How prosocial actors use power hierarchies to build moral reputation
Power hierarchies are ubiquitous, emerging formally and informally, in both personal and professional contexts. When prosocial acts are offered within power hierarchies, there is a widespread belief that people who choose lower-power beneficiaries are altruistically motivated, and that those who choose higher-power beneficiaries hold a self-interested motive to ingratiate. In contrast, the current research empirically demonstrates that people can…
Taking a “multiple forms” approach to diversity: An introduction, policy implications, and legal recommendations
However, both diversity ideologies have potential drawbacks, and their implications for intergroup contexts beyond race and ethnicity are not well understood. Given that the United States is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation as well as race and ethnicity, we propose a “multiple forms” approach to diversity ideologies, particularly multiculturalism. We suggest that explicitly emphasizing th…
Identity Centrality, Social Identity Threat, and Differences in Concealment between Religious Minorities and Nonreligious Individuals
Research has examined how Jews, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics react to feelings of social identity threat (i.e., the perception that one’s group is devalued or stigmatized). However, no research so far has compared reactions between religious minorities (RMs; Jews and Muslims) and nonreligious individuals (NRs; atheists and agnostics) in general. Concealment of identity appears to be lower among RMs than among NRs, although this possibility ha…
Religious diversity in science: Stereotypical and counter-stereotypical social identities
Research shows that scientists tend to be less religious than the general population, and scientists’ religious affiliation and participation have declined over time (Ecklund & Park, 2009; Ecklund et al., 2008). Given the demographic differences between scientists and the general population, it was predicted that scientists who are religious would be regarded as having a counter-stereotypical combination of social identities. However, across five…
Outgroup primes induce unpredictability tendencies under conditions of distrust
Compensatory nonconformity: Self-uncertainty and low implicit self-esteem increase adoption and expression of minority opinions
Order of actions mitigates hypocrisy judgments for ingroup more than outgroup members
Compared to the conventional order of hypocritical actions—saying one thing and then doing another—merely reversing the order of these actions can mitigate whether an individual is judged to be a hypocrite (Barden, Rucker, & Petty, 2005). The present research examines how factors extraneous to a target’s own actions—specifically, group membership—influence hypocrisy judgments. Three experiments provided consistent evidence that reversing the orde…
Understanding the relationship between self-esteem and self-clarity: The role of desired self-esteem
Outgroup primes induce unpredictability tendencies under conditions of distrust
Right-wing authoritarianism predicts prejudice against “homosexuals” but not “gay men and lesbians”
Fighting for independence: Significant others' goals for oneself incite reactance among the powerful
Objects of desire: Subordinate ingratiation triggers self-objectification among powerful
Negative Stereotypes Cause Christians to Underperform in and Disidentify With Science
Despite Christians being a religious majority in the United States, relatively few pursue higher education and careers in science. Our studies show that stereotypes about Christians being less competent in science than other groups are recognized by both Christians and non-Christians and are openly endorsed by non-Christians (Study 1). Our studies further demonstrate that when these stereotypes become salient, Christians are less interested in an…
Judging the actions of “whistle-blowers” versus “leakers”: Labels influence perceptions of dissenters who expose group misconduct
Although moral and collective concerns have been found to predict expressions of dissent, little research has examined conditions under which dissenters are perceived as acting out of such concerns. Three studies tested whether judgments of dissenters who expose group misconduct can depend on subtle labeling differences. In Study 1, participants rated their actions as more morally based, and themselves as more likely to express dissent, after rea…
How Do U.S. Christians and Atheists Stereotype One Another’s Moral Values
Moral conflict between Christians and atheists is becoming increasingly heated amidst the U.S. “culture wars,” yet research has been mostly silent regarding how these groups stereotype one another’s moral values and beliefs. We used moral foundations theory to better understand the nature of such stereotypes. In Study 1, U.S. Christian and atheist participants completed measures of moral values from their own perspective as well as the perspectiv…
Engaging with diversity: Framing multiculturalism as a learning opportunity reduces prejudice among high White American identifiers
Building upon findings that multiculturalism lowers White Americans' prejudice when presented as an abstract relative to concrete concept, we tested whether and when even concrete forms of multiculturalism can improve intergroup attitudes. Across two experiments, highly identified White Americans exhibited less racial prejudice when induced to view multiculturalism as a concrete learning opportunity than as a concrete set of policies (Study 1) or…
The moral contents of anti‐atheist prejudice (and why atheists should care about it)
Anti‐atheist prejudice is pervasive worldwide. Past research indicates that this is driven by perceptions of atheist immorality, yet such perceptions have not been explored in detail. Using Moral Foundations Theory and samples of U.S. Christians, we investigated whether anti‐atheist prejudice is explained by atheists' perceived adherence to certain foundational moral values more than others. Study 1 participants completed measures of moral value …
Generous heathens? Reputational concerns and atheists' behavior toward Christians in economic games
An experimental approach to Intergroup Threat Theory: Manipulations, moderators, and consequences of realistic vs. symbolic threat
According to Intergroup Threat Theory (Stephan, Ybarra, & Rios, 2015), perceived threats from outgroups can be categorised into realistic threats (to the ingroup’s power, resources, or well-being) and symbolic threats (to the ingroup’s values, identity, or way of life). Although many studies have documented correlations between such threats and intergroup attitudes, experimental and quasiexperimental tests of Intergroup Threat Theory are relative…
Feeling Powerful but Incompetent: Fear of Negative Evaluation Predicts Men’s Sexual Harassment of Subordinates
Engaging with diversity: Framing multiculturalism as a learning opportunity reduces prejudice among high White American identifiers
The authors of the article “Engaging with diversity: Framing multiculturalism as a learning opportunity reduces prejudice among high White American identifiers” (https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2196) (Rios & Wynn, 2016), published in Wiley Online Library on 25 April 2017 and in the European Journal of Social Psychology, 46: 854–865, have drawn to our attention an error in the legends of Figures 1 and 2. The correct figure legends appear below
Is science for atheists? Perceived threat to religious cultural authority explains U.S. Christians’ distrust in secularized science
A history of perceived conflict between religion and science persists in the U.S. “culture wars” that juxtapose religious and secular worldviews. As modern societies grow increasingly secular, religion is often deemed an impediment to science-based policy-making, whereas science is increasingly associated with atheism. In the present research, we addressed how perceived science–atheism associations affect U.S. Christians’ attitudes toward science…
Science-religion compatibility beliefs across Middle Eastern and American young adult samples: The role of cross-cultural exposure
Research shows that people in predominantly Christian cultures tend to perceive a basic tension between science and religion, which is not reflected in predominantly Muslim cultures. In this cross-cultural study comparing Christian university students in the United States and Muslim university students in the United Arab Emirates, we examined time spent in Western countries (for UAE students) or overseas (for American students) as predictors of p…
Is “me-search” necessarily less rigorous research? Social and personality psychologists’ stereotypes of the psychology of religion
Although I study many forms of social identity, my research on religious identity has perhaps sparked the most interesting reactions. I first describe these reactions, as well as how I became interested in religious identity. I then report the results of an experiment that my Ph.D. student and I conducted to better understand social and personality psychologists’ perceptions of the psychology of religion/spirituality, relative to other subfields.…
Predictors of anti-transgender attitudes: Identity-confusion and deception as aspects of distrust
Drawing upon the sociofunctional approach to prejudice, three studies examined distrust as a predictor of attitudes toward transgender individuals relative to sexual minorities (primarily gay men), focusing on two possible mediators: perceived deception and identity-confusion. Participants expressed more negative attitudes and greater distrust toward transgender individuals than gay men, and these effects were driven by perceived deception but no…
Perceiving demographic diversity as a threat: Divergent effects of multiculturalism and polyculturalism
The growing racial/ethnic diversity in the United States can be perceived as threatening to White Americans. The present work examines how interethnic ideologies—different ways of framing ethnic diversity—moderate perceptions of threat and political conservatism among White Americans exposed to a passage about the US becoming a “majority-minority” nation. Across 3 studies, we found divergent effects of multiculturalism and polyculturalism within …
Perceived Morality and Antiatheist Prejudice: A Replication and Extension
Recent evidence suggests that, although moral distrust drives antiatheist prejudice, certain types of morality are central: Perceived atheist moral capacity for caring and compassion appears to be central, whereas perceived atheist moral capacity for fairness, in-group loyalty, deferential respect, or purity/decency is not (Simpson & Rios, 2017). Here, we extend this research. First, we conceptually replicated experimental effects: Manipulating t…
The utilitarian scientist: The humanization of scientists in moral dilemmas
Secularism in science: The role of religious affiliation in assessments of scientists’ trustworthiness
With controversies surrounding numerous science topics, including vaccinations and climate change, science skepticism in the United States is of growing concern. Some skepticism of science may stem from the perceived association between science and atheism, as well as stereotypes of religious individuals as prosocial. Three studies examine how scientists’ religious affiliation (or lack thereof) influences perceptions of their warmth and trustwort…
Concealment of nonreligious identity: Exploring social identity threat among atheists and other nonreligious individuals
Negative attitudes toward the nonreligious persist in America. This may compel some nonreligious individuals to conceal their identity to manage feelings of social identity threat. In one correlational study and one experiment, we found evidence of social identity threat and concealment behavior among nonreligious Americans. Our first study showed that Southern nonreligious individuals reported higher levels of stigma consciousness and self-repor…
Psychology (48 works) · Social Psychology (47 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (39 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (27 works) · Social Psychology (27 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Political science (17 works) · Perception (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (12 works)