Religiosity and the Perception of Interreligious Threats

The Suppressing Effect of Negative Emotions towards God

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3404797
AutoresDorcas Yarn Pooi Lam (0000-0002-7667-949X, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, autor correspondente), Kai Seng Koh (0000-0002-3760-9560, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia), Siew Wei Gan (0000-0001-8619-9943, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus), Jacob Tian You Sow (Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation)
Ano2023
Volume14
Fascículo3
Páginas366
Data de publicação2023-03-10
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel14030366
OpenAlexW4323846299
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas23

Religiosity has been studied for its impact on other sociological and psychological aspects of society, particularly personal wellbeing and interpersonal relationships. However, it has yet to be studied for its impact on interreligious prejudice as measured by perceptions of interreligious threats. The present study investigates how religiosity (both positive and negative measures) affects perception of threats from other religious groups within the Malaysian context by using the Centrality of Religiosity Scale and the Inventory of Emotions towards God as measures of religiosity. Data collected through questionnaires administered to university students and recent graduates (N = 260) in Malaysia were subjected to bivariate correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis. Our findings show that the positive and negative measures yielded different effects on the perception of interreligious threats. While the centrality of religiosity and positive emotions towards God have statistically significant negative correlation with perception of interreligious threats, we show that negative emotions towards God suppresses the effect of the positive measures of religion on the dependent variable. The paper discusses the implications of these results within the socio-political context of Malaysia, in which ethnic identity and religious affiliation are closely intertwined

Bivariate analysis · Geography · Interpersonal communication · Mediation · Perception · Religiosity · Religious identity · Social science · Sociology · Education and Islamic Studies · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence