Religiosity and Support for Killing Animals

Evidence of a Curvilinear Relationship

Bibliographic Data

ID2162126
AuthorsUri Lifshin (0000-0003-1609-8666, Department of Psychology, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel), Jeff Greenberg (0000-0002-2206-0771, Department of Psychology, the University of Arizona, USA), Daniel Sullivan (0000-0003-4389-4190), Dan Sullivan (0000-0002-5649-9627, Department of Psychology, the University of Arizona, USA)
Year2018
Volume31
Issue6
Pages695-709
Publication date2018-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthrozoös (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-7936 • E-ISSN: 1753-0377
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08927936.2018.1529352
OpenAlexW2900716339
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

Prior research shows that the correlation between religiosity and support for animal rights can be positive, negative, or zero. We hypothesized that this relationship may actually be curvilinear, where a moderate degree of religiosity may reduce support for killing animals (compared with non-religiosity or atheism), but a very high degree of religiosity (e.g., fundamentalism) might increase support for killing animals. We tested this hypothesis in a large sample of American undergraduate students, using a correlational study design with self-report measures of religiosity and of support for killing animals in different domains. The results indicated that, in support of our hypothesis, the relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals is curvilinear, as moderate levels of religiosity were related to less support for killing animals. People who were either not religious at all or very religious were the ones who most supported the killing of animals. Belief in God in itself was related to less support for killing animals. We then replicated the curvilinear relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals using data from four experiments from a previously published article on support for killing animals. We briefly consider possible explanations for these findings, the limitations of the study, and propose directions for future research. Overall, we believe that this study helps clarify the complex relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals, and advances the scientific understanding of the psychological forces that motivate people to support or object to the killing of animals

Fundamentalism · Religiosity · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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