Christianity & Intelligence Essay examples -- Sociology Sociological R

Christianity & Intelligence Reed College has been widely regarded as a campus with a pro-atheist sentiment and an anti-religious outlook of the world. T-shirts that display the seal of the college advertise atheism as a concept of paramount importance. The aim of this psychological study was to determine whether students of Reed College implicitly associated Christianity with unintelligence and atheism with intelligence. Numerous Implicit Association Tests (IAT’s) have been used to determine whether or not people have underlying biases toward particular racial or social groups. Based on the speed of responses when associated with one ethnic group or another, one is able to determine just what sort of hidden biases may exist in the mind of the subject. Especially intriguing in this case is the idea that Christians may be construed as less intelligent than atheists on Reed’s campus. How does this construal, if present, affect diversity at Reed and the acceptance of various social and religious grou ps? Is there a certain degree to which individuals who cherish religious beliefs are ignored due to their association with Christianity? The goal of this study is to make a determination as to whether there is an association with intelligence and belief in a Christian God. This study will determine whether this association, if existent, is explicit or implicit, or both. Using an IAT, we will present various words associated with atheism and Christianity in addition to words associated with intelligence and stupidity. My hypothesis is that there will be a certain degree of underlying bias that views Christians as less intelligent individuals than atheists. The participants for this study were twelve students in the Intro Psycholog... ...ill feel less welcome here. Thus, religious and intellectual diversity are curbed due to various implicit and explicit associations. It is somewhat comforting to know that the research was limited in the fact that only a small sample size could be taken. Perhaps if an entire sample of the campus could have been measured, we would be able to find the direct implications of the research. As it happens, it would be very interesting to discuss and explore other modes that may limit diversity at Reed. Is there an implicit association with Republicans and non-intelligence? Do Reedies value the opinions of people from different social and ethnic groups less through implicit or even explicit associations? And does this carry a direct influence on those interested in matriculating at the college? These questions would be interesting to explore in future tests of association.