Snell, A., Zuckerman, M., & Le, B. M. (2022). Does religious priming induce greater prejudice? A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221135956

Researchers in their meta-analysis examine multiple studies whether theistic religious beliefs predict greater prejudice. They analyzed 44 studies (N = 11,330) that employed experimental designs — priming religion and then measuring hostility toward outgroups (e.g., LGBT and Muslim).

Researchers found the overall small yet significant effect (r =.06) of priming that indicated that priming religion increases prejudice. The authors discuss how these findings regarding the relationship between religion and prejudice have implications on prosocial behavior and prejudice. They also suggest the future perspectives of research on religious priming.

I believe that these studies show that religious cultures may encourage love, but they are still biased, favoring “ingroup love” over “love for all.”.