Atheists are intuitively distrusted as much as convicted rapists

Evidence

This is likely because although religious people might infer that ethnic outgroup members or gays hold norms that differ from their own, atheists might be seen as holding norms that are directly antithetical to their own. Or, it could be that atheists may be distrusted because people are unsure what exactly atheists believe. A Christian or a Hindu, for example, might be able to infer some of the norms of a Muslim, but an atheist might be viewed as a wildcard; religious people might distrust atheists not only for the norms they are perceived to follow, but also for their perceived lack of norms. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 295 (#expands, via linked claim)

It is possible that it is not religious prosociality, per se, that causes distrust of atheists, but rather a general process by which low-warmth (or perhaps low-warmth and high-competence) groups are distrusted. If this is the case, then untrustworthiness should be viewed as representative of any outgroup seen as competent but not warm. On the other hand, our model predicts that untrustworthiness should be viewed as more representative of atheists than of other groups—even groups viewed as comparably competent and comparably lacking in warmth. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 289 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Atheists are distrusted as norm-wildcards whose beliefs cannot be inferred — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 295; Religious belief strongly predicts distrust of atheists; American atheist distrust stems from anomalous high religiosity — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 306 (+2 more)

Related

• Atheists are distrusted as norm-wildcards whose beliefs cannot be inferred (similarity 0.92)
• Distrust of atheists exceeds what warmth and competence stereotypes alone predict (similarity 0.91)
• Atheists are intuitively distrusted as much as convicted criminals. (similarity 0.90)
• Religious belief strongly predicts distrust of atheists (similarity 0.90)
• Atheists are intuitively distrusted as severely as rapists in experiments. (similarity 0.89)
• Atheists generally do not distrust religious believers (similarity 0.87)
• Anti-atheist exclusion rises when trust matters critically in a role (similarity 0.85)
• Atheism is perceived as a public threat to cooperation, not a private belief (similarity 0.85)
• Moral distrust of atheists is not explained by generic stereotype content (similarity 0.83)
• Distrust of atheists depends on perceiving them as rare, not merely immoral. (similarity 0.83)
• Atheist distrust stems specifically from moral distrust, not fear or disgust (similarity 0.83)
• Atheists are distrusted more than other stigmatized groups even amid rising tolerance (similarity 0.83)
• Atheists are specifically distrusted as moral freeloaders, not disliked generally (similarity 0.83)
• Antipathy toward atheists stems from religious distrust, not general dislike (similarity 0.82)
• Anti-atheist prejudice stems from trust concerns, not xenophobia or outgroup dislike (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Atheists are distrusted as norm-wildcards whose beliefs cannot be inferred #expands (0.90) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 295
• Religious belief strongly predicts distrust of atheists #corroborates (0.85)
• Distrust of atheists exceeds what warmth and competence stereotypes alone predict #expands (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 289
• Supernatural monitoring beliefs drive atheist distrust even without ingroup membership #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 296
• American atheist distrust stems from anomalous high religiosity #corroborates (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 306