Evangelical Elites' Anti-Homosexuality Narratives as a Resistance Strategy Against Attribution Effects

While attribution theory expects that beliefs about the origins of homosexuality are directly related to beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior, we use content analysis of the popular evangelical magazine Christianity Today to show that evangelical elites have developed a serie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Authors: Thomas, Jeremy N. (Author) ; Whitehead, Andrew L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2015]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Christianity today / Evangelical movement / Elite / Homosexuality / Rejection of / Attribution / History 1960-2013
RelBib Classification:KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KDG Free church
NCF Sexual ethics
Further subjects:B Attribution Theory
B Moral narratives
B Homosexuality
B elite influence
B Evangelicalism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:While attribution theory expects that beliefs about the origins of homosexuality are directly related to beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior, we use content analysis of the popular evangelical magazine Christianity Today to show that evangelical elites have developed a series of anti-homosexuality narratives that allow them to resist attribution effects. In particular, we find that even when evangelical elites have expressed belief in the physiological origins of homosexuality, such as the influence of genetics and/or prenatal hormones, their negative beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior have not varied. We argue, then, that evangelical elites' anti-homosexuality narratives provide them with a strategy for influencing rank-and-file evangelicals, so that while allowing for a diversity of beliefs about the origins of homosexuality, rank-and-file evangelicals still have a viable mechanism for connecting these beliefs—whatever they may be—to negative beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior. Our findings thus extend attribution theory, illuminate the potential power of moral narratives, and amplify the need for future research.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12188