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...
Authors: | ; |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2015]
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In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 54, Issue: 2, Pages: 345-362 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Christianity today
/ Evangelical movement
/ Elite
/ Homosexuality
/ Rejection of
/ Attribution
/ History 1960-2013
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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) |
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 beliefswhatever they may beto 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. |
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ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12188 |