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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Publié dans:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Auteurs: Thomas, Jeremy N. (Auteur) ; Whitehead, Andrew L. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Wiley-Blackwell [2015]
Dans: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Christianity today / Mouvement évangélique / Élite / Homosexualité / Rejet / Attribution causale / Histoire 1960-2013
RelBib Classification:KAJ Époque contemporaine
KDG Église libre
NCF Éthique sexuelle
Sujets non-standardisés:B Attribution Theory
B Moral narratives
B Homosexuality
B elite influence
B Evangelicalism
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Résumé: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
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12188