Dogmatism and Religion: When the Need to Be Right Impedes Helping

Abstract

In two correlational studies, I examine the relationship between religious dogmatism and helping behaviors. I hypothesize that there is a negative relationship between people’s level of dogmatism and their likelihood of exhibiting helping behaviors toward other religious organizations and secular organizations. I also hypothesize that this negative relationship exists between nonreligious people’s level of dogmatism and their likelihood of exhibiting helping behaviors toward religious organizations. In Study 1 (N=190), I found a negative correlation between religious people’s level of dogmatism and their likelihood of donating to a secular organization. In Study 2 (N=300), I found a similar pattern of results among nonreligious dogmatists: atheist and agnostic participants’ level of dogmatism was negatively correlated with their likelihood of donating to a religious organization. The results indicate that religious dogmatism may impact helping behaviors in ways that previous social identity research has not explored. Individual tendencies toward social comparison, preferences for like-minded others, and/or past exposure to diverse worldviews could be explanations for these results, among other explanations. After presenting the following research, I discuss the implications and limitations of the findings and give ideas for future research.