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UBC Theses and Dissertations

The influence of Christianity on mating and parenting strategies Eurich, John

Abstract

Previous research and theory suggest that religious salience should impact social behaviors. Therefore, it was predicted that making Christianity salient would lead to decreased promiscuity and increased valuation of children. In two experimental studies, results were inconsistent. In study 1, participants were reminded of their religious beliefs in the experimental condition before completing survey measures regarding their sexual attitudes and desire to have children. Results suggested that religious saliency decreased reports of short-term mating desire, but did not affect long-term mating desire. Attitudes towards having children remained unchanged. In study 2, participants underwent a similar manipulation to make their religious beliefs salient before evaluating online dating profiles. Participants viewed four opposite-sex profiles: two depicting a target looking for short-term mating and two looking for long-term mating. Contrary to the hypothesis, participants’ evaluations of the targets did not differ depending on the experimental condition they were in. Implications of these results are discussed.

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