Different images of God predict religious nationalism among Christians

Wagoner, Joseph A.;Diarra, Moussa;Barbieri, Barbara;Antonini, Matteo

2025-01-01

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Abstract

Religious nationalism occurs when people combine their religious beliefs with their attitudes about national politics and identity. Scholars have examined how religious nationalism predicts various sociopolitical attitudes; yet less attention has been dedicated to examining the predictors of this ideology. We report studies exploring the possibility that different images of God predict religious nationalism. Analyses of Waves I (N = 1076) and II (N = 1099) of the Baylor Religion Surveys found that US Christians harbor different images of God (benevolent, authoritarian, engaged, and angry) and that believing in a God that is benevolent, angry, and engaged predicted stronger religious nationalism. We partially replicate these findings in a preregistered study using US and Italian Christians (N = 465). Stronger religious nationalism predicted a conspiracy mentality and more xenophobia across both contexts. The findings suggest that different images of God can predispose people to harbor an ideology of religious nationalism.