{"id":{"repo_id":"uic","oai_identifier":"oai:figshare.com:article/31451875"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uic/oai:figshare.com:article/31451875","repository":{"repo_id":"uic","name":"University of Illinois - Chicago","base_url":"https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai"},"display":{"title":"A Social Psychological Window into How Americans Think About First Amendment Religious Exemption Requests","abstract":"How do Americans decide what types of beliefs rise to the standard of a sincerely held religious belief and deserve First Amendment protection? We answer this question in four studies. Study 1a (N = 99) and Study 1b (N = 151) suggest that Americans across the ideological spectrum hold schemas associating conservative (but not liberal) stances on religion-relevant culture war issues with sincerely held religious belief. Studies 2 and 3 build on these findings by interrogating how politically diverse Americans evaluate exemption requests that are either schema-consistent (e.g., a conservative stance requesting exemption from a liberal law; Study 2; N = 402) or inconsistent (e.g., a liberal stance requesting exemption from a conservative law; Study 3; N = 400). These studies reveal that Americans are more willing to grant both conservative schema-consistent and liberal schema-inconsistent religious exemption claims over nonreligious claims. However, ideological alignment between exemption claims and personal ideology also shapes Americans’ judgments about the religious sincerity of beliefs, whether denying exemption requests constitutes First Amendment violations, and whether exemptions should ultimately be granted. Collectively, results suggest that Americans hold strong schemas associating sincere religious beliefs and conservatism, but that this might not matter so much, as ideological biases influence Americans’ willingness to grant religious exemptions via both perceptual and decision-making processes.","abstract_html":"How do Americans decide what types of beliefs rise to the standard of a sincerely held religious belief and deserve First Amendment protection? We answer this question in four studies. Study 1a (N = 99) and Study 1b (N = 151) suggest that Americans across the ideological spectrum hold schemas associating conservative (but not liberal) stances on religion-relevant culture war issues with sincerely held religious belief. Studies 2 and 3 build on these findings by interrogating how politically diverse Americans evaluate exemption requests that are either schema-consistent (e.g., a conservative stance requesting exemption from a liberal law; Study 2; N = 402) or inconsistent (e.g., a liberal stance requesting exemption from a conservative law; Study 3; N = 400). These studies reveal that Americans are more willing to grant both conservative schema-consistent and liberal schema-inconsistent religious exemption claims over nonreligious claims. However, ideological alignment between exemption claims and personal ideology also shapes Americans’ judgments about the religious sincerity of beliefs, whether denying exemption requests constitutes First Amendment violations, and whether exemptions should ultimately be granted. Collectively, results suggest that Americans hold strong schemas associating sincere religious beliefs and conservatism, but that this might not matter so much, as ideological biases influence Americans’ willingness to grant religious exemptions via both perceptual and decision-making processes.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mary Katz (23292133)"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:34:33Z","subjects":["Social Psychology","Political Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright","Open Access after 2028-01-01"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25417/uic.31451875.v1","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mary Katz (23292133)"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12-01T00:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/A_Social_Psychological_Window_into_How_Americans_Think_About_First_Amendment_Religious_Exemption_Requests/31451875"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social Psychology","Political Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright","Open Access after 2028-01-01"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.25417/uic.31451875.v1"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["How do Americans decide what types of beliefs rise to the standard of a sincerely held religious belief and deserve First Amendment protection? We answer this question in four studies. Study 1a (N = 99) and Study 1b (N = 151) suggest that Americans across the ideological spectrum hold schemas associating conservative (but not liberal) stances on religion-relevant culture war issues with sincerely held religious belief. Studies 2 and 3 build on these findings by interrogating how politically diverse Americans evaluate exemption requests that are either schema-consistent (e.g., a conservative stance requesting exemption from a liberal law; Study 2; N = 402) or inconsistent (e.g., a liberal stance requesting exemption from a conservative law; Study 3; N = 400). These studies reveal that Americans are more willing to grant both conservative schema-consistent and liberal schema-inconsistent religious exemption claims over nonreligious claims. However, ideological alignment between exemption claims and personal ideology also shapes Americans’ judgments about the religious sincerity of beliefs, whether denying exemption requests constitutes First Amendment violations, and whether exemptions should ultimately be granted. Collectively, results suggest that Americans hold strong schemas associating sincere religious beliefs and conservatism, but that this might not matter so much, as ideological biases influence Americans’ willingness to grant religious exemptions via both perceptual and decision-making processes."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Social Psychological Window into How Americans Think About First Amendment Religious Exemption Requests"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Mary Katz (23292133)"],"dc:date":["2025-12-01T00:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["How do Americans decide what types of beliefs rise to the standard of a sincerely held religious belief and deserve First Amendment protection? We answer this question in four studies. Study 1a (N = 99) and Study 1b (N = 151) suggest that Americans across the ideological spectrum hold schemas associating conservative (but not liberal) stances on religion-relevant culture war issues with sincerely held religious belief. Studies 2 and 3 build on these findings by interrogating how politically diverse Americans evaluate exemption requests that are either schema-consistent (e.g., a conservative stance requesting exemption from a liberal law; Study 2; N = 402) or inconsistent (e.g., a liberal stance requesting exemption from a conservative law; Study 3; N = 400). These studies reveal that Americans are more willing to grant both conservative schema-consistent and liberal schema-inconsistent religious exemption claims over nonreligious claims. However, ideological alignment between exemption claims and personal ideology also shapes Americans’ judgments about the religious sincerity of beliefs, whether denying exemption requests constitutes First Amendment violations, and whether exemptions should ultimately be granted. Collectively, results suggest that Americans hold strong schemas associating sincere religious beliefs and conservatism, but that this might not matter so much, as ideological biases influence Americans’ willingness to grant religious exemptions via both perceptual and decision-making processes."],"dc:identifier":["10.25417/uic.31451875.v1"],"dc:relation":["https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/A_Social_Psychological_Window_into_How_Americans_Think_About_First_Amendment_Religious_Exemption_Requests/31451875"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright","Open Access after 2028-01-01"],"dc:subject":["Social Psychology","Political Psychology"],"dc:title":["A Social Psychological Window into How Americans Think About First Amendment Religious Exemption Requests"],"dc:type":["Text","Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:34:33Z"}